Washington Construction Law Blog : Washington Construction Lawyer & Attorney : Davis Wright Tremaine Law Firm : Serving Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Bellevue, Everett & Yakima

On June 8, Division I of the Court of Appeals issued an unreported decision on the challenge by STITA, the incumbent provider of taxi services for Sea-Tac Airport, to a procurement by the Port of Seattle that led to an award to a competitor. The Court affirmed the trial court's denial of injunctive relief to STITA, based primarily on STITA's failure to comply with what the Court termed a "clear" process for handling protests stated in an addendum to the solicitation. Although the decision is unpublished, we address it here because of the case's notoriety. You can view it here: Download file.

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On May 24, 2010, Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals held that where two claimants against a specialty contractor's bond have the same statutory priority, the first of the claimants does not gain priority by being the first to reduce the claim to judgment.  The case, Hosea v. Toth, can be viewed here:  Download file

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On Monday, April 19, King County filed a $74 million default termination suit against one of its Brightwater contractors and its surety. A copy of the complaint is available here.  Download file

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Here is Division 1's most recent analysis on the arcane but important issue of how many policy limits are available in a situation where a carrier issues multiple year-to-year CGL policies and the insured becomes legally obligated to pay for damage that occurs over those multiple year but results from the same continuous or repeated cause (i.e., water seepage). 

The answer, at least in this case with this policy language was:  1 policy limit, under the clause known as the anti-stacking provision.

Copy of opinion also available here Download file

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We missed April 1 this year, and vow not to do so in future.  To make up for that omission, in the "what were they thinking" department:  http://blog.miragestudio7.com/wp-content/uploads2/2007/09/construction_errors_error_mistake_slope_steep.jpg  We'd be curious to know how this ended up, if anyone knows.

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Following our post about the drop in construction spending, it is nice to note that the AGC has posted a nifty resource (called "Where's the Work") to help track current and upcoming public works projects.  The website can be accessed here:  http://www.agcwa.com/NewsandInfo/WherestheWork/

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It will come as no shock to most that construction spending is at its lowest since 2002.  http://www.djc.com/news/co/12016545.html?cgi=yes

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Governor Gregoire has signed several bills expanding the subpoena authority of various state agencies.  The new powers are intended to enable the agencies to investigate the underground economy, SHB 2789 (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2009-10/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Law%202010/2789-S.SL.pdf), and for the Dept. of Labor & Industries to enforce RCW 19.28 (electricians and electrical installations), SHB 2555 (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2009-10/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Law%202010/2555-S.SL.pdf).  Both bills are effective June 10, 2010.

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The American Institute of Architects reports that architectural billings -- an indicator of future construction work -- have improved, but not by much. http://www.aia.org/press/releases/AIAB082556

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