CONSTRUCTION DEFECT JOURNAL

"News and Information for Construction Defect and Claims Professionals"

CONSTRUCTION DEFECT JOURNAL - ISSUE 242749 - MONDAY, JULY 13, 2026

Super

This is the thirteenth consecutive year Mr. Murai has been recognized by Super Lawyers.

Nomos LLP Partner Garret Murai Recognized by Super Lawyers

July 13, 2026
Garret D. Murai - California Construction Law Blog

Nomos LLP Partner Garret Murai has been recognized as a 2026 Northern California Super Lawyer honoree in the area of Construction Litigation. This is the thirteenth consecutive year he has been recognized by Super Lawyers.

Super Lawyers, an annual listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and personal achievement, is limited to no more than five percent (5%) of lawyers in a state who are selected through a multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent research evaluation and peer reviews by practice area.

Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

Reprinted courtesy of Garret D. Murai, Nomos LLP

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CDJ NEWS THIS WEEK



Water intrusion from window

Water, especially when you can't see it, can cause serious and costly damage to buildings.

Preventing Common and Costly Water Intrusion Events in Construction

July 13, 2026 — Andrew Swift - Construction Executive

Water leaking into a building is a leading cause of damage and loss in the construction industry. On one jobsite, heavy rains flooded a sub-basement, damaging a new electrical transformer—all because a roof drain was not property connected. On another jobsite, a drinking-fountain supply line broke in a multistory building that was undergoing renovation, causing water to run—undetected—for an entire weekend, resulting in water damage to all lower floors, where construction had been finished.

Those loss scenarios could have been prevented with a comprehensive and effective water damage prevention plan (WDPP). This includes routine site inspections to identify uncontrolled water damage exposures and basic maintenance to make sure drains are clean of debris and divert them to a catch basin or low point away from the building. An effective WDPP plan also incorporates technology such as backflow preventers on sewer connections and water sensing technology to monitor the most vulnerable exposures.

Reprinted courtesy of Andrew Swift, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

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Handshake agreement

If an arbitration clause is carefully drafted, and properly used, these clauses an be helpful in assuring that the streamlining effect for which arbitration was created actually occurs.

Mandatory Arbitration Isn’t All Bad, if. . .

July 13, 2026 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings

In the past week or so mandatory arbitration has been all the rage. From those that argue that arbitration is becoming more burdensome than litigation, to my friend and fellow construction attorney Scott Wolfe who gives great advice on how to make arbitration worth it again. You can place me in the camp of those that think that mandatory arbitration clauses of the type typically found in contracts can add a layer of expense that can be unnecessary.

However, if an arbitration clause is carefully drafted, and properly used, these clauses an be helpful in assuring that the streamlining effect for which arbitration was created actually occurs. Because the contract is king in Virginia, these provisions can essentially create the rule of civil procedure used to resolve any dispute relating to the project.

Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill

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Department of Energy building in DC at Sunset

For all CAISO stakeholders, the coming months will reveal the extent to which California must adapt its existing market and transmission planning structure in order to address FERC’s concerns.

FERC Issues Show-Cause Orders: Impacts on California and Other Regional Power Markets

July 13, 2026 — Stephen J. Humes, Alicia M. McKnight & Jason Drogin Atwood - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog

At an open meeting on June 18, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued show-cause orders under Section 206 of the Federal Power Act to the six FERC-jurisdictional RTOs/ISOs—PJM Interconnection, ISO New England, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Southwest Power Pool, New York Independent System Operator and California Independent System Operator—along with their transmission owners (TOs), directing each region and the TOs to justify or revise tariff provisions governing how data centers and other large loads connect to and receive transmission service from the grid. These show-cause orders will impact several power markets across the country, including California.

Reprinted courtesy of Stephen J. Humes, Pillsbury, Alicia M. McKnight, Pillsbury and Jason Drogin Atwood, Pillsbury

Mr. Humes may be contacted at stephen.humes@pillsburylaw.com
Ms. McKnight may be contacted at alicia.mcknight@pillsburylaw.com
Mr. Atwood may be contacted at jason.atwood@pillsburylaw.com

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AI

Dive into AI innovations in real estate with insights from Mark Sorsa-Leslie on connecting data and enhancing building maintenance.

From Dark Data to Building Intelligence

July 13, 2026 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business

In this episode, I talk with Mark Sorsa-Leslie, founder and CEO of Auttaa AI, whose team just won first place in Luotea’s inaugural hackathon in Helsinki for turning property maintenance from reactive firefighting into proactive forecasting with AI. Mark is a chartered surveyor with 30 years of real estate data experience, previously the founder of the UK sensor company Beringar.

