b'Insurance Issues ofConcern to Primary Roofing Contractors William A. Good, GAE, NRCA Executive Vice President pertainstoconstructionprojectsConstructiondefe claimsare ct involvingbuildingwith"humanon theriseinoth states,most er residency,"includingbutnotnotablyArizona, Nevada, Colorado, omeslimitedtosinglefamily h ,Texasand Florida.Inadditionto apartmentbuildingsandcondo condominiums,attorneyshave miniums.Anothersignificantbeguntargetingapartmentbuildchange w l be new criteria for theings and single family homes. iluse of torches.T average c truction defheons ect The ultimate remedy for the situ claim by CNA for its roofing conationto limit the ability of plain tractor policyh has incrisolderseased 000-tiff\'s attorneys to bring suits that aresteadily, and is now about $70,mostlyt merit,onlyregardless of wheth the roof was withou and theer way to do thatis th ugh a con defective infirst place. Much of ro the certedlobbyingeffort.NRCAhasthisfa within thedefensecost lls joined withmanyo r construc category. theInsurance issues, generally, aretion industrygeneral businessAccordingly, CNA has made the and strpose, on the minds of most roofing con organizations for ju that pu decision to change its underwriting tractorsas the market contin and we will be communicating withstrategy andrequirementstolimit today ues toharden, and many carriersall of our members further ask exposure to these types of claims.,,,CNA alone hasareimposinglimitsonworkonfor their help.ingEectiveJan. 1, 2004,contrac -ff"habitational"and on thetors whose r tial work paid out more thanbuildingsesiden exceeds use of torches.Construction defects10 per nt of an l sales will no ce nua$900 million inTherewasa significantcourtBeginn in theearly1990s,longer be eligible forliabilinggeneral victoryinNewYorkstateina orneysinCaliforniabeganity or um cover (although construction defecttt brellaage December2003thatcouldhelpbringingsuit againstcontr they may still beeligib for othactorsleer losses, justcontractors there secure more rea involved inndominium projects.lin of coverage). Inion, all inco esadditsonableinsurance coverage.AnInCalifornia,th isa 10-yearroofinggeneralliabilityand ere California, in theappeals court held that astatuteofreposefor constructionum lalicies will see residenplaintiffbrel polast IO years.who was injured while using a defect claims, which allows hometial exclusions being attached. ladder may not prevail in aYorkand bu owners to seek dam Initially, anexistingform will Newilding Labor Law action when ayages for upto1 0 years after theapply that excludes work on multijur finds theladderwasproperlycon completionau proj familyownedunits, tract housing ofconstr ction structedandtheplaintiff was theect. Typically, theldandcondominiums.Beginning attorneys wouay solecauseofhisowninjury. Inmeet with the condominium asso M 1, 2004, and subject to state addition, thecourtnarrowedtheciation\'sboardofdirectors,andapprovals, a b rlusion will roade excdefinition of strict, or absolute, Ioffer to hire anstruction expertapply th extends to single family ia co toat bility-an important departure fromfinddefectsattheattorney\'shomes,apartments,dormitories, previous interpretation.expense. T attorney would then,militaryhousing, nursinghheomes In 2004, CNAisimplementingtypically, sue the generalandassistedliving facilities. Tcontractorhis ldressignificant changes to the NRCA/and/ordeveloper,whowou inexclusion will also apply toidenCNA Group Safety Program prima turn sue all of the subcontractors.tial service work. rily due to the enorm con Under thisscenario,CNAalone ous and tinuinglossesassociatedw hhas paid out more than $900 mil Torch use itconstructiondefectsclaims.T lion in construction defect losses,The NRCA/CNAGroupSafety he mostimportant of thesechangesjustinCalifornia,in thelast 10Program has recentlyenced a~ experiyears.n r of sig ficantlosses from umbe ni'