News & Publications

By: Daniel E. Fierstein and Jennifer M. Horn Banks do not typically loan money if they can not be assured “priority” status over any other encumbrances that may arise. “Priority” in this context refers to the order in which various ...

Independent insurance agencies, like many businesses engaged in the sale of products and services to the public, rely heavily upon the efforts of their producers to service the agencies’ existing customers as well as to bring new customers, ...

By: Lori Wisniewski Azzara and Robert G. Ruggieri Philadelphia City Counsel recently passed Bill No. 120428-A, which amends Chapter 9-3400 of The Philadelphia Code, to establish a system of benchmarking and reporting energy and water usage data for ...

By Mark J. Leavy and Marc Furman On July 5, 2012, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed into law the Public Works Employment Verification Act. The law will take effect January 1, 2013. The law requires contractors and subcontractors on “public ...

By: Steve Williams Pennsylvania now has a law that prescribes how landlords must handle a tenant’s abandoned property in certain circumstances. Senate Bill 887 was signed into law by Governor Corbett on July 5, 2012 (as Act 129-2012), becomes ...

By: Jason C. Tomasulo Governor Corbett recently signed legislation to encourage the financing and investment by private industry aimed at addressing Pennsylvania’s aging infrastructure needs, lack of adequate funding, and anticipated growing ...

By: Kathleen M. Morley and Jennifer M. Horn The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently issued a decision in the case of Bennett v. Masterpiece Homes et al. in which the Court found that an owner of a construction company personally assumed ...

By: Robert J. O’Brien and Robert G. Ruggieri In a matter of first impression in Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Court in Ribarchak v. Municipal Authority of the City of Monongahela recently addressed the issue of whether the use of a ...

By: Lane Kelman and Lori Wisniewski Azzara After three years of public hearings and input from industry specialists, the International Code Counsel (ICC) recently released the 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC), which is the first ...

By: Lane Kelman and Lori Wisniewski Azzara In its first-ever survey of green goods and service jobs, the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently reported that “green” jobs accounted for 2.4% of the nation’s total ...

Green building is more popular than ever, and achieving LEED certification for projects is a mark of distinction. Construction companies and developers need to understand how they can effectively manage the risks and reap the rewards of these ...

A federal appeals court has temporarily enjoined the April 30, 2012 deadline for employers to post the Notice of Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently ordered that the ...

By: Jason C. Tomasulo An amendment to the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA) has cut in half the amount of time a sub-subcontractor or supplier has to make a payment bond claim on public construction and transportation projects in Virginia. ...

By: Jennifer M. Horn and Robert Ruggieri Partner Evan A. Blaker recently joined Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC. We sat down with him to discuss his background and his thoughts on the state of the construction industry. Keep reading ...

By: Melissa Angeline The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently limited application of the prevailing wage law to multi-phase construction projects involving a mix of private and public funding. In 500 James Hance Ct. v. Pa. Prevailing Wage Appeals ...

By: Jennifer M. Horn As part of an ongoing series, Construction Law Signal will examine basic construction contract clauses and offer tips for navigating the nuanced arena that is the negotiated construction contract. “No Damage for Delay” ...

It goes without saying that subcontractor management is a tricky business for those who select and contract with subcontractors in these interesting economic times. The earlier a general contractor can recognize the warning signs of a ...

By: Lori Wisniewski Azzara and Jennifer M. Horn According to a recent report from the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED-certified existing buildings are outpacing their newly built counterparts for the first time. As of December 2011, the square ...

By: Jason C. Tomasulo Montgomery County, Maryland, recently simplified its construction permitting and inspection processes to better accommodate businesses and developers. Montgomery County consolidated the inspection of fire protection systems ...

I recently had the pleasure to chat with Robert W. Bertazon, founder of Maryland Construction Network, an innovative forum for the Maryland construction industry. I asked Mr. Bertazon to comment on the genesis of the Maryland Construction Network ...