Welcome to our 10th issue of The Site Report for the year.

The DRI Annual Meeting is happening right now in San Antonio, Texas and concludes tomorrow. In addition to being a sponsor, our Members Eric Kinder for the Labor & Employment Committee and Stephanie Eaton for the Construction Law Committee are attending. Stephanie is presenting today for the “Jeopardy” style presentation “I’ll Take ‘Coverage Conundrums’ for $1000.” If you are at the conference, please stop by and introduce yourself to Eric and/or Stephanie.

Looking forward, we are sponsoring the 8th Annual West Virginia Manufacturers Association's Annual Meeting and Winter Convention. This year's event will be held in Bridgeport, West Virginia on December 4 and 5. A multitude of topics will be discussed that could be of interest to you. Learn more and register here.

We hope you enjoy this issue and, as always, thank you for reading.

Stephanie U. Eaton - Co-Chair, Construction Group; Vice Chair of Southern Offices, Litigation Department; Editor, The Site Report

and

Julian E. Neiser - Co-Chair, Construction Group; Vice Chair of Northern Offices, Litigation Department

By Stephanie U. Eaton

Florida’s Construction Lien Law, F.S. 713.001 et seq., was recently amended and includes important changes effective October 1, 2023, about which contractors should know. The following is a brief summary of the changes for contractors working on projects in Florida.

Click here to read the entire article.

"As the need for climate-resilient infrastructure grows, the industry contends with changes in regulations, building strategies and risk."

Why this is important: In the immortal words of Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are a-Changin”. Regardless of the political spectrum you are on, it is clear from the climate data over the past 20 years summers are getting hotter, winter storms more intense, and hurricanes more powerful. This has led to local and state governments to tackle the climate change issue in the construction realm, which includes changing building codes and emission standards. If your company is not fully aware of these changes, you could be left holding the bag. That bag might include fines, having to redesign the building, denied permitting or at worst a tear down of the building. This article discusses the impact the construction industry has on climate change and some of the solutions/technologies that can be leveraged in the future. The lawyers at Spilman can help you navigate this evolving landscape so you aren’t left out in the cold. --- Matthew W. Georgitis

“Rapid urbanisation worldwide means every five days, the world adds buildings equivalent to the size of Paris, with the built environment sector already responsible for 37 per cent of global emissions.”

Why this is important: Carbon-neutral construction requirements pose an ongoing trend in many progressive states and countries, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (Yale CEA)’s recent report on this issue offers many ambitious goals for creating these requirements worldwide. While these ideals may be laudable, the difficult part of these programs—particularly in the context of government or public-private projects—is not completely handicapping the ability of the construction industry to actually construct projects while simultaneously dealing with innumerable restrictions imposed under the guise of environmental sustainability. It is already publicly well-known that certain cities’ carbon-neutral policies have fostered a near-complete inability to create necessities such as low-income housing in any form that resembles a timely, cost-efficient manner. If world governments are going to truly seek to create a “decarbonized” future, serious consideration will have to be given as to how to temper academia-driven policies with a dose of reality. --- James E. Simon

“Many county building departments across the U.S. are faced with the unenviable challenge of managing inspections—which are crucial to the safety and economic wellbeing of their county—with limited staff, budget and resources.”

Why this is important: The construction industry is filled with opportunities to leverage technology to increase productivity and accelerate project timelines, and one of the latest targets for integrating technology has been the code inspection process. Project delays due to inspector backlogs have long been an issue in the industry, and as rural development continues to grow and county building departments are stretched thin, remote inspections may be one of the answers to reducing the scheduling impacts government inspections cause on both residential and commercial projects. Like with any new technological integration, however, remote inspections come with their own roadblocks and risks. Without a physical on-site presence, inspectors may not be able to identify all of the issues they otherwise would have seen, and connectivity limitations may make remote inspections infeasible in some areas. Any county or municipal government interested in implementing remote inspections should establish thorough policies and procedures for remote inspections to mitigate these risks. At the same time, contractors and property owners should assess their procedures for inspections to ensure they are prepared for remote inspections and the potential issues that can arise. --- Steven C. Hemric

By Mark E. Heath

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing a number of new rules that all employers need to track and to be prepared to respond. Here is an update on four significant topics making their way through the rulemaking process. 

Click here to read the entire article.

By Joseph C. Unger

Effective January 1, 2024, most legal entities incorporated, organized, or registered to do business (i.e., LLCs, LLP, PLLC, Inc., Co., etc.) in a state must disclose information relating to its owners, officers, and controlling persons with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

Click here to read the entire article.

Jonathan A. Deasy

Senior Attorney

Pittsburgh, PA

office 412.325.3306

jdeasy@spilmanlaw.com

Jonathan is a Senior Attorney in our Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania office where his primary area of practice is litigation with particular emphasis on complex commercial and construction litigation.

His experience includes serving as second-chair trial attorney in a five-day AAA hearing resulting in a multi-million-dollar verdict, plus attorneys’ fees, on behalf of a local contractor involved in a commercial pipeline construction dispute; and representing construction industry clients in a variety of disputes, including breach of contract actions, mechanics’ lien filings, and insurance-related declaratory judgment proceedings. He also served as second-chair trial attorney and obtained jury verdict in a federal trademark and breach of contract action on behalf of national skill-game developer.

He is admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar; West Virginia State Bar; the United States District Courts for the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania; and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Jonathan received his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law.