Latest Construction Headlines

All the headlines from our Construction Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Streamline Coverage through a Controlled Insurance Program

Nov 18 2013 // Construction sites can be a flurry of activity. In addition to focusing on quality construction and completing projects on time, site owners must be sure risk management measures are sufficient. A Controlled Insurance...

New Programs, Flexibility Help Contractor Segment Rebuild

Nov 18 2013 // Those that specialize in the contractors and builders segment say a lot has changed in this class since 2007. The recession forced the insurance industry to be flexible and creative when it came to insuring this class,...

E&O Insights: What Could Go Wrong When Insuring Habitational?

Nov 4 2013 // Insuring habitational risks has generated more than its fair share of errors and omissions (E&O) claims. While there are a host of issues, consider these specific ones: valuation, ordinance or law coverage and...

Swiss Re Sees Emerging Market Construction Boosting Premiums

Oct 31 2013 // Swiss Re Ltd., the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, estimates $43 trillion in infrastructure investments related to urbanization in emerging markets through 2030 may translate into $68 billion in premiums for...

UPDATE: AIR Worldwide Reports on European Windstorm Christian

Oct 30 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide continued its analysis of Windstorm “Christian,” which smashed into southern Britain Monday, October 28, knocking over trees, flooding lowlands, and disrupting land, sea,...

Europe Battered by Winter Storm Christian: AIR Worldwide Analysis

Oct 29 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide reported that “winter storm ‘Christian’ (known as ‘St. Jude in the United Kingdom) battered the western shores of southern Great Britain early on Monday,...

California Construction Firm Owner, Family Sentenced for WC Fraud

Oct 22 2013 // The owner of a Northern California construction company and his family members in were convicted of committing workers’ compensation insurance premium fraud.Jeffrey Thranow, 59, owner of Costa Bella Builders was...

Green Insurance Market: Competitive and Growing

Oct 21 2013 // The green insurance market is a good market in every sense of the word. The green building industry is growing. The insurance market for green buildings — both residential and commercial property coverage — is also...

Report: Louisiana Could Have More Than 2M Jobs in 2015

Oct 18 2013 // Growth in the Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, La., areas is expected to help boost employment in Louisiana to an all-time high of more than 2 million jobs in 2015 in spite of plodding national growth, a new report...

South Carolina Eyes Raising Penalties to Improve Construction Zone Safety

Oct 18 2013 // A bill proposed by two state senators would increase fines and jail time for driving violations in construction zones in South Carolina.“It’s common sense to take these extra steps for safety,” Sen. Paul...

States Going After Employers Who Misclassify Workers as Independent Contractors

Oct 18 2013 // When construction slowed during the recession, some companies hired workers and wrongly designated them as independent contractors to avoid paying insurance, taxes, fair wages and overtime.Danny Odom, chief operating...

ACE Construction Practice Launches Catastrophe Services Through ESIS

Oct 18 2013 // ACE USA has launched catastrophe claims servicing capabilities specifically designed for the construction industry through ESIS Inc., a risk management services company owned by the ACE Group.The new offerings provide an...

2nd Worker Dies At 49ers Stadium Construction Site In California

Oct 16 2013 // All work has stopped at the new $1.2 billion San Francisco 49ers showcase stadium while police, firefighters and state workplace safety officials investigate a second deadly workplace accident there in less than four...

Swett & Crawford Forms Construction Industry Group Headed by Mastrolia

Oct 1 2013 // Wholesale broker Swett & Crawford has formed a Construction Industry Group to focus on providing insurance services to retail brokers and their clients who have construction-related exposures and issues. The nationwide...

Deciphering the Texas Supreme Court’s Decision in Lennar v. Markel

Oct 1 2013 // When the Texas Supreme Court decides to look at controversial insurance coverage issues, you can assume that their decisions will never be boring. Such was the case in its Aug. 23 decision in Lennar Corp. v. Markel...

N.J. Gov. Christie Signs Order to Quicken Dune Construction at Beaches

Sep 26 2013 // New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed an executive order to speed the construction of sand dunes to protect its coast from storms over the objections of beachfront homeowners worried about losing their ocean views.The...

Critics Say It’s Time for N.Y. to End 1885 Scaffold Law

Sep 23 2013 // Years before skyscrapers, when New York City’s tallest building was still the 281-foot spire of Wall Street’s historic Trinity Church, state lawmakers passed the Scaffold Law, which made property owners and...

Deciphering the Texas Supreme Court’s Decision in Lennar v. Markel

Sep 23 2013 // When the Texas Supreme Court decides to look at controversial insurance coverage issues, you can assume that their decisions will never be boring. Such was the case in its Aug. 23 decision in Lennar Corp. v. Markel...

Typhoon Usagi Heads Toward Taiwan and China: AIR Worldwide

Sep 20 2013 // AIR Worldwide’s latest report on Typhoon Usagi describes a “Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 204 km/h [127.5 mph].” It is “expected to strengthen over the coming days and could...

10 Things to Know About Residential Contractors

Sep 9 2013 // There is a key difference between an independent contractor and a subcontractor. An independent contractor relationship exists where there are two parties, such as the owner and the contractor. A subcontractor relationship...