Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Construction Defects Insurance

  • March 27, 2025

    Federal Judge Grants Stay In Coverage Dispute Over Metal Paneling Installation

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington granted two motions to stay in favor of a contractor and subcontractor who were sued by the subcontractor’s insurer for declaratory relief regarding the insurer’s duty to defend the contractor and subcontractor in an underlying state court lawsuit against the contractor, finding that a stay is necessary because the insurer’s suit and the underlying lawsuit filed by a real estate developer revolve around the same facts regarding the installation of metal paneling on a building in Seattle.

  • March 27, 2025

    Judge Partly Grants, Partly Denies Insureds’ Motion To Strike In Water Damage Suit

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California on March 26 granted in part and denied in part insureds’ motion to strike portions of their insurer’s trial declarations in a dispute over the insureds’ water damage loss.

  • March 25, 2025

    11th Circuit Affirms Insurer Owes No Coverage For Subcontractors’ Faulty Work

    ATLANTA — Finding that homeowners’ negligence and negligent hiring and supervision claims against a construction firm and its owner were covered by the contractors special condition endorsement in the firm’s commercial general liability policy and that the firm failed to comply with the terms of the endorsement, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to the insurer.

  • March 21, 2025

    8th Circuit Affirms No Coverage For Subcontractor In Suit Over Faulty Gym Floor

    ST. LOUIS —  Finding that an insurance policy is not ambiguous and that the ensuing loss clause does not restore coverage because a flooring subcontractor insured did not identify a separate “‘covered peril,’” the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling granting summary judgment to the insurer in the subcontractor’s breach of contract and declaratory relief action seeking coverage for replacement of a gym floor that was damaged by a defective paint job.

  • March 20, 2025

    Federal Judge Orders Contractor’s Insurer Take Nothing From Subcontractor’s Insurer

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on March 19 entered judgment ordering a contractor’s commercial general liability insurer to take nothing against a subcontractor’s insurer in a dispute over insurance coverage for a construction defects lawsuit settlement.

  • March 20, 2025

    Ohio Appeals Court: CGL Insurer Owes No Duty For Remodeling Company’s Work

    TOLEDO, Ohio — A Sixth District Ohio Court of Appeals panel held that a commercial general liability insurer owed no duty to its insured remodeling company or a condominium association that was an additional insured under the policy for damages the remodeling company’s siding work allegedly caused to the condominium association’s buildings, finding that the company’s faulty workmanship was not an occurrence under the policy and the condominium association was an additional insured under the policy only with respect to third-party liability claims.

  • March 18, 2025

    Judge Rejects Insurer’s Motion To Transfer Contractor’s Construction Defects Suit

    CHICAGO — Finding that a commercial general liability insurer “failed to satisfy its burden of demonstrating that transfer is warranted,” a federal judge in Illinois denied its motion to transfer its Illinois-based contractor insured’s declaratory judgment action against it to a federal court in Ohio.

  • March 18, 2025

    Insurer Files Third-Party Claim Against Another In Builder’s ‘Complex’ Coverage Row

    PHOENIX — The same day an Arizona federal judge granted a motion to file a third-party complaint in a builder’s construction defects coverage suit, one of the more than 20 defendant insurers filed a complaint against another insurer, which is owned by the builder, seeking declaratory relief under theories of equitable contribution and subrogation.

  • March 18, 2025

    Insurance Coverage Dispute Over Subcontractor’s Default Compelled To Arbitration

    NEW YORK — Finding that “there is clear and unmistakable evidence” that a subcontractor default insurer “agreed to commit the issue of arbitrability to the arbitrator rather than the courts,” a federal judge in New York granted the insurer’s motion to compel arbitration of a general contractor insured’s dispute over coverage for performance issues related to a window and door subcontractor’s work.

  • March 17, 2025

    Judge Finds Insurers Are Liable For Damages Caused By Earth Movement

    MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge in Minnesota has granted the motion of an insured and largely denied the cross-motion of its insurers for summary judgment on liability in the insured’s breach of contract suit seeking damages related to the cracking and settling of reinforced equipment pads in its printing facility, finding that the damages were caused by earth movement.

  • March 17, 2025

    Parties Reach Settlement After Ruling In Coverage Dispute Over Water Damage

    NEW YORK — Three days after a federal judge in New York found that the undisputed record is clear that an insured’s alleged interior water damage to its two-story commercial office building falls squarely within an insurance policy's anti-concurrent causation clause, the parties on March 14 announced that they reached a settlement.

