Washington Construction Law Blog

July.   In this case, the design professional was sued for not adequately warning its client of the creeping costs associated with a dewatering system.

August.   The fabled Severin doctrine -- little noticed by Washington courts -- made not one but two appearances in 2007.

September.   The Supreme Court extended the Olympic Steamship doctrine to payment and performance surety bonds on construction projects.

October.   The insurance company in this case lost its ability to assert the "your work" exclusion as a coverage defense based on its bad faith meddling in the underlying litigation.

November.   The AGC broke with the AIA for the first time in 50 years and refused to endorse the 2007 modifications to the A201 and related forms.

December.  The biggest news happened this month.  See details below the fold.

This post summarizes the major developments from January though June 2007 as documented on this website.  Part 2 will cover July through December.

January.   The Supreme Court overruled the venerable "completion and acceptance" doctrine in January.  For contractors, this means that mere completion of the work is not a shield from third party tort claims for personal injury or damage.

February.   This Oregon case provided much needed guidance on the issue of whether -- and to what extent -- the prevailing wage rules apply to a public/private project where only a portion of the work is funded by public money.

March.   The Supreme Court took the next logical step in expanding the scope of the economic loss doctrine in the Alejandre case, holding that the doctrine applies to cut off claims for purely economic loss even in situations where the contract between the parties does not provide a remedy for economic losses.   A March bonus:  our "Mayhem in the Market" summary of which party bears the risk of volatile market fluctuations of material costs.