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Few issues have demanded the attention of the SBCA Board of Directors more over the past five years than the variability of lumber design values. SBCA Legal Counsel Kent Pagel provided guidance to component manufacturers (CMs) on ways to mitigate the potential risk and liability that have arisen in the market as a result of how the lumber industry has chosen to deal with the issue of variable design properties.
We received a lot of positive feedback from readers about an article in the April issue regarding a component manufacturer’s product defect negligence lawsuit. While this is not the industry’s first escape from a negligence or breach of warranty finding as a result of proper risk management procedures, it’s a very timely lesson for us. As SBCA Legal Counsel Kent Pagel explains in Important Legal Trends for 2011, the building industry is in another litigious cycle. Many of you pointed to the moral of the story: That the value of providing SBCA Jobsite Packages with all component orders cannot be overstated.
- Find out what qualities to look for in a good safety leader in Safety Scene.
- Understand your jobsite liability and what to do to minimize it from Kent Pagel on page 28.
- The story of how one manufacturer saved themselves nearly $40,000 in fines and citations by inviting OSHA into its facility.
How two CMs approach data, and the important role it plays
- WTCA Legal Counsel Kent Pagel has presented many of the risk management and liability avoidance programs, which will soon be available online in an up-dated and modified format.
- At BCMC 2004, one question in the Manufacturers’ Roundtable was the im-portance of handling truss collapses proactively and the need to establish guidelines on how to properly conduct truss collapse investigations.
- The SBCA Legislative Conference in May gave participants firsthand experience with the changes in Washington, DC.
- The Employee Free Choice Act of 2009 (EFCA) is a hot issue that needs your attention. Learn more about it in an online bonus feature at www.sbcmag.info.
- SBCA Legal Counsel Kent Pagel reminds us that using JOBSITE PACKAGES provides you with a “golden defense” in the courtroom.
- Online Risk and Liability Management Best Practices for the Structural Compon-ent Manufacturing Industry, or ORisk, is currently in development and scheduled to be release within the next month.
- Phase 1 of ORisk contains the foundation content necessary to understand more advanced risk management.
- Any employee who works closely with risk management, claims handling, in-surance, safety and customer contracts should consider viewing Phase 1.
- Online Risk and Liability Management Best Practices for the Structural Compon-ent Manufacturing Industry, or ORisk, is currently in development and scheduled to be release within the next month.
- Phase 1 of ORisk contains the foundation content necessary to understand more advanced risk management.
- Any employee who works closely with risk management, claims handling, in-surance, safety and customer contracts should consider viewing Phase 1.
Here’s a game plan for surviving construction defect litigation.
Here’s a powerful example of how to develop a strong safety culture
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is continuing efforts to strictly enforce regulations pertaining to Form I-9. USCIS states the I-9 “is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States.”
Relationships with other component manufacturers (CMs), and suppliers help our company to be proactive instead of reactive.
It is reasonable for component manufacturers (CMs) to expect to get paid for the hard work they do and the quality structural components they produce.
- Ward shares an experience where a customer contract had the potential to severely damage a balance sheet.
- Don’t be afraid to admit that you do not understand contract language; if you do not, seek out legal assistance.
- SBCA’s ORisk program can help with contract fundamentals.
For decades, SBCA Jobsite Packages have helped component manufacturers (CMs) provide handling and installation guidance to their customers with every order. These pre-assembled packages of instruction documents, attached to truss deliveries in a zippered plastic bag, are now available in a digital format.
The 2018 Major League Baseball season just got underway a few days ago, and with it, opportunities for component manufacturers across the country to get together, share best practices, learn about new trends, socialize and relax.
The true test of someone’s character, or something’s value, is not when times are going well but when there is a crisis.
Builder complaints regarding the growth of surface mold on the lumber contained within wood structural components, while not as frequently encountered as in the past, continue to pose a dilemma in some markets. The dilemma comes in the form of builders either demanding moldfree wood based products, or when mold appears on a component at the jobsite, they are demanding that suppliers provide an immediate remediation (e.g., removal) of the mold, regardless of the cause or the cost. And, where structures are improperly designed or constructed and mold growth appears years later, component manufacturers (CMs) have found themselves into construction defect litigation with various types of complaints being asserted.
Don't miss all that this year's show has to offer in New Orleans!
Do you know how much coverage you have or what to do if a collision occurs?
Early in the new year is always a great time to make resolutions on how to improve your life (and your business). Here’s a look at five powerful things component manufacturers (CM) can resolve to do in 2015.
- Not stating a SOW can also subject a CM to the prospect of increased claims and liability.
- A manufacturer should strongly consider developing a SOW template that can be used in its bids or proposals and as an addendum or attachment to the customer contracts it signs.
Mold can be found almost anywhere and can grow on virtually any substance, provided moisture is present. Several lumber associations are knowledgeable on this topic, including the American Forest & Paper Association's (AF&PA’s) American Wood Council (AWC), the Western Wood Products Association (WWPA), the Canadian Wood Council (CWC), and the Southern Pine Council (SPC). Surface molds, which can come from a variety of sources including airborne spores, feed off of the sugars and starches readily available in wood. Thus mold can and will occur naturally on lumber under certain conditions, normally due to the presence of moisture in or on the wood and warm temperatures. Therefore, component manufacturers and lumber dealers must realize that all lumber and wood components are susceptible to mold growth.
Knowing what your Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy can provide in terms of a construction defect lawsuit defense and payment is crucial.
With many property owners still owing more than their properties are worth, combined with the run-up in construction in the mid-2000s and resulting poor quality in many instances, I am led to conclude that thousands of construction defect suits will likely be filed in the next two or three years. Anti-construction defect litigation statutes adopted in many states will have little effect in stemming the tide. Component manufacturers will be among the many in the construction chain having to figure out how to defend and extricate themselves from such suits.
Knowing what your Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy can provide in terms of a construction defect lawsuit defense and payment is crucial. Understanding the degree to which many insurance companies will go to neither defend nor pay on construction defect claims is even more important. Far too many construction subcontractors and suppliers, including component manufacturers, are, in my opinion, naive when it comes to knowing what to expect from, and how to effectively manage, their insurance companies over a construction defect lawsuit.
The below article is an update of the article, "Who's Mold Is It?" published in the January/February 2003 edition of SBC Magazine.
Mold contamination is becoming a nationwide concern among homeowners and builders. Mold in homes and mold lawsuits have gained extensive media coverage from talk shows to feature articles in national publications. Even Erin Brockovich is making news in the mold litigation arena. Insurance companies are becoming increasingly concerned as well. They feel that they are unfairly bearing the brunt of the expense in remediating mold, thereby leading to revisions in homeowner and builder/contractor liability policies.
There was so much information to absorb at this year’s show! And there are more resources online to help you catch up on anything you missed.
Working with city officials to understand the drawbacks to sealed TPDs