By Daniel J. Knight

Dear Section Members,

The NCBA Construction Law Section is hosting a day-and-a-half long CLE on September 24 and 25, 2020. Not immune to the effects of the ongoing public health crisis, this year’s CLE will take place virtually from the comfort of your office, your home, your backyard, or even a beach. Just in case you are wondering, yes, the dress code for this year’s event is “casual.”

All joking aside, this year’s CLE is a sticks-and-bricks presentation, focusing on developing a thorough understanding of the basis for the claims we, as construction attorneys, deal with on a daily basis. Segments include zoning and land use regulations, project scheduling, building envelopes, the design process, structural engineering and civil engineering. Attendees will also hear about legislative updates impacting the construction industry and learn about current trends and hot topics in the industry. Finally, for those still in need of ethics hours, this year’s CLE has been approved for 1.0 hour of Ethics/Professional Responsibility Credit.

As if attending a CLE in your pajamas or on a beach wasn’t incentive enough, the Construction Law Section is offering a $50.00 discount to the first 75 registrants. We still have several discounts left, but you better hurry.

For more information and to register, visit the North Carolina Bar Association’s website. On behalf of the Construction Law Council, we look forward to seeing you there.

By David J. Parrish 

National and international manufacturing companies continue to open new manufacturing facilities and expand their existing facilities in North Carolina and South Carolina. This raises the issue of whether the manufacturing equipment used in such facilities must be installed by a licensed contractor under a building permit. It is not uncommon that such equipment is manufactured oversees and for the foreign vendors to fly their employees into the United States to install the equipment. In a recent article, I discuss the contractor licensure requirements and/or exemptions in North and South Carolina for industrial equipment installation. Click here to read the article.

By Riley W. Smith

On June 24, 2020, Gov. Roy Cooper signed Executive Order No. 147 (“Order 147”), which extends North Carolina’s Phase 2 easing of coronavirus restrictions until 5 p.m. on July 17, 2020. Significantly, Executive Order No. 147 not only delays Phase 3 easing of restrictions but also includes certain amendments to Gov. Cooper’s original Phase 2 Order requiring additional protective measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. These additional measures, which went into effect at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 26, 2020, include a requirement for face coverings at construction sites. Specifically, and pursuant to Section II of Order 147, Gov. Cooper’s initial Phase 2 order has been amended to require that all construction workers “must wear face coverings when they are or may be within six (6) feet of another person.”

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Republished with permission from Smith Anderson.

A recent North Carolina Court of Appeals decision reiterates the importance of knowing who you are dealing with when undertaking work or selling materials in connection with any construction or development project in our state. In a recent decision the Court of Appeals found that the design firm that performed design services for a prospective property purchaser could not properly assert a lien on the property, given the design services were never actually used to improve the property.  While this case involved a design firm, the lesson of this case extends to any party providing labor or materials on any type of construction or development project in the state. Read more here.

Written by:

Andrew Atkins
Peter Marino 
Patrick Wilson