Philadelphia Construction Law Blog

Kaplin Stewart and all of its employees are acutely aware of how much has been sacrificed by members of our Armed Forces through the years in order to keep us safe and defend the freedom we all hold dear. Each year we pause to recognize all those who serve this great nation: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.

It has long been the custom in Philadelphia that individual City Council members have the final say on land development and zoning issues within the bounds of the districts they represent. Even projects that are good for the City as a whole and supported by a majority of City Council members can be stopped by a single member of council when this unwritten rule is invoked.

Did you know that the highest bridge ever constructed over water is the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado? It spans the Arkansas River and is a little more than 1,000 feet over the river. Built in 1929, it cost about $350,000 to build.

Defying the conventional wisdom on how he would handle the recently passed union intimidation bill that was sent to him, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed the legislation into law. In a short press release that can be found here, the Governor indicated that he agreed it was time to close the loophole in the law “that allowed both employees and employers” to engage in harassment without penalty when in a labor dispute.

The United States’ Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, has placed a nationwide stay on the Obama Administration’s Waters of the United States rule. The final rule went into effect in August of this year and was being put into effect before the appeals court stayed its implementation. According the Court, the stay was put in place to temporarily clear up the confusion being created by both the implementation of the law and the legal challenges to it.

Reports out of Harrisburg are that Pennsylvania House Bill 874 – identified as the union intimidation bill – has passed through the House on concurrence vote. The vote was 107-91. As previously reported, the legislation now goes to Governor Wolf for signature. He can choose to veto it, sign it into law, or table it. If he tables it, the legislation would become law in 10 days.

Technology has become a huge part of the construction industry. This trend ranges from simple things like the use of email to make project communication easier to the introduction of more advanced technologies like Building Information Modeling, or BIM. While these developments have had a predominately positive impact on the industry in terms of quality and efficiency, technology has also resulted in increased obligations in the legal process. Construction businesses should understand a few of the basic ways technology has impacted the legal process, because a failure to do so could prove costly if litigation ever ensues.

The Pennsylvania Senate has passed House Bill 874 by a vote of 30-18. The version agreed upon by the Senate will now go back to the Pennsylvania House for a concurrence vote and then on to Governor Wolf to sign. Because the legislation passed through the Senate in substantially the same form as it left the House, there appears little chance the legislation will be hung up again before it hits Governor Wolf’s desk.

In a classic example of supply and demand, an increased supply in the construction market has paired with a decreased global demand to drive down the price of construction materials for the second month in a row. The primary culprits appear to be the troubled economies of China, Brazil, and Russia.

The construction market is filled with residential and commercial developers prepared to spend millions of dollars on construction work each year.  The projects that determine who spends the most on projects annually can vary in cost and size.  Can you guess the largest purchaser of contruction services, in dollars spent, in the world?