We discuss why so much building data stays dark and siloed, from outdated networking technology to the shortage of people who understand both engineering and property. Mark explains how Auttaa bridges real-time building data with large language models, using what he calls an “influence graph” to surface correlations and causation across previously disconnected systems, such as linking occupancy patterns to CO2 readings to diagnose ventilation problems in minutes rather than days.

Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business

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Computer hologram quality check warranty

That limited warranty likely includes an arbitration provision requiring you to arbitrate your disputes, such as construction defect claims, against the homebuilder.

Consider The Limited Warranty from Your Homebuilder

July 6, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates

When purchasing a home from a homebuilder, there is an important consideration when it comes to the limited warranty you receive around the time you close on the home. That limited warranty likely includes an arbitration provision requiring you to arbitrate your disputes, such as construction defect claims, against the homebuilder. That arbitration provision will most likely include all claims, including statutory claims (such as a statutory violation of a building code claim), requiring you to arbitrate, as opposed to litigate, your disputes against the homebuilder. This is an important consideration. If the arbitration provision does not allow you to arbitrate all of your claims, and eliminates your rights to legitimate statutory claims, the arbitration provision could be unenforceable.

By way of example, in a residential construction defect dispute, Anderson v. Taylor Morrison of Florida, Inc., 223 So.3d 1088 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017), the appeal turned on whether the arbitration provision in the homebuilder’s limited warranty was valid. The homeowners took possession of their home in 2009. In 2015, the homeowners served a Florida Statutes Chapter 558 notice of construction defects that included a statutory violation of a building code claim under Florida Statute §553.84. The limited warranty included an arbitration provision that specified it was the “exclusive remedy” for all disputes arising out of or related to the warranty or issues with the home and property. When read together with the warranty’s disclaimer that precluded claims not covered by the warranty “whether in contract, tort, or otherwise,” the statutory building code violation claim could not be remedied through arbitration because it fell outside the warranty’s coverage.

Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris

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Interior warehouse raptors

Before completion of the hangar, it collapsed and caused extensive property damage.

Insured General Contractor Prevails on Motion for Summary Judgment to Establish Builder’s Risk Coverage

July 6, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii

The general contractor’s motion for partial summary judgment successfully established that damage to footings in place before the policy period was covered after the collapse of a building. Big D Builders, Inc. v. Am Zurich Ins. Co., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72012 (D. Idaho March 31, 2026).

Big D was the general contractor for building a new airplane hangar by erecting a 38,000 square foot structure. Before Big D began construction, the site of the hangar did not contain any pre-existing structures or buildings. Before completion of the hangar, it collapsed and caused extensive property damage.

The builder’s risk policy issued by Zurich covered certain aspects of the construction project for the policy period December 28, 2023, to December 28, 2024. Zurich accepted coverage for most of the damage but not for damage to footings and columns installed prior to the start date of the policy.

Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert

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Aerial view of construction site

Partner Daniel Crespo and Associate Lauren Landau obtained a decisive defense victory for their client in a high-exposure premises liability action arising from a 2022 incident at an active school construction site in Perris, California.

LA Scores Major Victory in a High-Exposure Premises Liability Action

July 6, 2026 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

Our firm is proud to announce a decisive defense victory obtained by Partner Daniel Crespo and Associate Lauren Landau for our client in a high-exposure premises liability action arising from a 2022 incident at an active school construction site in Perris, California. On March 10, 2026, the Riverside County Superior Court granted Summary Judgment in full for our client, dismissing all claims brought by Plaintiff, who alleged she tripped and fell over a curb while picking up her daughter from school and sustained ankle and wrist injuries as a result.

Through meticulous preparation and the strategic use of construction plans, contractual documents, and onsite surveillance video evidence, our team demonstrated that our client had no ownership, possession, or control over the portion of the existing sidewalk where the incident occurred, with construction plans unambiguously designating the area as pre-existing concrete outside our client’s scope of work, and the Construction Services Agreement expressly reserving control over all existing site improvements to the school district.

Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

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Mediation bridge

Long-running project pay dispute between design-build team and NY State Thruway Authority may be partially resolved soon.

Cuomo Bridge Lawsuit Adversaries Weigh Mediated Settlement

July 6, 2026 — Richard Korman - Engineering News-Record

Rival legal teams have reached a critical juncture as they consider a mediated settlement in one of two major payment lawsuits pending between a design-build contracting team and the New York State Thruway Authority over construction of the more than $3-billion Mario M. Cuomo Bridge north of New York City.

Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com

Reprinted courtesy of Richard Korman, Engineering News-Record

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Workers inspecting damage

Today’s post is about damages. Specifically damage to a homeowner’s roof and her legal damages therefor.

Sometimes a General Damages Assessment is Enough. . .

July 6, 2026 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings

It has been a while since I last posted here at Construction Law Musings. Life, law practice, and “blogger’s block” have taken their toll on the posting schedule. Hopefully this will be one of several upcoming posts now that the litigation schedule has lightened a bit over the summer.

Today’s post is about damages. Specifically damage to a homeowner’s roof and her legal damages therefor. That last is of course a sentence that only a construction attorney (or other litigator) could possibly craft and have it make sense. Now, on with the case. . .In Hardesty Construction, Inc. v. Weedon, the facts are as follows:

Ms. Weedon had hail damage to the roof of her home. She hired Hardesty Construction to repair and replace the roof. After the first roof was installed and failed inspection, a second roof was installed. The issue was that the first roof had a warranty and the second roof, installed similarly to the first (and allegedly with the same construction issues according to Ms. Weedon’s expert), was not provided with the promised warranty. As one may expect, Weedon sued Hardesty and Hardesty Construction for fraudulent inducement and breach of contract. At trial, Weedon testified, without objection, that her home was worth $40,000 less because of Hardesty Construction’s work, which was based partially on quotes Weedon received to fix the roof. The Circuit Court granted Hardesty Construction’s motion to strike Weedon’s fraudulent inducement claim, but not her other claims. A jury awarded Weedon $30,253.30 on her breach of contract claim. Hardesty Construction appealed, arguing the Circuit Court erred in (a) allowing the jury to consider Weedon’s valuation testimony because it was not based on her personal knowledge and (b) denying its motion to strike based on insufficient evidence as to damages. Weedon assigned cross-error in the Circuit Court’s decision to grant the motion to strike her fraudulent inducement claim against Samual Hardesty.

Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill

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Person in chemical suit in warehouse

As the GKN Aerospace incident moves from emergency response to investigation and potential enforcement, the adequacy of the facility’s compliance with each of these overlapping regulatory obligations will be a central question for federal, state, and local authorities.

The GKN Aerospace Chemical Release and the Laws Designed to Address It

July 6, 2026 — Sean M. Sherlock - Snell & Wilmer

On May 21, 2026, a 34,000-gallon storage tank at the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California began leaking methyl methacrylate (MMA), a volatile and highly flammable industrial chemical used to manufacture high-strength acrylic plastics. GKN Aerospace makes advanced military and commercial transparencies, such as aircraft canopies, windshields, cabin windows, bullet-resistant glass, and spacecraft windows.

In polymer chemistry lingo, MMA is known as a monomer. Monomers are like individual links to a chain. Under the right conditions they link up (react) with each other to form long-chained polymers, or plastics. MMA is an unstable monomer that requires controlled storage conditions to avoid setting off a polymerization (chain) reaction.

According to early reports, the MMA tank at GKN Aerospace overheated. The cause of the overheating is not yet clear, but the overheating may have created conditions enabling the MMA to initiate polymerization, which in turn generated heat, which in turn generated pressure, activating the tank’s pressure-relief system and releasing MMA vapor into the atmosphere. Concerns about a runaway reaction, massive release, and explosion led the Orange County Fire Authority to order evacuation of approximately 40,000 residents and closure of thirteen schools.

Mr. Sherlock may be contacted at ssherlock@swlaw.com

Reprinted courtesy of Sean M. Sherlock, Snell & Wilmer

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Contract law

Contractor disputes rarely begin with a single major failure—they emerge when unclear expectations, inconsistent documentation and unresolved operational friction compound across the lifecycle of a project.

Contractor Dispute Resolution Framework and Prevention

July 6, 2026 — Construction Executive

WHAT DEFINES A CONTRACTOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION FRAMEWORK
A contractor dispute resolution framework is a structured system of contractual terms, governance processes and escalation pathways designed to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts between contracting parties with minimal disruption to cost, schedule and performance.

The framework operates as both a preventive control and a corrective mechanism. Preventive elements establish clarity in scope, expectations and accountability before work begins. Corrective elements define how disagreements are identified, documented, escalated and resolved once they arise.

