Wayland Michigan Construction Expert Witness Directory

'Drywall Isn't Light': Peter Lupo on Safety Management at Standard Drywall

May 26, 2026 — Elaine Silver - Engineering News-Record
Peter Lupo has been safety director since 2019 at San Diego-based Standard Drywall Inc., a major wall and ceiling contractor. He draws on over two decades of safety experience across a wide range of commercial construction work, having previously served as safety director for general contractor T.B. Penick & Sons. He has also previously operated Peter Lupo Consulting, where he reviewed legal cases and provided expert testimony, and blogged on safety for ENR.com. Lupo recently spoke to ENR Correspondent Elaine Silver about the weight of drywall, heat hazard control, bilingual crews and how he supports safety creativity and learning on the Standard Drywall staff. The conversation has been edited. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Elaine Silver, Engineering News-Record
ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com

GRSM Team Obtains Defense Verdict for Homeowners’ Association in Orange County Superior Court

July 20, 2026 — Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
A Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani multi-state team, including Partners Christine Barker, Sean Ferron, and Keith Cramer, obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a homeowners’ association (HOA) in an Orange County Superior Court bench trial spanning two months. The case began in 2022 when a homeowner sued after the Architectural Review Committee and HOA Board of Directors declined his teardown-and-rebuild plans due to view and aesthetic concerns. After a motion for summary judgment ruling in which the court found that the existing covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) did not protect views, the HOA held a special election to add explicit view protections to the CC&Rs. At the February 2025 trial call, the plaintiff sought leave to file a third amended complaint challenging the validity of that vote, drastically reframing the case from CC&R enforcement to one of election validity. A second plaintiff then filed a parallel action toward the end of the limitations period, and the two cases were consolidated. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Modular Construction’s Big Boom: New Risks Outpacing Standard Contracts in Industrial Projects

March 24, 2026 — Chad Theriot & Jack Mayo - Construction Executive
Modular construction is revolutionizing the construction industry, tackling labor shortages, sustainability goals and supply-chain challenges, with the global market for modular and prefabricated construction projected to reach over $200 billion by 2030. While residential builders have embraced modular’s speed and affordability, the greatest risks—and opportunities—are emerging in the industrial sector, where project scale and complexity demand new legal strategies. In 2023, Chad Theriot explored industrial and infrastructure applications of modular construction, addressing risks like offsite fabrication and integration complexities in his article, “The Rise of Modular Construction—Impacts for Consideration.” Since that time, modular construction has continued to experience significant advancements and has been increasingly adopted by contractors across a broad spectrum of industrial and commercial projects. As modular construction continues to reshape the industrial landscape, contractors and owners alike must be mindful of the legal implications associated with its use, specifically as it relates to liability and risk allocation, regulatory compliance, quality control and upstream factors such as transportation and intellectual property concerns. Reprinted courtesy of Chad Theriot and Jack Mayo, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

Integration Can Inoculate in Utah

July 20, 2026 — Mark O. Morris - Snell & Wilmer
The Utah Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed, in the construction context, Utah’s strict approach to enforcing integration clauses to preclude parol evidence and other legal theories that would vary the written terms of a contract. In Reid v. All Surface LC, 2025 UT App 134, decided last September, the court affirmed in all respects the trial court’s grant of summary judgment based on the strength of an integration clause against a homeowner who sued a contractor for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, civil conspiracy, negligence, and breach of the implied warranty of habitability. More recently, however, the same court rejected those same arguments in Tidwell v. Jensen, 2026 UT App 13 as to tort claims arising from a used car sale. The facts in Reid were sympathetic to the plaintiff. After being told she had a mold issue near a defective basement shower, the plaintiff solicited bids. A remediation contractor advised that while it could address the mold, the shower replacement should be handled by someone else. The plaintiff contacted All Surface LC, a shower replacement contractor. During an interview, the sales representative stated that All Surface could “do full mold remediation, tear everything out, and reframe the shower.” The plaintiff ultimately retained All Surface, expecting it would both resolve the mold issues and replace the shower. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Mark O. Morris, Snell & Wilmer
Mr. Morris may be contacted at mmorris@swlaw.com

Science-Based Standards for Wildfire Recovery: What California Policyholders Need to Know About A.B. 1642

