ASHRAE Publishes 189.1: A Code-Enforceable Standard for Green Buildings
Office and Commercial Construction Spending May Fall 13%
AASHTO Predicts Top 10 Transportation Topics for 2010
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 used infrastructure spending as a key component of stimulating the U.S. economy, which focused much needed attention on the state of the country’s infrastructure. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has released its forecast of the top 10 transportation topics that will be part of the national debate in 2010.
Among the forecasted topics are:
- the adoption of a long-term transportation funding bill;
- adoption of a new jobs creation bill (an extension of the ARRA); and
- a new era for high-speed rail funding.
AASHTO also predicts that Congress will take additional action to require reduced emissions to address climate change concerns. Perhaps the most interesting development is that 80% of state DOTs are using Twitter as well as other social media tools to release information on traffic incidents, road closings, weather emergencies, and other transportation related information.
Visit the CE News site for the complete list of predictions.
Radon Can be Problematic to Architects and Engineers
January is National Radon Action month. Design firms might not consider radon a major risk to their profitability but radon claims can create a significant professional liability problem. According the EPA, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the US and the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among non-smokers. Usually radon problems are identified in new housing. The naturally occurring radioactive gas is often released by excavations and, unless it is isolated or evacuated, seeps into housing through floor slabs. There are, of course, training courses for builders to identify and remedy radon infiltration problems, and there often are state requirements for real estate professionals to have homes tested for radon during any residential sales transaction.
Radon can create more than a health problem—claims can be brought against architecture and engineering firms. The claims are not only related to single-family residential construction and are not only against builders who do not use radon-resistant construction techniques. Most situations involve residential units but those units could be in high-rise condos as well as townhomes or garden apartments. At times, radon is brought to the site in the form of rock fill. There is no duty on the part of architects and engineers to test for radon or to routinely specify radon containment or elimination systems in new construction. But any indication that radon might be a problem on the site (such as from problems on adjacent sites) or any client requirement to consider radon as a pollutant to be evaluated during the design should trigger additional attention and services. Claims against design firms because later tests have shown radon levels that exceed the safe amount can be costly to defend and if real bodily injury has occurred because of exposure, costly to settle. While such bodily injury claims are rare, cost recovery claims by developers are not. Firms should be concerned that they do not become targets for developers who intend to pass on their problems and exposure.
Monitoring Government Construction Statistics Can be Revealing
Predicting the future of the economy is more an art than a science. Documenting the performance of the economy, however, is simply an accounting process, and like much of accounting can indicate disheartening results.
The Commerce Department recently released the November construction spending statistics. It reported that construction activity, despite the massive about of stimulus spending fell for a seventh consecutive month. Spending on both residential and commercial project declined. As expected, spending on housing fell. This time by the largest amount in six months. Non-residential construction also fell for the eighth consecutive month. Although government statistics have given economists the confidence to state that the recession is over, the weakness in the construction sector dims the prospects for a recovery that is strong enough to reduce unemployment and lift consumer confidence.
A New Decade, a New Focus
Bringing this blog back to life
A new year, a new decade, and with it, a new focus and commitment to this blog. With Guidelines for Improving Practice published quarterly, we want to use this blog to report on developing stories and timely news events to help keep our insureds and brokers up-to-date on matters important to their practices.
Our plan is to publish at least one new entry per week, and then build from there. We already have entries in our pipeline, which you'll be seeing in the next couple of days. We hope you'll sign up for the RSS feed to this blog. If not, make it a point to check back often for regular updates.
As with all of our publications and resources, we don't dictate practice to our insureds. We simply want to help firms manage their professional risks and improve their profitability by reducing the probability of claims. This blog is only one tool we provide.