Christopher Sweeney | Conn Kavanaugh First Circuit Court of Appeals Rules That Standard Commercial General Liability Policy Excludes Coverage for Downstream Property Damage When General Contractor’s Scope of Work Covers Entire Building It is well-accepted that standard commercial general liability policies exclude coverage for construction contractors’ own defective work. That is, for example, a roofer… Continue reading First Circuit Rules On Important Coverage Issue For Contractors
Tag: Commercial General Liability Policy
Your Excess Policy May Not “Follow Form” to Your Primary Policy’s Aggregate Limits: How to Avoid a Multi-Million Dollar Mistake
Kyle A. Bechet and Richard W. Brown | Saxe Doernberger & Vita Commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies providing limits on a “per-project” basis have become standard in the construction industry. General contractors and other upstream parties on large construction projects, as a rule, require downstream subcontractors to maintain CGL coverage with limits provided on a… Continue reading Your Excess Policy May Not “Follow Form” to Your Primary Policy’s Aggregate Limits: How to Avoid a Multi-Million Dollar Mistake
Massachusetts Appellate Court Confirms Construction Defects are Not Covered Under Commercial General Liability Policies
Bill Wilson | Construction Law Zone In a case of first impression in Massachusetts, Lessard v. R.C. Havens & Sons, Inc., 104 Mass. App. Ct. 572 (2024), the Appellate Court confirmed that construction defects, without more, do not constitute property damage within the meaning of a commercial general liability policy (CGL). In Lessard, the homeowners filed suit against… Continue reading Massachusetts Appellate Court Confirms Construction Defects are Not Covered Under Commercial General Liability Policies
Does a Sagging Floor Constitute a “Collapse”? Court Finds Ambiguity in “Collapse.”
Joshua Tumen and Paul Ferland | The Property Insurance Law Observer In Life Skills, Inc. v. Harleysville Insurance Company, 2024 WL 3792261 (D. Mass. 2024), the District Court of Massachusetts found that “collapse” provisions within a commercial property policy were ambiguous where a floor merely sagged without completely falling to the ground. Background The plaintiff-insured provided… Continue reading Does a Sagging Floor Constitute a “Collapse”? Court Finds Ambiguity in “Collapse.”
To Pay or Not to Pay “Rip and Tear” Damages
Martin Shaw and Kenneth Stallard | Carr Maloney Should a contractor’s Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy cover the expense of uncovering defective work causing damage to the owner’s property as well as the costs of exposing or accessing damaged building elements in need of repair as a result of the contractor’s defective work? For… Continue reading To Pay or Not to Pay “Rip and Tear” Damages