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ISTOCK.COM/GRAPHIXCHON By Douglas R. Allen Wow, what a year. It is inconceivable that a virus shut down the U.S. economy and quarantined people, in some places, for over two months. Well, it happened! That’s right: here we are restarting the economy and figuring out how to get things back to the new normal. My Dad always told me, “What happens ...

ISTOCK.COM/RONNIECHUA By Alexander Gorelik It is quite clear that 2020 has been an unusual year, to say the least. The global Coronavirus pandemic has already taken many thousands of lives and fundamentally affected millions more. However, the impact of the pandemic has not stopped there either, with most economies around the world coming close to a halt. That has certainly ...

ISTOCK.COM/PHOTOTECHNO and ETIAMMOS By David B. Dolnick This article was completed in early May 2020. Changes related to the COVID-19 crisis and construction and insurance industries are still occurring; some data in this article may have changed by the time of publication. In the world of surety, commercial insurance may not be a primary focus; and dealing with insurance-related issues ...

ISTOCK.COM/CYBRAIN and BRIANAJACKSON By David B. Dolnick In the first part of this discussion (See SBQ Web Exclusive Article Helping Your Clients in a Rapidly Changing Insurance Market), we took a look at what’s happening with commercial insurance rates and at prior market cycles. We made some educated estimates about where the insurance market appears to be heading, as uncertain ...

Updated: March 13, 2020 By: Alexander Gorelik, Joshua E. Holt, Brian N. Krulick, Shoshana E. Rothman, A. Michelle West, and Brian S. Wood The outbreak of COVID-19 (“coronavirus”) has wreaked a considerable human toll of death, physical suffering, fear, and anxiety internationally. Much of the fear and anxiety results from a lack of information or a full understanding about the ...

By Jeremiah M. Welch Boston’s recent decision to temporarily shut down city construction projects has many in the industry asking what impact, if any, a COVID-19 related shutdown would have on project insurance. For this article, the focus is not on the question of whether there is coverage for damages or liabilities because of COVID-19; there are many other articles ...

By David Robbins In this unprecedented time of global pandemic, government contractors, and industries supporting them have spent substantial effort understanding contract terms like force majeure, excusable delay, changes, and Defense Production Act rated orders. The surety industry is also rapidly learning these terms and clauses and how they apply to Miller Act bonds issued for federal construction contracts. The Miller ...

ISTOCK/HAZEMMKAMAL By Levi W. Barrett, Steven M. Charney, Warren E. Friedman, and Christopher B. Kinzel The Coronavirus has been the subject of an extraordinary amount of media coverage since the start of 2020. As we approach the end of the first quarter of the year, its impact on local and global economies and our way of life cannot be ignored. ...

PanchenkoVladimir/Shutterstock.com What faces our industry is a period of great opportunity balanced with some real concerns. In the recent Associated General Contractors of America labor results, each state varies with construction labor growth, but, overall, most are troubled by the decline in available, qualified labor in the construction industry. Most construction organizations can attest to that. The work programs have ...

Ktasimar/Shutterstock.com By Toby Miclette I heard a story recently about a public owner in the state of Texas using a security bond in an attempt to force a general contractor (GC) into executing a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) contract amendment at a price no greater than the Initial GMP (IGMP), even though there had been scope changes subsequent to establishing ...