http://shccinc.com Practical Solutions To Building Performance Issues Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:31:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Public.Resource.Org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to making the governing laws of the U.S.A. available to the public that those laws apply to. As they point out here, there are numerous companies that profit greatly by making these documents available (West Law, Lexis Nexis), but at a high ... http://shccinc.com/2008/07/05/2007-cbc/ Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have been in a dispute with Ketchum, Idaho based Storey Construction, Inc. over the construction of their Sun Valley, Idaho home. Hanks and his wife were ordered to pay $1.85M to the firm in 2004, but filed a request for arbitration, alleging latent defects. After ... http://shccinc.com/2008/06/27/tom-hanks/ Wired Magazine has a video gallery profiling the testing and analysis work conducted at the NIST's Building and Fire Research Laboratory's Fire Dynamics and Smokeview software modeling and laboratory fire testing experiments. The BFRL provide invaluable data for manufacturers, contractors and others in the building industry to further fire safety ... http://shccinc.com/2008/06/21/fire/ "Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether the leading concrete testing company in the New York area, which has been hired to measure and analyze the strength of the concrete poured at some of the biggest construction projects in the city, failed to do some tests and falsified others, officials involved in ... http://shccinc.com/2008/06/21/concrete-testing/ ???????? ????? ????????From lippeatt.com http://shccinc.com/2008/05/24/how-not-to-transport-a-ladder/ The great folks over at the Washington Construction Law Blog posted a series of photos entitled, "the contractor read the plans a tad too literally." Although humorous, this is actually a common situation that has led to more than a few construction defects. Sometimes the construction documents produced by the ... http://shccinc.com/2008/05/24/photos-the-contractor-read-the-plans-a-tad-too-literally/ This is an interesting article by Kelly Johnson from the Sacramento Business Journal that discusses the state of the construction defect litigation industry with regards to the key factors that are currently in play: the home buying slowdown, SB800, and the insurance industry. California's residential construction industry is approaching uncharted waters ... http://shccinc.com/2008/05/21/sbj_cd-lit/ "In a case that is being closely watched in the multi-family housing industry, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday released its opinion affirming the lower court’s holding that the 2-year statute of limitations for a private civil action alleging violation of the Fair Housing Act’s accessibility requirements for design ... http://shccinc.com/2008/05/13/garcia-v-brockway/ A fascinating list of the most significant engineering failures over the last three decades compiled by Muhammed Abduh at the Integrity Engineering Blog. Umm Said Qatar - April 3, 1977 (Weld Failure, Gas Processing Plant, 3 killed, US$ 76,350,000/179,000,000) Abqaiq Saudi Arabia - April 15, 1978 (Corrosion, Gas Processing Plant, US$ ... http://shccinc.com/2008/05/11/50-major-engineering-failures/ This doesn't have much to do with construction defects, but it is interesting nonetheless. Creative Home Engineering creates secret passageways, and they do it with style. Below is a quote from an older article that appeared in Phoenix's East Valley Tribune: "After crossing the short hallway to the master suite, she ... http://shccinc.com/2008/05/01/creative-home-engineering-one-of-a-kind/ From the Las Vegas Business Press: The number of local construction-defect lawsuits has risen alongside the valley's population. And one reason for this may be the heavy regulatory burden assumed by the area's building and safety officials who oversaw all the area development. County officials say that at the height of the ... http://shccinc.com/2008/04/27/ghosts-from-the-boom/ The ABA Journal has an article in the February 2008 issue by David Gialanella, discussing the billable hour alternatives employed by some innovative law firms. The billable hour is the dandelion of law practice: pervasive and not so popular. So, when seeking to avoid the neg ative effects of a system that provides the ... http://shccinc.com/2008/04/23/taming-the-billable-beast/ "A case heard last week by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals involving a North Las Vegas apartment complex has potential for 'groundbreaking' ramifications, a local attorney for one of the defendants said Monday. "An organization for disabled citizens has sued multiple defendants who had any part in designing and ... http://shccinc.com/2008/04/19/case-seen-as-groundbreaking/ From the AFP: Renowned French designer Philippe Starck says he is fed up with his job and plans to retire in two years, in an interview published in a German weekly on Thursday. "I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact," Starck told Die Zeit weekly newspaper. "Everything ... http://shccinc.com/2008/04/14/philippe-starck-tells-magazine-design-is-dead/ Weve gathered all the best construction jokes from all over for your amusement. Here you