  • March 17, 2025

    Federal Judge Tosses Suit Over Damage To Construction Project After Parties Settle

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida dismissed a lawsuit alleging that a surety breached a performance bond by denying liability for damage to its construction project allegedly caused by the subcontractor’s “defective and deficient work” the same day the parties announced they reached a settlement.

  • March 13, 2025

    $2.2M Judgment Awarded To CGL Insurer In Suit Arising From Hard Rock Hotel Damages

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge entered a $2.2 million judgment in favor of commercial general liability insurer after finding that it has no duty to defend a construction company as an additional insured in its equitable contribution and equitable indemnification lawsuit arising from damages to a Hard Rock Hotel location.

  • March 07, 2025

    Contractor Has Standing To Seek Reformation Of Policy, 11th Circuit Rules

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a general contractor has Article III standing to seek reformation of an insurance policy and a lower court erred in dismissing the reformation counterclaim but affirmed the lower court’s ruling that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s course-of-construction exclusion (COCE) bars coverage for water damage in a suit stemming from the subcontractor’s alleged faulty installation of cladding and glazing systems in a construction job.

  • March 06, 2025

    Insurer Partly Granted Judgment In Leaky Grain Storage Bins Coverage Row

    INDIANAPOLIS — A grain equipment company’s commercial general liability insurance policies do not provide coverage for amounts a client paid to have leaky storage bins repaired and replaced, an Indiana federal judge held, partly granting the insurer’s summary judgment motion in finding that some of the claimed losses related to a contractual dispute rather than to coverage liability.

  • March 05, 2025

    Insurer Has No Duty To Defend General Contractor For Paint Repairs, Judge Says

    BANGOR, Maine — A federal judge found that an excess insurer has no duty to defend a general contractor insured that sought coverage for paint repairs it completed on a project in Ellsworth, Maine, agreeing with the insurer that no claim existed.

  • March 05, 2025

    Mass. Appeals Court: Insurer Had No Duty To Defend Plumber From Third-Party Claims

    BOSTON — A commercial general liability insurer did not have a duty to defend a plumber against third-party claims because the claimant alleged faulty workmanship, and not an “occurrence” or accident, which is required to trigger coverage, a Massachusetts Appeals Court panel found, affirming a trial court’s judgment.

  • March 03, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms $2.3M Arbitration Award In Favor Of Insurer

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision upholding an arbitration panel’s award of a $2.3 million judgment in the insurers’ favor as part of a settlement with a subcontractor that the insurers said provided faulty concrete work for a construction project.

  • February 28, 2025

    Magistrate Finds Good Cause To Set Aside Contractor’s Default In Water Leak Suit

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A subcontractor that has been sued by a condominium’s insurer, as subrogee, demonstrated good cause for its yearlong delay in responding to the negligence suit, a Florida federal magistrate judge ruled, granting the company’s motion to set aside default.

  • February 26, 2025

    Firm’s Window Installation Choices Were Intentional Despite No Intent To Injure

    WICHITA, Kan. — A commercial general liability (CGL) insurer has no obligation to indemnify a contractor for damage it caused while installing windows in a courthouse because although the damage was unintentional, the firm’s construction decisions that ultimately led to the damage were intentional, a Kansas federal judge found, leading him to grant the insurer’s summary judgment motion.

  • February 24, 2025

    Judge Refuses To Dismiss Construction Company’s Cross-Claims Against CGL Insurer

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in California denied a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a construction company insured’s cross-claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and equitable contribution as assignee of an excess insurer that funded its $2,250,000 settlement of an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • February 24, 2025

    Judgment Entered In CGL Insurer’s Favor After Parties Announce Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California entered judgment in favor of a commercial general liability insurer after the insured and its construction company insured notified the court that they have settled the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • February 20, 2025

    Highway Company Lacks Standing To Bring Claims Against Subcontractor’s Insurer

    DALLAS — A federal judge found that a highway construction company lacked standing to bring a breach of contract claim against a subcontractor’s insurer because a state trial court still had jurisdiction in an underlying case to determine attorney fees in the dispute between the company and subcontractor.

  • February 18, 2025

    Federal Judge Dismisses Subcontractor’s Suit Against Insurer After Parties Settle

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California dismissed with prejudice a subcontractor insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit against its commercial liability insurer one day after the parties indicated that they have executed their settlement agreement.

  • February 18, 2025

    Insurer Owed Contractor, Subcontractor A Defense In Condo Water Damage Row

    NEW YORK — Concluding that a condominium had been “put to its intended use” prior to a water damage incident that arose during remodeling, a New York federal judge found that a commercial general liability insurer was obligated to defend both a contractor and subcontractor from claims brought by an adjoining unit owner.