Intel

Following several years of double-digit rate increases and restrictive adjustments to Terms and Conditions (T&C), the Property Insurance sector has reached a point of relative stability. Rates are largely modest as insurers secure the required premium, now applying rates against a proper exposure basis—Insurance to Value (ITV). With few exceptions of traditional CAT-prone perils in specific geographies, most carriers are…

Home building costs are continuing to rise in the U.S. and Canada. In San Jose, California, construction costs have reached record highs as builders deal with increased costs and high interest rates, Newsweek recently reported. Many would-be homeowners are priced out of the market, while some home builders have turned to designing smaller houses so more buyers can afford them.…

A construction crane accident in New York City tragically injured 11 individuals and shut down traffic July 26 after the crane burst into flames 45 stories above ground. The top portion of the crane, which was lifting 16 tons of concrete at the time as it worked on a 54-story building in Midtown Manhattan, struck a neighboring building as it…

A 30-year-old woman was sent to the hospital and listed in critical condition after a concrete slab from an apartment building facade broke off and struck her in the head while she walked down the sidewalk in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in early February. Contractors were reportedly working on the building when the concrete slab and debris fell from about two stories…

2022 was a year that few in the Property and Casualty (P&C) sector could have predicted. Instead of stability, the market remained largely volatile, especially in the Property sector and the reinsurance marketplace. Many carriers suffered through unprofitable years thanks to Hurricane Ian, inflation, and an adverse property insurance environment primarily in Florida and Gulf coast states. Above all, losses…

Two separate construction accidents in Boston recently caused a stoppage on projects by the region’s largest construction company. According to reports, Suffolk Construction halted work at multiple job sites on May 6 in order to “reinforce safety awareness” after multiple workers were hurt when a former power plant under construction collapsed May 4, followed by an accident at another job…

A fire that destroyed much of a historic country club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, may have been started by construction work involving a propane torch, new video footage suggests. The Feb. 17 blaze at Oakland Hills Country Club caused an estimated $80 million in damage to the clubhouse and was a near “total loss,” according to reports. Video recovered from…

Cleanup and investigation efforts are underway at the site of the Forbes Avenue Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after the bridge collapsed on Jan. 28. A city bus and several other vehicles were on the bridge when it came crashing down, injuring 10 individuals in a terrifying ordeal that left motorists fearing for their lives. The 447-foot bridge, which was built…

Two workers narrowly avoided serious injuries after being thrown from horizontal metal beams at a construction site on the Boston University campus May 14. The accident happened when a steel column fell to the side, causing the adjacent beams to topple “like dominoes” and partially collapse the steel frame of what is slated to become a 13-story data sciences building…

The homeowner’s association for a luxury, oceanfront condo tower in Florida recently settled its construction defects lawsuit against the tower’s developer, contractors and architect for $17.5 million. The Regalia on the Ocean Condominium Association in Sunny Isles Beach filed the lawsuit in 2018, alleging construction flaws including improperly-installed pool joints, unsafe steam rooms and problems with sliding glass doors. As…

COVID-19’s impact on the Canadian construction industry has been substantial; to learn more about current challenges facing construction companies and how Construction Insurance can help address them, we spoke with Steven Hrab, Director, Construction, Burns & Wilcox, Toronto, Ontario. What are the greatest risks facing companies in Canada’s construction industry? S.H.: Global lockdowns are currently the greatest challenge facing the…

The Hawaii Department of Health issued a Notice and Finding of Violation and Order on January 7 against a contractor responsible for a sewage spill that sent 28,000 gallons of untreated domestic sewage into Reed’s Bay, just off the coast of the Big Island. The leak occurred on November 30, when workers for Maui-based Goodfellow Bros., LLC, a general contractor…