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The A.M. Best Co. sharply lowered to "weak" from "excellent" First Sealord Surety's credit rating, and the surety's apparent financial troubles have created problems for at least one general contractor with a few subs in default.Big sureties such as Travelers and Liberty Mutual have remained profitable through the economic downturn by sticking to tight underwriting standards. First Sealord, based in Villanova, Pa., serves contractors whose bonded contract value averages $429,000. Surety industry executives predict increasing defaults by small subcontractors in 2012.Sean Murphy, vice president of construction operations for Coastal Construction Group, Miami, says his company has a few subcontractors in
The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 9 heard oral arguments in a wetlands case that could have ramifications for the construction industry.The case pits an Idaho couple, Chantell and Michael Sackett, who planned to build a new home on a tract they had bought, against the Environmental Protection Agency, which issued a compliance order directing the couple to restore wetlands on that property. As they listened to the arguments by each side, several of the justices appeared to be sympathetic toward the Sacketts.A ruling in favor of the Sacketts would undermine EPA’s ability to control pollution and the destruction of
Related Links: U.S. Court of Appeals decision Neither industry nor environmentalists got all they had hoped for in a federal appeals court ruling in a case dealing with the Portland Cement Association's challenge to Environmental Protection Agency rules governing air emissions from cement kilns.In a Dec. 9 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided partly with PCA by blocking one EPA standard, but also agreed partly with EPA by letting two other rules stand.The ruling by a three-judge panel of the appellate court deals with two final EPA air-pollution rules issued in 2010: National
工程师和承包商可能会持有bag if the finances of state and local governments continue to deteriorate, risk experts warn.Government clients can be especially hard to collect from because they are unlikely to place money in escrow accounts. Private-sector protective measures, such as filing a pre-lien against assets, may not apply to public owners. Yet contractors and prime consultants may remain liable for paying subcontractors, consultants and suppliers.That was the grim assessment at the American Council of Engineering Companies' Oct. 19-22 fall conference in Las Vegas, where a panel explored ways of safeguarding against deadbeat government clients.
Prosecutors are pressing ahead with new charges against contractors for workplace-related accidents.James F. Lomma, a crane company owner who was charged last year in connection with a May 2008 crane accident in New York City that killed two workers, is scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 19. Paul Schechtman, an attorney representing Lomma's firm, has said there is no basis for criminal charges in the case.Lomma, 64, two other firms and a former employee have pleaded not guilty to charges that include second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault.Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said, “[The indictment] is an important
Related Links: 2010 Inspector General Report on Iraq Reconstruction Three former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project officials and two foreign contractor employees have been charged with 54 counts of bribery, fraud and conspiracy linked to $50.2 million worth of Corps construction contracts in Iraq, the U.S. Justice Dept. says. The new charges, unsealed on July 14, expand the list of defendants and their alleged offenses brought in a criminal complaint last October.Charged in the federal indictment are John A. Salama Markus and Onisem Gomez, two U.S. citizens and former Corps project engineers in Iraq. Also named is Ammar Al-Jobory,
A criminal jury trial in Denver began on May 31 against Xcel Energy Inc., Minneapolis, and its local subsidiary Public Service Co. of Colorado, over a combined 10 federal safety violations that led to five worker deaths on Oct. 2, 2007. Five painters, ranging in age from 19 to 52, died when they were overcome by carbon monoxide when a fire erupted while they were spraying an epoxy coating sealant inside a 12-ft-dia., 4,000-ft-long water drainage pipe, or penstock, at an Xcel facility. The accident occurred at the 44-year-old, 1.2-MW Cabin Creek hydroelectric plant, located 35 miles west of Denver.
A ready-mix concrete company in Iowa has pleaded guilty to anti-trust charges. According to the May 18 complaint, GCC Alliance Concrete Inc., Orange City, Iowa, conspired with other competitors to fix prices and rig bids between January 2008 and August 2009. Sentencing is pending. The plea bargain comes after GCC’s former sales manager Steven VandeBrake was sentenced in February to serve 48 months in prison and a criminal fine of $829,715.