will find construction worker jokes, architect jokes, engineer jokes, plumber jokes, funny worksite jokes, blonde construction worker jokes, project manager jokes, you name it, if its a joke about construction, here it is. If you have a ... http://shccinc.com/2008/04/14/worlds-largest-collection-of-construction-and-contractor-jokes/ The lawsuit over the controversial public works project, the Big Dig, has concluded with a settlement. The project has been plagued by construction defects resulting in damage and in one case, the loss of a human life. The two companies that managed the design and construction of the costly Big ... http://shccinc.com/2008/01/24/big-dig-settlement/ If these walls could talk, the previous homeowner wouldn't have felt the need to leave a letter. The secret room in the old mill home on Whitten Street in Greenville's Dunean section contained a handwritten letter from the previous owner titled, "You Found It!" "Hello. If you're reading this, then you found ... http://shccinc.com/2008/01/20/hidden-room-hidden-danger/ Undersize gusset plates in the Interstate 35-W bridge in Minneapolis were "the critical factor" in the bridge collapse last year that killed 13 people and injured 100, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. Chairman Mark Rosenker said the plates, which connected steel beams, were roughly half the thickness they should ... http://shccinc.com/2008/01/20/bridge-collapse/ Buildings rot - it's a matter of fact rather than a matter of time. Defects like leaking roofs and windows, breaking insulating, concrete cracks, unfinished finishes and many more wait to be discovered before warranty ends. However, it's not only the buildings' age, but the result of increased planning and cost ... http://shccinc.com/2008/01/20/construction-defect-card-game/ Ernest Svenson, an attorney in New Orleans at the forefront of using technology in the legal industry, recently taught a CLE for Louisiana attorneys on the concept of Digital Workflow. As part of the reference materials for his talk, he used the above clip that highlights the perils of new ... http://shccinc.com/2007/12/24/medieval-help-desk/ Apparently it is possible to use optical fiber as an admixture in concrete to create a translucent material that retains the structural and plastic properties of concrete but allows limited light to pass through. Just imagine what Frank Lloyd Wright would have done with a product such as this: "TranslucentConcrete is ... http://shccinc.com/2007/12/18/translucentconcrete/ This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: http://shccinc.com/2007/12/18/schaffer-mediation-presentation/ Here are some links to some interesting articles related to residential construction, design and innovative new products: $50 Million for Drywall? Serious Materials is a company that is best known for sound attenuation construction products. Recently they announced development of a new type of drywall that will take 90% less energy ... http://shccinc.com/2007/11/11/fall-design-links/ "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is suing renowned architect Frank Gehry, alleging serious design flaws in the Stata Center, a building celebrated for its unconventional walls and radical angles. "The school asserts that the center, completed in spring 2004, has persistent leaks, drainage problems and mold growing on its brick exterior. ... http://shccinc.com/2007/11/07/frank-gehry-construction-defect-lawsuit-defendant/ This story sort of speaks for itself. In the UK, home improvement salesman do not appreciate soliciting multiple quotes. "A double glazing salesman launched a violent assault on a customer moments after discovering they had spoken to a rival company, a court was told yesterday." Link to Article http://shccinc.com/2007/10/25/dual-glazing-fisticuffs/ OK folks, these things are dangerous. We have seen these collapsible/folding ladders before on inspections. Some are better than others at promoting self injury and property destruction. Choose wisely. Link to Video http://shccinc.com/2007/10/18/caveat-emptor-collapsible-ladders-are-dangerous/ As a follow up to the previous post, here are some more links. This time we're catching up on links related specifically to construction litigation and construction defect litigation. First up is a story that has come up before. It involves a homeowner, a builder, some defective construction and a binding ... http://shccinc.com/2007/10/08/construction-defect-links/ We're catching up on some stories that have been circulating around the internet. In this post we'll tackle some of the hot new products in the world of tools. At the top of this year's holiday wish list for anyone in the construction defect investigation business is the Rigid SeeSnake micro ... http://shccinc.com/2007/10/08/tools/ This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: http://shccinc.com/2007/09/25/bickett/ A section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge's upper deck was replaced in one large operation over the Labor Day weekend. This is truly an amazing engineering feat. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission that oversees the project captured the event using time-lapse photography and posted it on their site. Below is ... http://shccinc.com/2007/09/18/bay-bridge-deck-replacement-time-lapse-photography/