Reprinted courtesy of Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

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Cracked sidewalk

Author Michael Pollack explores the “tangled web of state and local regulation” that governs sidewalks, with cities often passing along responsibilities for tasks like clearing snow and keeping walkways safe.

For Urban Walkers, a Patchy Dilemma: Who Owns the Sidewalk?

July 6, 2026 — Linda Poon – Bloomberg

In 2007, New York City’s sanitation department threatened Natalie Shea with a $300 fine for defacing public property with graffiti. Her crime: drawing a blue flower in front of her family’s Park Slope home with sidewalk chalk. She was six years old.

The incident, which made local and national news at the time, captures the fraught role that sidewalks often play in US cities. These patches of pavement do more than carry pedestrians to their destinations: They’re also places for commerce, social interaction and childhood play, from chalking to learning how to ride a bike. Urbanist Jane Jacobs once likened the range of activities that city sidewalks attract to an “intricate ballet.”

In the new book Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America’s Most Overlooked Resource (Harvard University Press), author Michael Pollack explores the “tangled web of state and local regulation” that governs sidewalks, with cities often passing along responsibilities for tasks like clearing snow and keeping walkways safe. He paints a portrait of the American sidewalk a disorderly and often neglected network, filled with literal and metaphorical cracks that give rise to all sorts of conflict, from mundane clashes over maintenance to more consequential fights over accessibility and inequality.

Reprinted courtesy of Linda Poon, Bloomberg

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Consulting Design and Architecture Expert Witness

Forensic Architect CA, AZ, NV, CO, TX, UT, FL, NM, OK - NCARB - National Council of Architectural Registration Boards

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Interior home or office

Buckling Columns on NYC Pfizer HQ May Chill Broader Office-to-Residential Conversion Trend

July 13, 2026 — Jeff Yoders - Engineering News-Record

Office-to-residential conversions have been picking up steam in large cities as older office buildings sit empty while housing demands rise—but the buckled-column emergency at developer Metro Loft's 235 E. 42nd Street project in New York City has potential to increase the risk profile of conversions as real estate investors reassess their involvement and risk appetite.

Mr. Yoders may be contacted at yodersj@enr.com

Reprinted courtesy of Jeff Yoders, Engineering News-Record

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Construction Workers smiling

Nonresidential Construction Adds Healthy 19,000 Jobs in April

July 13, 2026 — ABC - Construction Executive

WASHINGTON, May 8—The construction industry added 9,000 jobs on net in April, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a year-over-year basis, industry employment has expanded by 50,000 jobs, an increase of 0.6%.

Nonresidential construction employment increased by 19,000 positions, with gains in all three subcategories. Nonresidential specialty traded added the most jobs, increasing by 12,600 positions. Nonresidential building and heavy and civil engineering added 5,600 and 800 jobs, respectively, in April.

Reprinted courtesy of ABC, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

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Water leak on floor

Insurer’s Attempt to Eliminate Leak Claim on Summary Judgment Fails

July 13, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii

The federal district court denied the insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the insured’s claim for damage caused by a water leak, but granted the insurer’s motion on the bad faith claim. Hampartsoumian v. State Farm General Ins. Co., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86735 (C.D. Calif. Apri 17, 2026).

The insured returned to her residence to find water on the kitchen floor and surrounding areas that appeared to have originated from the dishwasher. A plumber observed that the dishwasher’s air gap hose, which connected the appliance to the kitchen sink drain line, was disconnected. The insured maintained that the two invoices from the plumber stated that the dishwasher discharge hose had “burst/had come part.”

Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert

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Webinar

ABA’s Exploring a Career in Construction Law Webinar

July 13, 2026 — Beverley BevenFlorez – CDJ Staff

This American Bar Association webinar “introduces young lawyers to a dynamic practice area that blends litigation and transactional work.” Attendees “will hear from experienced practitioners and get a behind-the-scenes look at how construction law can shape a versatile and rewarding legal career.” In this event “three experienced construction lawyers share not only what they do, but how they built their careers in this field.”

August 24th, 2026
Virtual Event

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Dramatic Roof Collapse at New Jersey BJ’s Rattles Witness: ‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like That’

Heavy rains in New Jersey caused the roof over a big box store to partially collapse, temporarily trapping two people inside, authorities said. WNBC reports.

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Teen's Science Lab Sparks Second FBI Probe in Irvine

Orange County authorities and the FBI responded Tuesday to a hazmat situation in the same Irvine neighborhood searched by federal agents earlier this year after a teenager’s science experiment triggered a dayslong investigation. KTLA's Sandra Mitchell reports.

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