When involved in an accident “at fault” is the degree to which you caused or contributed to an accident, or are “at fault,” and determines whose auto insurance company pays what portion of the damages. The method by which this is determined varies from state to state.

Once little more than several blocks of deteriorating public housing, the new Mariposa District in Denver now boasts energy-efficient apartments and town-homes, a local cafe, computer center, youth music studio and fitness circuit—all a short walk from the 10th Avenue and Osage Street light rail station. The affordable, workforce and market rate apartments are 95% pre-leased.

Actual cash value is the cost of replacing damaged or destroyed property with comparable new property, minus depreciation and obsolescence. For example, a 10-year-old sofa will not be replaced at current full value because of a decade of depreciation.

Work on the $1.4 billion expansion and upgrade to Interstate 35E north of Dallas launched this month with a groundbreaking ceremony on the shores of Lewisville Lake.

The 35Express project extends 28.2 miles from I-635 in Farmers Branch to U.S. 380 in Denton, crossing eight cities in Dallas and Denton counties. Work is slated to begin by the end of the month and completion is slated for 2017.

If you become involved in an auto accident, make sure to get a copy of the accident report form if possible.  Accident report form is typically referred to as a police report, this report contains important information about an auto accident, such as circumstances, parties involved and citations given.  This report is very helpful and will be asked for by your insurance company.

Methodist Dallas Medical Center had plenty to manage in planning for future growth. The resulting six-story, 229,000-sq-ft Charles A. Sammons Trauma and Critical Care Tower will expand the hospital’s emergency department tenfold and include new emergency and central sterile departments, expanded surgical services and additional critical care patient floors. The $120-million project also will allow for future vertical expansion of up to 12 stories.

In a life insurance policy, benefit in addition to the death benefit paid to the beneficiary, should death occur due to an accident. There can be certain exclusions as well as time and age limits. Make sure to talk about all your options and benefits with your agent.

Louisiana specialty contractor keeps growing nationally and regionally, fueled by natural gas-inspired industrial boom.  Expansive growth in the chemical and industrial sectors, fueled by a wave of cheap natural gas, has carried Baton Rouge-based MMR Group Inc. along for the ride. That boom, along with the electrical and instrumentation contractor’s ability to serve diverse clients across multiple sectors, boosted the firm’s regional revenue by nearly 130% in 2012 to $302 million from $133 million the previous year. That year-to-year gain is the largest posted by any company in this year’s ranking of the largest specialty contractors in Texas and Louisiana, pushing MMR up five spots to fifth place.

On September 30, 2013, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) issued an interim final rule, announcing that it would maintain authority over VOSB/SDVOSB status protests made in connection with the agency’s “Vets First” contracting program (the “Program”). Back in 2009, when the Program was created, the VA and the Small Business Administration (SBA) were tasked with forming an inter-agency agreement concerning the scope of each agency’s authority over Vets First protests. Since then, the VA has addressed all protests relating to the ownership and control of VOSBs and SDVOSBs, while the SBA has addressed all protests relating to size. The September 30, 2013 rule did not disturb this division of responsibilities.

However, this rule may soon be superseded by the passage of a new law. On July 31, 2013, Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO), a member of the House Small Business Committee and a frequent critic of the VA, introduced a bill referred to as the Improving Opportunities for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Act of 2013. If it passes, the bill will transfer control and administration of virtually all protests relating to the Vets First Program to the SBA.

Coffman’s bill would eliminate the current system and replace it with a single VOSB/SDVOSB verification process. It would also unify the definitions of “unconditional ownership” and “unconditional control,” providing contractors with a clearer idea of what qualifies as a VOSB or SDVOSB concern. While the VA would retain authority for determining whether an individual is a “service-disabled veteran,” the SBA would have the authority to rule on all other eligibility factors including size, ownership, and control. Proponents of the bill believe that it will simplify things for the SBA and VA and, most importantly, the veteran business community.

Combining the systems would also save money. The VA is currently spending approximately $33 million a year on a verification program that, in effect, is duplicating the SBA’s efforts. A merger of the VOSB/SDVOSB verification systems could also, eventually, lead to the creation of a single, consolidated verification process covering all of the SBA’s small business programs. In other words, a concern would be able to submit one package to the SBA and become simultaneously verified for all of the small business programs for which the concern qualifies. This would constitute a major improvement over the current system.

So what does this mean for you? If the bill passes, VOSB/SDVOSB verification might get a lot simpler. It also means that it will be increasingly important to get your applications right, the first time around. We will keep you posted on the progress of the bill.

