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Hail Damage Insurance Claims (and Other Roof Damage Claims) - a Texas Construction Law Update Roof with Hail Damage Marked by Insurance AdjusterCase Summary On August 3, 2017, the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Fort Worth granted class certification against Lon Smith Roofing (LSRC), a prominent North Texas Roofer, for violation of the Texas Public Insurance Adjusting Act. Given the direction the courts in North Texas have gone in the past few years, the ruling is not a surprise. It is a …

The Skinny on Consequential Damages.By: Karen Ensley, Esq.What are consequential damages and why do they matter? To understand consequential damages, you first have to understand direct damages. Direct damages are those that you’d typically think of as damages for breach of the duties one party owes another. On a breach of contract claim, they’d include the cost to complete a project, to repair faulty work, and added supervision costs incurred because a project takes longer to complete. Or if …

OSHA Scaffolding Requirements - Tie Off LocationsIf you are using scaffolding more than one set high, it’s absolutely necessary that you are aware of the OSHA scaffolding requirements for tie offs. This is important not only for your safety and the safety of your crews, but also to keep you from receiving a citation from OSHA. Scaffolding becomes more unstable as you build it taller. According to OSHA, the scaffolding must be tied off at specific intervals as you go vertically up the wall. …

OK, unraveling may be too strong a term, but there is a lot of mystery surrounding the concepts of indemnity and defense. What are they and why should you care? You should care because they are in almost all commercial construction contracts and because generally the indemnity and defense obligations flow downstream from the Owner to the General to the subcontractor and beyond. For instance, the window contractor fails to properly install the window and rain leaks inside the building and dama …

By Karen Ensley, Board-Certified Construction Law Attorney Do  Match performance appraisals and performance plans to measurable objectives. Develop performance goals in an objective way so you can make meaningful assessments of performance. Align the results of the performance appraisal with other anticipated personnel decisions. It sends mixed messages if managers give employees poor performance appraisals and then reward employees with a promotion or raise. Make the perfo …