Latest Construction Headlines
All the headlines from our Construction Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Residential Woes Continue Over EIFS
Nov 18 2007 // ‘Synthetic stucco’ still difficult insurance market for contractors despite changes The use of the exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS), also referred to as “synthetic stucco,” in...
Construction Litigation Puts Agents at Risk
Nov 18 2007 // When contractors get sued, sometimes agents get caught in the middle Construction is an inherently dangerous activity. Hundreds if not millions of dollars are at stake with each project, and if something goes wrong,...
San Diego Construction Worker Ordered to Pay $13,667
Nov 16 2007 // San Diego County Superior Court Judge Timothy Walsh has ordered an employee of a San Diego construction company to pay $13,667 in restitution to the California State Compensation Insurance Fund in a workers’...
Urquhart Joins Lockton International Construction Team
Nov 14 2007 // Lockton International announced the appointment of Duncan Urquhart as Managing Director for their International Construction team. He will be based in the London office and joins Lockton from Oxygen, where he was Head of...
Texas Construction Company Funds Safety Scholarship
Nov 14 2007 // The American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) Region III, which encompasses Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, announced that Austin, Texas-based McComb Construction Company donated $4,000 toward the establishment of a...
MIT Sues Renowned Architect Gehry for Alleged Building Defects
Nov 7 2007 // The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has sued world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, alleging serious design flaws in the Stata Center, a building widely celebrated for its unconventional walls and radical angles. The...
La. Gov: ‘Katrina Cottage’ Construction to Begin this Month
Nov 7 2007 // Construction of Louisiana’s first Hurricane Katrina cottages will begin this month at the New Orleans headquarters of the National Guard, nearly a year after the state received federal funds to build them, Gov....
Calif. AG Files Lawsuit Against PacifiStaff Construction Training Company
Nov 7 2007 // California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has sued PacifiStaff, a Southern California corporation that trained construction companies to violate workers’ compensation laws by the use of “fake corporations...
Sloan Mason Offers Pipeline Construction Casualty Package
Nov 6 2007 // San Diego-based Sloan Mason is offering a provision of competitive coverages for pipeline construction contractors. Coverages include workers comp/general liability/umbrella liability/auto/inland marine/property with an AM...
Socius Makes Two Appointments in San Francisco
Nov 6 2007 // West Coast Insurance Wholesaler Socius Inc has appointed Shannon Mahoney business development manager and Tim Troy assistant vice president in the company’s San Francisco headquarters. Mahoney is charged with...
Construction Set to Begin on Collapsed Minneapolis Freeway Bridge
Nov 2 2007 // Construction to replace the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge was cleared to start as scheduled on Thursday, after a Ramsey County judge declined to hold up the $234 million project. Judge Edward Cleary on Wednesday rejected...
N.H. Construction Firms May Exempt 3 Executives from Workers’ Comp
Nov 1 2007 // New Hampshire construction firms may exclude up to three executives from their workers compensation policies, provided the executives do not actively work on construction sites, under a recent change in statute. The new...
Calif. Sees Downward Trend in Workplace Injuries, Accidents
Nov 1 2007 // The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced that workplace injuries and accidents declined in California in 2006 in all but four of 19 key industries compared to 2005. Overall workplace injuries and...
Federal Grand Jury Indicts La. Woman in Construction Bonds Case
Oct 29 2007 // A federal grand jury in New Orleans brought a 15-count indictment against a Louisiana woman who sold construction bonds in several states, including Tennessee, after she was barred from the insurance business. Federal...
Jansen & Hastings Provides Defense Costs Cover for Calif. Construction Companies
Oct 23 2007 // Responding to increasing pressure of U.S. immigration law enforcement on California’s construction companies, San Francisco-based Jansen & Hastings has launched ConstructINsure. The product provides cover...
Ironshore Launches Specialty Construction Division
Oct 22 2007 // Hamilton, Bermuda-based Ironshore Inc. announced the company has entered into the specialty construction sector with the launch of its IronBuilt division. IronBuilt, based near Boston, offers construction risks protection...
Fireman’s Fund Adds Green Amendments to Builders Risk Policy
Oct 18 2007 // Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. announced the introduction of new green amendments to its builders risk insurance policy. New green buildings undergoing construction and existing buildings undergoing green renovations...
N.Y. City Restarts Site Inspections, Uncovers Safety Problems
Oct 10 2007 // The New York City Fire Department has uncovered more than 120 fire hazards and shut down construction sites at twice the normal rate since it restarted its inspections program less than two months ago. After a deadly blaze...
Memos Called for Safety Help at N.Y. Bank Tower Before Fatal Fire
Sep 28 2007 // In memos written months before a fire at a condemned ground zero skyscraper killed two firefighters, a former construction chief urged the state owners to add staff and funding to the project to ensure it was safe. The...
A policyholder bonanza: Texas Supreme Court decides Lamar Homes
Sep 24 2007 // The Supreme Court also disagreed with the district court’s common sense ruling that faulty workmanship that damages the property of a third party is a covered “occurrence,” whereas faulty workmanship that...