The 2013 ASHRAE 90.1 energy standard will require more stringent equipment efficiencies and lighting thresholds. The recently published 2013 version of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1 includes significant revisions to building envelope, lighting, and mechanical appliance requirements, making the standard 40%–50% more stringent than the 2004 version, according to ASHRAE.

Containing more than 100 changes from the previous 2010 version, the standard’s fenestration requirements now include double glazing in many climates and establish a minimum visible transmittance/solar heat gain coefficient (VT/SHGC) ratio to allow day lighting with minimum solar gain. Minimum efficiencies are increased for chillers, heat pumps, and air conditioners, as well as being established for fans for the first time.

Building product manufacturers and other organizations can now declare their performance on metrics like worker safety, diversity, and happiness.  The Just manual sets out criteria for each area addressed in the program:

• Gender and ethnic diversity

• Equity, including union friendliness, wages, and family friendliness

• Safety for workers, including proper management of toxic chemicals

• Worker benefits, including health insurance, worker happiness, and continuing education opportunities

• Benefit to the local economy

• Social and environmental stewardship, including responsible investing, “positive products,” and animal welfare

Financial responsibility law requires owners and drivers of vehicles to have enough money on hand to compensate people who they injure. Liability insurance is the most common way to satisfy the financial responsibility law requirement.

Contractors renovating three joined buildings at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard knew they might find some surprises as they began work on the 220,850-sq-ft structure. The steel-framed buildings, which make up what will become the yard’s Green Manufacturing Center (GMC), were built separately between 1895 and 1941 and joined together over time during various building campaigns. The result was a structure with a mix of materials and styles that, in some places, has been a puzzle for the renovation team to figure out. While structural repair drawings helped the team anticipate early on what needed to be done, it was not until roof demolition got under way that long-hidden secrets began to be revealed.

A field adjuster is an insurance adjuster who works outside the office and conducts accident scene investigations, damage inspections and face-to-face meetings with policyholders.

The nation’s construction industry is continuing to recover, primarily in the housing construction sector,  according to the latest construction cost report from property and construction consultant Rider Levett Bucknall.

Exclusion is a restriction in your business auto insurance policy reducing and/or removing coverage for certain potential events, persons, property or locations.

A river in California will be permanently diverted to avoid the dilemma of disposing 90 years worth of sediment.  California’s largest dam removal project ever will take advantage of the area’s unique topography to allow builders to permanently divert the Carmel River into a new channel.

An endorsement to your business auto policy modifies your policy by amending specific coverage. It can add coverage, modify it and even reduce or remove coverage.

Sacramento State’s Construction Management program has, for the second straight year, the Construction Management (CM) program at Sacramento State is reporting that 100% of its graduating class has secured a job. This means that since the May 25 commencement ceremony, all 32 graduates – 29 men and three women – have traded in their tassels for hard hats

LEED version 4 has been approved by a vote of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) members, with 86 percent of the voting body voting in the affirmative. Approval of LEED v4 as the next version of the LEED Rating System clears the way for its launch during the Greenbuild conference in November 2013.

The suspect is charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal possession of a weapon.  A 29 year-old man has been arrested and charged in the July 1 2013 for the shooting of a union foreman at Manhattan’s Hells Kitchen jobsite. Anthony Manco of Flushing, Queens, was charged on July 2 with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal possession of a weapon, says an NYPD spokesman.

An appraisal is what determines the value of a vehicle or property, or determines the extent of damage. Appraisals are usually conducted by an impartial expert.

The New York City District Council of Carpenters charges that wage cuts would be detrimental to members.  The New York City District Council of Carpenters entered its third day of a strike on July 3 after negotiations broke down with the Manufacturing Woodworkers Association of Greater New York (MWA). The association is seeking an across-the-board wage freeze and a second-tier employee system with lower wages and benefits, “while locking members into a 10-year agreement,” the council says.

First stretch of controversial, long-delayed commuter rail project is heading for completion. The team building the 32-mile-long first phase of a $1.2-billion Central Florida commuter rail project, which endured years of political delay, is making its way through a unique set of coordination challenges to get the first trains moving next spring.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based contractor had exceptional revenue growth in 2012. But that was just one factor in the firm’s designation as the region’s Contractor of the Year.  By most outward appearances, much has changed for Rodgers Builders since its chairman, B.D. Rodgers, first founded the company in 1963. Now with more than 350 associates across three offices, and a diverse project portfolio, the Charlotte, N.C.-based firm’s growth has mirrored its hometown’s emergence as one of the Southeast’s leading economic hubs.