Philadelphia Construction Law Blog

The construction industry job market continues to struggle, but fresh unemployment numbers did decrease slightly from earlier this year. According to the March 8 employment report by the U.S. Department of Labor, he construction industry jobless rate declined from 16.1% in January to 15.7% in February. The rate in February 2012 was 17.1%

Engineering News-Record is reporting that the large New Jersey design firm Birdsall Services Group is embroiled in a pay-to-play scandal that could cause significant additional damage to the company. Birdsall recently filed for bankruptcy and is working through the process of reorganization.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently published new educational materials designed to help construction employers control exposure to airborne crystalline silica at construction sites. The 7 new fact sheets provide information on how to control the risks associated with silica exposure while working with grinders, angle grinders, jackhammers, rotary hammers, stationary and handheld masonry saws, and vehicle mounted drilling rigs.

Robert Korn, a partner in the construction law department at Kaplin Stewart, will be one of 3 featured speakers at a presentation for the Montgomery County Bar Association on Tuesday, April 9, 2013.  The program on the drafting of arbitration clauses is a CLE class aimed at all members of the bar.  Mr. Korn will be joined by two other experienced and respected attorneys, Steve Yusem and Judith Meyer.  Among the topics to be covered are the qualifications and selection of arbitrators, discovery, and enforcing arbitration awards.

An open and ongoing dispute between a researcher for the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Environmental Protection Agencyis starting to appear in construction related publications. The researcher, Christopher Horner, thinks EPA is hiding something and is suing in Court for what he claims are violations of the Freedom of Information Act.

While statutory requirements will keep payment and performance bonds as a mainstay of the construction market for years to come, other viable options exist and should be considered by owners, contractors, and subcontractors as alternatives to bonding. These alternatives can create the same “net effect”.

The federal government currently uses the LEED 2009 rating system for construction of federal buildings. By law, however, this must be re-evaluated every 5 years. The General Services Administration has opened a public comment period as part of this re-evaluation process and will be accepting opinions on what system it should use until April.

Construction of Easton’s $26 million transportation center project will start in April. The final hurdle to a ground breaking later this month is approval from the Easton Historic District Commission according to Mayor Sal Panto. The development is being developed through a partnership between the city, the state of Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh and Northampton Transit Authorities.

We previously reported the introduction of HB 34 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The bill, which is strongly supported by Republican Representative Kate Harper, has passed the House and now moves to the Senate for consideration.

We have all seen projects where a design principle is bent a little or a construction technique is altered slightly for the sake of speed or cost. Often times, the attitude is “no harm, no foul”. But consider the other side of the situation and ask yourself what happens when there is harm. A recent case in Southern California is worth noting in that regard.