Legal News

As was recently reported in Robinson+Cole’s Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Insider, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued two Final Rules for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), i.e., drones: (1) requiring Remote Identification (Remote ID Rule), and (2) authorizing small UAS (weighing less than 55 pounds) to fly over people and at night under certain conditions (Operations Over People and at Night Rule)....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

In December 2020, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) amended the small business size limit under the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program (section 1101(b) of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Pub. L. 114-94, Dec. 4, 2015)....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

Passed in 2010, the Massachusetts Prompt Pay Statute imposed specific requirements on owners, contractors and subcontractors of private projects over $3M with regard to submitting, processing and approving requests for payment and change orders. A recent decision by the Massachusetts Superior Court entitled, Tocci v. IRIV Partners, LLC, et. al. has confirmed that Massachusetts Courts intend to strictly construe the Statute’s terms....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

The results of a recently published study show that construction workers in Texas were more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared to the general population. An equally problematic finding is that the increased hospitalization of construction workers resulted in greater community spread of COVID-19....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

Pacta sunt servanda, i.e., agreements must be kept. This applies in both good economies and bad. Companies considering a modification of their business operations to offset lower revenue must be mindful of existing commercial contracts. Implicit in almost every New York agreement is a covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the course of performance. Output and requirements contracts are an exception, however....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

This week, in response to the emergence of COVID-19 hot spots in downstate New York, Governor Cuomo instituted a new “cluster action initiative” to “crush” the clusters and contain the spread. New rules and restrictions, to be “in effect for a minimum of 14 days”, are designed to directly target “areas with the highest concentration of COVID cases and the surrounding communities.”...By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

The commercial use of drones, or small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS), for urban real estate and construction may finally be gaining traction. This month, the New York City Council passed a bill requiring the Department of Buildings (DOB) to study the feasibility of using sUAS to inspect building facades....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has provided construction project owners, developers, general contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers, and vendors with a helpful reminder about obtaining effective additional insurance coverage on construction projects....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began affecting jobsites in the U.S., the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released, and revised, COVID-19-related workplace guidance several times (see, Additional OSHA Guidance on COVID-19)....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone

On July 24th, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed Executive Order No. 7JJJ, which creates a rebuttable presumption that all employees who worked on site and tested positive for COVID-19 during the first three months of the pandemic contracted the disease while on the job, giving employees a presumptive claim to workers’ compensation coverage....By: Robinson+Cole Construction Law Zone