Latest Construction Headlines
All the headlines from our Construction Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Construction Firm Owner, Family Sentenced for WC Fraud
Oct 22 2013 // The owner of a Northern California construction company and his family members in were convicted of committing workers’ compensation insurance premium fraud. Jeffrey Thranow, 59, owner of Costa Bella Builders was...
Green Insurance Market: Competitive and Growing
Oct 21 2013 // The green insurance market is a good market in every sense of the word. The green building industry is growing. The insurance market for green buildings — both residential and commercial property coverage — is also...
Report: Louisiana Could Have More Than 2M Jobs in 2015
Oct 18 2013 // Growth in the Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, La., areas is expected to help boost employment in Louisiana to an all-time high of more than 2 million jobs in 2015 in spite of plodding national growth, a new report...
South Carolina Eyes Raising Penalties to Improve Construction Zone Safety
Oct 18 2013 // A bill proposed by two state senators would increase fines and jail time for driving violations in construction zones in South Carolina. “It’s common sense to take these extra steps for safety,” Sen. Paul...
States Going After Employers Who Misclassify Workers as Independent Contractors
Oct 18 2013 // When construction slowed during the recession, some companies hired workers and wrongly designated them as independent contractors to avoid paying insurance, taxes, fair wages and overtime. Danny Odom, chief operating...
ACE Construction Practice Launches Catastrophe Services Through ESIS
Oct 18 2013 // ACE USA has launched catastrophe claims servicing capabilities specifically designed for the construction industry through ESIS Inc., a risk management services company owned by the ACE Group. The new offerings provide an...
2nd Worker Dies At 49ers Stadium Construction Site In California
Oct 16 2013 // All work has stopped at the new $1.2 billion San Francisco 49ers showcase stadium while police, firefighters and state workplace safety officials investigate a second deadly workplace accident there in less than four...
Swett & Crawford Forms Construction Industry Group Headed by Mastrolia
Oct 1 2013 // Wholesale broker Swett & Crawford has formed a Construction Industry Group to focus on providing insurance services to retail brokers and their clients who have construction-related exposures and issues. The nationwide...
Deciphering the Texas Supreme Court’s Decision in Lennar v. Markel
Oct 1 2013 // When the Texas Supreme Court decides to look at controversial insurance coverage issues, you can assume that their decisions will never be boring. Such was the case in its Aug. 23 decision in Lennar Corp. v. Markel...
N.J. Gov. Christie Signs Order to Quicken Dune Construction at Beaches
Sep 26 2013 // New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed an executive order to speed the construction of sand dunes to protect its coast from storms over the objections of beachfront homeowners worried about losing their ocean views. The...
Critics Say It’s Time for N.Y. to End 1885 Scaffold Law
Sep 23 2013 // Years before skyscrapers, when New York City’s tallest building was still the 281-foot spire of Wall Street’s historic Trinity Church, state lawmakers passed the Scaffold Law, which made property owners and...
Deciphering the Texas Supreme Court’s Decision in Lennar v. Markel
Sep 23 2013 // When the Texas Supreme Court decides to look at controversial insurance coverage issues, you can assume that their decisions will never be boring. Such was the case in its Aug. 23 decision in Lennar Corp. v. Markel...
Typhoon Usagi Heads Toward Taiwan and China: AIR Worldwide
Sep 20 2013 // AIR Worldwide’s latest report on Typhoon Usagi describes a “Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 204 km/h [127.5 mph].” It is “expected to strengthen over the coming days and could...
10 Things to Know About Residential Contractors
Sep 9 2013 // There is a key difference between an independent contractor and a subcontractor. An independent contractor relationship exists where there are two parties, such as the owner and the contractor. A subcontractor relationship...
Joplin Rebuilding Since Tornado: About $837M Spent
Sep 4 2013 // About $837 million has been spent on construction in Joplin since the May 2011 tornado, including starts on more than 1,100 new homes, according to city building permit data. The figures include construction done...
Poms Expands Northern California Office, Launches Construction Practice
Aug 26 2013 // Poms & Associates Insurance Brokers Inc. has expanded to a new 20,000-square-foot office space in Northern California and launched its construction risk practice. The new practice will offer insurance, surety bonding...
Coventry Risk Specialty Launches Pay-As-You Build Construction Program
Aug 23 2013 // Coventry Risk Specialty, an MGA focused on the construction industry, has launched a new Builders Reporting Policy (BRP) product for the construction industry. Coventry is the countrywide exclusive underwriter and will...
Markel Ventures Acquires Eagle Construction in Virginia
Aug 16 2013 // Markel Ventures Inc. and Eagle Construction of VA LLC announced that Markel has acquired Eagle Construction and its affiliated entities. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Markel Ventures is a Markel Corp....
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Hires 2 Execs From Zurich, The Hartford
Aug 16 2013 // Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance — the recently launched commercial P/C insurance unit of Berkshire Hathaway — announced on Thursday the appointments of Leo Carroll as senior vice president, healthcare...
Georgia Supreme Court Expands Coverage for Faulty Construction
Aug 12 2013 // Georgia’s high court has handed contractors and their clients a victory by expanding the scope of a contractor’s general liability policy so that it includes damage due to a contractor’s faulty...