March 03, 2026 — Geoffrey B. Fehling & Yosef Itkin - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
Wildfires continue to present serious risks for California property owners. Unfortunately, commercial property owners, corporate facilities, landlords, and homeowners need to overcome not only the flames themselves, but also remediating hazardous contamination against a backdrop of unpredictable and ambiguous environmental safety standards. In response to the destructive Los Angeles area fires in 2025, the California Legislature recently introduced Assembly Bill 1642 aimed at creating uniform science-based standards for evaluating, testing, and clearing wildfire-impacted properties. While A.B. 1642 is in its early stages of consideration, it could materially influence claims handling, remediation costs, risk management practices, and broader liability exposures for California policyholders. Reprinted courtesy of Geoffrey B. Fehling, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Yosef Itkin, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Mr. Fehling may be contacted at gfehling@hunton.com Mr. Itkin may be contacted at yitkin@hunton.com Read the full story...

Data Center Construction: Contractors Must Step Up

May 26, 2026 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
I attended the Datacenter Forum 2026 in Helsinki last week. Over 400 people packed the room. Walking out, I had one overriding thought: Is construction operating in a different century from the technology it is being asked to house? Is Our Industry on Par? Ciarán Forde, Senior Vice President at CTS Nordics, opened the forum with a statement that set the tone for everything that followed: data centers are no longer just a technical challenge; they are a national strategy. Before AI, Ciarán had worked in telecoms, where data centers were already complex. But now, he said flatly, everything has changed, and the industry must rethink everything. The numbers behind the claim are staggering. Current AI data center racks run at 40 to 100 kW. In three years, 800 kW per rack is on the roadmap. And the development cycle for a new chip is roughly one year, which means deployments begin aging out almost as soon as they are commissioned. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

Louisiana Legislature Enacts Act 932 – Significant Changes to Insurer Bad-Faith Exposure for Failure to Settle

July 13, 2026 — Tabitha R. Durbin & Jennifer E. Michel - Lewis Brisbois
The Louisiana Legislature has enacted Act 932 (formerly House Bill 1162), which became law this week without the Governor's signature pursuant to the Louisiana Constitution, after expiration of the applicable constitutional review period. Act 932 makes several important amendments to Louisiana's insurer bad-faith statute and appears intended, at least in part, to address issues arising from the Louisiana Supreme Court's decision in Kelly v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 169 So.3d 328 (La. 2015). The Act also makes changes regarding claim payments involving licensed contractors. The Act takes effect on August 1, 2026. Key Takeaways Act 932:

Limits certain bad-faith causes of action (bad faith failure to settle) involving personal injury and bodily injury claims where good-faith disputes exist or where an insurer has not been afforded sufficient opportunity to respond to a settlement demand.
Requires insurers and adjusters to verify a contractor's Louisiana license status before issuing claim payments when a contractor is named as a payee on a check for repair or restoration of immovable property.
Creates a statutory safe harbor protecting insurers from bad-faith penalties and attorney fees when payment delays result from an inability to verify a contractor's license, provided specified documentation and notice requirements are met.

Reprinted courtesy of Tabitha R. Durbin, Lewis Brisbois and Jennifer E. Michel, Lewis Brisbois Ms. Durbin may be contacted at Tabitha.Durbin@lewisbrisbois.com Ms. Michel may be contacted at Jenny.Michel@lewisbrisbois.com Read the full story...

Safeguarding Your Privileged Construction Information With a Clawback Agreement

June 08, 2026 — Laura Fraher - Construction Executive
For contractors and construction executives, a dispute that escalates to litigation brings risks that go well beyond the jobsite. When a dispute escalates to litigation, the attorney-client privilege is a critical protection to safeguard your interests. Disclosing privileged material can undermine your litigation position and, in some cases, negatively impact your business. In the construction context, this often includes sensitive communications about project delays, defect investigations, safety incidents or payment disputes—materials that can significantly impact both liability and reputation. During litigation, the discovery process requires the exchange of documents and data with your adversary. If privileged materials are disclosed to your adversary during discovery you risk the waiver of your privilege, which in plain terms means you lose the protection of the privilege and make the privileged information, and in some cases all other information related to the same subject matter, available to your adversary. It is critical that your attorney take steps to protect against the unintentional disclosure of privileged materials during discovery to avoid a waiver. Reprinted courtesy of Laura Fraher, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...
Ms. Fraher may be contacted at lfraher@barclaydamon.com

WAYLAND MICHIGAN CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES