Blog

MCA Takes On University of Washington Emergency Regulations for Renovation of Husky Stadium (February 2008)

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 13, 2008
The Mechanical Contractors’ Association (MCA), in a strongly worded letter, has taken issue with the University of Washington’s (University) decision to declare an emergency and adopt regulations that would permit the Husky Stadium renovation to proceed without the safeguards of competitive bidding.  MCA has asked the University that the emergency regulations be rescinded.  The University […]

Port of Seattle Reorganizes Construction Division

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 13, 2008
Engineers and construction managers at the Port of Seattle will join a Development Division aimed at preventing the kind of waste and fraud which auditors assert have plagued the Port authority for months.  A recent audit concluded the Port’s construction program wasted millions of dollars, failed to rigorously negotiate with contractors, appeared to favor certain […]

Public Works Projects In Washington Get Funded By The Legislature:

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 12, 2008
The Washington State Senate Approved The A $7.5 Billion Highway Budget: The Washington State Senate approved new funding for Washington highways, including replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, and the new 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington. Money was also earmarked for US Highway 2 terms “killer highway.” Lawmakers did cut $129 million […]

Pew Research Gives Washington State An "A" For Infrastructure Government Performance

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 12, 2008
From the great news for the state of Washington, bad news for Dino Rossi, a new 50 state report card released on May 4, 2008 gives Washington an “A” grade for government performance for infrastructure maintenance. Pew Research gave 23 states a grade lower than C+ for the way they maintained bridges, roads, and other infrastructures, […]

Cement Demand Expected To Soar 43% By 2030

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 12, 2008
According to the Portland Cement Association, US demand for cement will increase 43% by 2030, driven by both population growth and environmental concerns.  With the population expected to increase by 63 million, “construction will boost demand for cement to record levels,” according to Edward J. Sullivan, PCA’s chief economist.  Sullivan also expects green building methods […]

AAA Takes On The New AIA 207 documents and ConsensusDOCs Contracts – Arbitration Clauses

  • Posted by mattb
  • On March 11, 2008
The new AIA 201 2007 form departs with almost a century of American Institute of Architects (AIA) tradition of arbitrating disputes in American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitration. Up until 2007, the exclusive dispute resolution process under AIA documents was AAA arbitration. The AIA A-201 General Conditions, instead of making AAA arbitration mandatory, now gives contractors and owners a […]

Job Satisfaction of Women in Construction Trades

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 11, 2008
Tradeswomen in the Cincinnati, Ohio area were surveyed to assess to their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with construction work.  The study showed that pay, benefits and job security are most important to women in their occupation.  Although the tradeswomen are satisfied with the nature of the work in the construction trades, but are less satisfied with […]

A Design Omission Does Not Automatically Create a Contract Ambiguity

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 5, 2008
Dick Pacific/GHEMM, JV (“Dick Pacific”) was the general contactor for the $138.3 Bassett Hospital at Fort Wainwright, AK.  The owner of the project was the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers.  Dick Pacific subcontracted the installation of the medical case work to ISEC, Inc. for $2.1 million. The disputes arose from contract drawings which showed a […]

Contractor Uses Measured Mile Method to Calculate Loss of Efficiency Cause by Differing Site Conditions

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 4, 2008
The Army Corps of Engineers ordered a dredging contract to Bay West, Inc. to remove and transport 170,000 CY dredged materials from the Mississippi River.  The specifications provided that although the contractor was responsible for determining the character of the existing material “for its own purposes,” the materials relocated could be assumed to consist of […]

Allocation of Concurrent Delay Damages on Construction Projects

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On March 3, 2008
When delay events interact, that is when two events or parties cause a delay to the critical path at the same time, the issue is often whether the concurrent delays can be apportioned between causes or parties. Concurrent Delay Defined: The simple definition of concurrent delay is the occurrence of two or more independent delay […]