Archinect - News

Philly's sidewalks and the fickle space between public and private

2016-04-15T13:18:00-04:00

Legally, sidewalk repair is the responsibility of homeowners, but historically, enforcement of upkeep has been thin. [...] “[sidewalks] should be part of the money we spend on transportation ... because people who walk are transporting themselves on their feet.” [...] The liability is actually two-tiered: The property owner is responsible if someone sues after an injury due to poorly maintained sidewalks, but the city has secondary responsibility because sidewalks are public infrastructure.

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Architects can now be held liable for building defects, rules California Supreme Court

2014-08-21T19:23:00-04:00

California’s Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the principal architects for a condominium project may be sued directly by a condominium homeowners association for design defects. [...] The decision held that even though, on most projects, the developer has the final say on design choices, the architect can’t escape liability to the end user. This decision is likely to give homeowners associations another target in defect cases.

Lawsuit could make climate change readiness the city's burden

2014-05-23T12:37:00-04:00

A major insurance company is suing Chicago-area municipal governments saying they knew of the risks posed by climate change and should have been better prepared. The class-action lawsuits raise the question of who is liable for the costs of global warming. [...] “What the insurers are saying is: ‘We’re in the business of covering unforeseen risks... But we’re now at a point with the science where climate change is now a foreseeable risk.’”