CONSTRUCTION LAW UPDATE: Case Law & Legislation Affecting the Construction Industry (2015-2016)
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CONSTRUCTION LAW UPDATE: Case Law & Legislation Affecting the Construction Industry (2015-2016) Presented by Division 10 – Energy and Environment Matthew J. DeVries, Editor Burr & Forman LLP 511 Union Street, Suite 2300 Nashville, TN 37219 (615) 724-3235 [email protected] _____________ Amber D. Floyd, Executive Editor Wyatt Tarrant & Combs LLP 1715 Aaron Brenne Drive Memphis, TN 38120 (901) 537-1054 [email protected] _____________ Rhonda Caviedes, Division 10 Chair CB&I 2103 Research Forest Drive The Woodlands, TX 77380 (832) 513-1042 [email protected] EDITION INTRODUCTION Division 10 is proud to present the Tenth Edition of the annual publication, Construction Law Update: Case Law & Legislation Affecting the Construction Industry (2015-2016). Can you believe it has been ten years already? For this special anniversary, Division 10 has published a limited number of hard-copies to be distributed at the Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. The Construction Law Update has become a hot item, requested by many construction practitioners throughout the country. Along with this year’s update, you can get access to the archive of previous updates (2006-2014) on Division 10's main website at: http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=CI110000 If you are a regular contributor, we thank you again for your help and we look forward to another year of assistance. If you are a first time reader of the Construction Law Update and you see a “hole” where your state should be included, then perhaps you are the one to bring us updates throughout the year. It only takes a few hours of your time and you will be assisting your fellow colleagues tremendously. You could also be named as the state representative with Division 10’s Listserve for the Construction Law Update. Personally, I would like to thank Amber Floyd for providing invaluable time and effort for bringing this year’s update to publication. She worked tirelessly throughout the year to make sure the updates “keep coming in” from the contributors. The Editorial Team would also like to thank all the volunteers and contributors for their efforts this year. The submissions in this publication are made throughout the 2015-2016 year, which means that some legislation may have passed, been rejected, or even tabled since the publication of this update. The case law and legislation included in this update are not intended to be an exhaustive compilation of every construction-related decision or legislative enactment from within a particular jurisdiction. We rely heavily on our authors to submit timely and accurate information. It is written by you and for you! If you would like to join this great team of contributors and authors, please contact one of our editors. Have a great year! Matthew J. DeVries Editor TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTRIBUTORS ..................................................................................... iii CONSTRUCTION LAW UPDATE Alabama ............................................................................................ 1 Alaska ............................................................................................... 4 Arizona .............................................................................................. 5 California ........................................................................................... 8 Colorado ......................................................................................... 13 Connecticut ..................................................................................... 20 Delaware ......................................................................................... 23 Florida ............................................................................................. 24 Georgia ........................................................................................... 28 Hawaii ............................................................................................. 38 Idaho ............................................................................................... 39 Illinois .............................................................................................. 40 Indiana ............................................................................................ 41 Kansas ............................................................................................ 45 Kentucky ......................................................................................... 46 Louisiana ........................................................................................ 49 Maine .............................................................................................. 56 Maryland ......................................................................................... 56 Massachusetts ................................................................................ 58 Michigan ......................................................................................... 59 Minnesota ....................................................................................... 62 Mississippi ...................................................................................... 65 Missouri .......................................................................................... 66 Montana .......................................................................................... 70 Nebraska ........................................................................................ 71 Nevada ........................................................................................... 72 New Hampshire .............................................................................. 74 New Jersey ..................................................................................... 75 New Mexico .................................................................................... 77 New York ........................................................................................ 78 North Carolina ................................................................................. 80 Ohio ................................................................................................ 91 i Pennsylvania .................................................................................. 92 Rhode Island ................................................................................... 96 South Carolina ................................................................................ 98 South Dakota ................................................................................ 102 Tennessee .................................................................................... 102 Texas ............................................................................................ 109 Utah .............................................................................................. 111 Vermont ........................................................................................ 114 Virginia .......................................................................................... 114 Washington ................................................................................... 116 West Virginia ................................................................................. 120 Wisconsin ..................................................................................... 122 Wyoming ....................................................................................... 133 ii CONTRIBUTORS State Author Alabama Bradley Smith, Hand Arendall LLC, P.O. Box 1499, Fairhope, AL 36533; (215) 210-0609; [email protected] Jim Archibald, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, One Federal Place, 1819 Fifth Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203; (205) 521-8520; [email protected] Alaska Matthew J. DeVries, Burr & Forman LLP, 511 Union Street, Suite 2300, Nashville, TN 37219: (615) 724-3235; [email protected] Arizona Angela R. Stephens, Stites & Harbison PLLC, 400 West Market Street, Suite 1800, Louisville, KY 40202-3352; (502) 681-0388; [email protected] California Marilyn Klinger, Sedgwick, LLP, 801 S. Figueroa Street, 19th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017; (213) 426-6900; [email protected] Garret D. Murai, Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean, LLP, 1111 Broadway, 24th Floor, Oakland, CA 94607; (510) 834-6600; [email protected] Colorado Carrie L. Ciliberto, The Associated General Contractors of America, 2300 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 300, Arlington, VA 22201; (703) 837-5367; [email protected] Connecticut Thomas G. Librizzi, Steven Lapp, and Daniel D’Aprile, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, One State Street, 14th Floor, Hartford, CT 06103-3102; (860) 522-5175; tlibrizzi@mdmc- law.com; [email protected]; [email protected] Jeffrey M. Donofrio, Ciulla & Donofrio, LLP., 127 Washington Avenue, North Haven, CT 06473; (203) 239-9828; [email protected] Delaware Matthew J. DeVries, Burr & Forman LLP, 511 Union Street, Suite 2300, Nashville, TN 37219: (615) 724-3235; [email protected] Florida Katherine Heckert, Michael Rothfeldt, and Lauren Catoe, Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, 4221 W. Boy Scout Blvd., Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33607; (813) 229-4233; [email protected] Georgia Construction Practice Group of Hall Booth Smith, P.C, 191 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 2900, Atlanta, GA 30303; (404) 954-5000; James H. Fisher, II, [email protected] Hawaii Ken Kupchak and Tred Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert, 1003 Bishop Street, #1600, Honolulu, HI 96813; 808-531-8031; [email protected] Idaho Geoffrey