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Between Biden’s “most pro-union president ever” term and Trump’s recent federal policy changes done more by chainsaw than scalpel, Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) have endured a tumultuous path recently. Used primarily on construction projects, PLAs refer to pre-hire contractor collective bargaining...
Earlier this year, the American Institute of Architects (“ AIA”) released updated form contract documents for traditional design-build (“ Traditional DB”) construction projects and introduced a new set of progressive design-build (“ Progressive DB”) forms. In a design-build project, the owner...
In a flurry of executive orders starting at inauguration, the Trump White House has dramatically shifted administrative agencies’ operations, including those of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and its implementation of the pending “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in...
The 2025 steel and aluminum tariffs are already reshaping cost structures in the construction sector, adding financial pressures to an industry that had hoped for more stability this year. On March 4, 2025, the U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico, with a...
On February 1, 2025, President Donald Trump terminated Rohit Chopra’s tenure as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Early on the morning of February 3, 2025, the CFPB issued a press release noting that recently-confirmed Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent had been...
“Substantial Completion” is a critical concept in construction contracts and one as to which parties often have contrary conceptions. Finding a definition of Substantial Completion acceptable to both the owner and the construction contractor on a project (not to mention one that aligns with the term...
On August 21, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an enforcement action against Fay Servicing, a nonbank mortgage servicer, for alleged violations of federal mortgage servicing laws and non-compliance with a 2017 CFPB order. As part of this action, the CFPB has imposed a...
Section 179D of the Internal Revenue Code, first enacted in 2006, grants qualifying building owners or tenants of commercial buildings a federal tax deduction for the installation of energy-efficient features and systems in existing or new-build projects. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”)...
Flow-down (or “pass-through” or “conduit”) clauses are a common feature in construction contracts, particularly in projects involving multiple tiers of contracts. These clauses are intended to ensure the terms and conditions between the prime contractor and owner apply to all lower tiers of...
On February 16, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued revisions to its supervisory appeals process. The Bureau’s supervisory appeals process has not changed since 2015, and the Bureau’s announcement notes that these new revisions “broaden the Bureau officials eligible to evaluate...
On November 30, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Acuity v. M/I Homes of Chicago, LLC, et al., 2023 IL 129087 with significant implications for insurance coverage of construction defects under commercial general liability (CGL) policies.
A recent Maryland appellate decision arising from an insurance company’s exercise of subrogation rights against negligent subcontractors in connection with tornado damage to a warehouse illustrates the pitfalls of waiver of subrogation clauses in construction contracts. In XL Insurance America, Inc...
In a recent decision by the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the court interpreted Illinois law and clarified the rights and obligations of owners, their insurers and public adjusters in the situation in which the public adjuster is identified as a co-payee on a check paying insurance proceeds...