Articles Posted in Construction Generally

On November 20, 2012, the California Contractors State License Board posted an Industry Bulletin alerting licensees and applicants alike to a recent scam involving fraudulent calls asking licensees or applicants for their credit card information over the phone in connection with renewing their licenses, obtaining continuing education credits, or taking licensing exams. CSLB Registrar Steve Sands has confirmed that at least one “unscrupulous company” has used information from the CSLB’s website to contact licensees or applicants “to mislead and scam them.” The CSLB confirmed that it “will never ask for credit card information over the phone, nor will they process any payment over the phone.” CSLB fees are only payable through the mail via check or at CSLB headquarters via cash, check, or credit card. Moreover, there are no continuing education requirements to renew a CA CSLB license.

The CSLB confirmed that although California Business and Professions Code § 7080.5 requires it to make public the name and address of every accepted application for a license, and that it intends to continue to post this information, it could change its process if applicants continue to be preyed upon by unscrupulous companies. To read a copy of the Industry Bulletin, click here. To read additional CA CSLB 2012 Industry Bulletins, click here.

On the eleventh anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, One World Trade Center steadily progresses toward a late 2013 completion date. The spire on top of the 104-story skyscraper will reach 1,776 feet, a symbolic reference to America’s independence. David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Architect, is the architect for One World Trade Center, and Tishman Construction is the primary contractor. Although reports vary, the final construction cost of the tower will be close to $4 billion. The current images of One World Trade Center are inspiring and an uplifting image on this day of remembrance.

On June 14th, President Obama joined Governor Cuomo, Governor Christie and Mayor Bloomberg to see first-hand the tower’s progress. The President added a personal touch to one of the final steel beams to be installed at the top of the skyscraper by including the following signed message: “We remember We rebuild We come back stronger! Barack Obama.” One World Trade Center will be surrounded by three additional high-rise office buildings and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

While the tenth anniversary of 9/11 put the memorial on full display, the 100,000-square-foot museum is currently behind schedule. Delayed by funding, oversight, and financing, construction of the museum came to a halt after the tenth anniversary. On Monday night, however, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Foundation (chaired by Mayor Bloomberg) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (controlled by Mayors Cuomo and Christie) signed a memorandum of understanding, resolving the outstanding issues. The parties negotiated additional payments from the September 11 foundation, in an attempt to ensure that no additional public funds are needed to complete the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Originally planned to open today on the eleventh anniversary, the museum is now likely to open at the end of 2013.

When trouble, in the form of adverse changes in financial conditions or the property marketing environment, strikes during the period between construction contract signing and completion of procurement and construction activities, the developer often will have to consider taking the course of action that will maximize value for all stakeholders. Ultimately, it may reluctantly determine that the construction contracts and work should be suspended for some period of time or terminated altogether. Our white paper Shutting Down the Construction Project, updated to include California’s mechanic’s lien laws effective July 1, 2012, outlines significant issues that an owner should consider when suspending or terminating a California commercial construction project.

Things to consider include providing notice of the suspension/termination, if the contract is suspended, keeping the contract and subcontracts in effect, and closing out the claims exposure. Similar principles apply to projects in other states and projects of a residential, industrial or public nature. As becomes quickly apparent, the laws governing these issues are highly technical and often impose short deadlines for compliance, and also pose signfiicant risk to owners and contractors for non-compliance. To learn more about this, click here to our white paper.

• Whose turn is it to take out the trash? With no “rules” about floating debris, the Headquarters for Ocean Policy is faced with a dilemma – who should bear the cost of cleaning up the millions of tons of debris that originated in Japan after the tsunami and is expected to land on the U.S. west coast in the fall? The floating debris pile approaching the U.S. includes, among other things, houses and cars.
• And in other floating-related news…the government of the Maldives has decided to replace the sinking islands with man-made floating islands. Designers plan “to construct the floating islands in India or the Middle East and tow them to the Maldives to reduce costs.”
• Meanwhile, on solid ground… engineers report the Washington Monument did not sink during the earthquake that hit DC last year. We previously reported on this issue here.

The Olympics are in full swing, with the world’s attention on the playing fields and pools dotting the United Kingdom. But how about the venues themselves, how green are they? The London Organizing Committee planned the Games with a green tint, focusing on sustainable principles for everything from stadium construction, food service, and the use of public transportation. Plus, the large number of preexisting venues around the city (tennis at Wimbledon, for example) made some additional construction unnecessary.

Planning for Green – The Organizing Committee took the forward-thinking step of setting up the London Legacy Development Corporation three years ahead of the Games, which has focused on long-term uses of the Olympic venues after the torch is passed to Russia’s winter Olympics. The Development Corporation’s plans for housing and parks were developed with an eye to rebuilding parts of London, particularly East London. The Organizing Committee even took the extra step of working with the Independent Standards Organization to develop a global standard for sustainable event management, now known as ISO 20121:2012.

Green Building – Venues constructed for the games include a number of innovative green features. The roof of Olympic Stadium, for example, was constructed from unwanted gas pipes from the North Sea and over 40% of the concrete used for construction is made of recycled materials. While the question remains as to whether this much new construction can ever be considered truly sustainable when developed for a single mega-event, the Organizing Committee took great steps to reduce waste. Many Olympic venues that do not have long-term uses were built only to be used for the Games and will then be taken apart and their materials will be reused.

Looks like a tough act to follow for Sochi and Rio.

Throughout the world, the popularity of “green roofs” is on the rise. ENR.com reports that green roofs are being used to mitigate various environmental problems facing urban areas, most notably, storm water management. According to the EPA, green roofs also help combat a problem known as “Heat Island Effect” by removing heat from the air through evapotranspiration. This process reduces temperatures of both the roof surface and the surrounding air, allowing the surface temperature of a green roof to be lower than the surrounding air temperature on a hot day. Other benefits of green roofs include corrosion protection, noise reduction, energy efficiency, and improved air quality. And the uses for green roofs vary widely from practical to pure entertainment. The ENR.com article notes that the largest green roof project currently underway in the United States – the Croton Water Filtration Plant in Bronx County, New York City – will include a 36,512-sq-m golf driving range.

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, one of a number of groups advocating for the increased use of green roofs in construction, defines a green roofing system as an “extension of the existing roof which involves a high quality water proofing and root repellant system, a drainage system, filter cloth, a lightweight growing medium and plants.” Green roofing systems may be modular (with drainage layers, filter cloth, and growing plants already prepared in movable, interlocking sections), or the elements of the system may be installed separately. Green roofs can be used on a wide variety of buiildings, from private residences to industrial complexes, and the vegetation sustained thereon can range from simple groundcover to tall trees.

While typically more expensive to install than a traditional roofing system, proponents say that green roofs pay for themselves in terms of increased property value, aesthetic appeal, reduced heating and cooling costs, and extended life of the roofing materials. Many cities throughout the U.S. and abroad (particularly in Europe) already promote the use of green roofs – either through mandates or incentives. And the use of green roofs is only expected to increase as green infrastructure continues to gain political support.