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Construction Law Authority / Articles posted by Sanjay Kurian

Sanjay Kurian Named Chair of the Florida Bar’s Construction Law Committee

July 28, 2022
Sanjay Kurian
Insight

Becker’s Ft. Myers Office Managing Shareholder Sanjay Kurian was named chair of the Florida Bar’s Construction Law Committee, which consists of nearly 550 construction lawyers throughout the State of Florida. The Committee works to expand the knowledge and practices of members in construction law and increase the standards for ethical practice and professionalism in construction law. The Committee is part of the Florida Bar’s Real Property & Trust Law Section....

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Chambers USA Recognizes Becker’s Construction Practice & Six Attorneys in 2021 Edition

May 21, 2021
Sanjay Kurian
Insight

Becker is thrilled to announce that the firm and its attorneys have been recognized in the 2021 edition of Chambers USA, a prestigious annual guide of leading law firms and attorneys. Becker once again received top recognition in Band 1 of the Florida Construction category, with sources describing the firm as a “formidable adversary” with a “strong presence across the state of Florida.”...

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Florida-Based Insurance Carrier Deemed Insolvent – What This Means For Your Community Association

April 29, 2021
Sanjay Kurian
News

Florida-based insurance carrier American Capital Assurance Corp. (“AmCap”) entered receivership recently and is in the process of being liquidated after being deemed insolvent by Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation. There are potential issues for the many condominium associations and others that were insured by AmCap or who have claims with AmCap. The most important thing to know is that the receivership does not mean that you are out of luck, and money, as an insured or claimant. However, you do need to understand what you should be doing and next steps....

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Sanjay Kurian, “Hurricane Insurance Claims for Condominium Associations,” FLCAJ Magazine

January 11, 2019
Sanjay Kurian
Disaster Preparation and Recovery, Hurricane, Insurance

There is a lot of information on how associations can prepare for hurricanes but much less information as to what happens after the hurricane, particularly as it pertains to insurance claims. A question that managers and board members need to consider is, what is required after a hurricane to ensure compliance with your insurance policy and recover money which may be owed? Click here to read Sanjay’s full article in FLCAJ Magazine....

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New Construction Technique for USF Dormitory

September 15, 2015
Sanjay Kurian
Green Building, News, Public Construction

There was a recent article in Tampa Bay Online by Yvette Hammett, linked here, dealing with new dorms going up at the University of South Florida. Other than my normal interest in the goings on at my alma mater was the construction methodology for the project. Tampa-based CBG Building Co., plans to use a system developed by Denver-based Prescient Co., Inc., where segments of the building are designed and pre-constructed off site and then shipped to the site for installation.  The dormitory project consists of a 6 story parking garage and a 6 story dormitory with 500 apartment style units. A quote from the article notes that this type of construction may be expandable to different types of projects and explains what makes this building system so different is this: “We don’t construct our building,” said Prescient CEO Satyen Patel. “We assemble it.” The process involves three companies — one for software...

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Multifamily Construction Defect Claims (Part 2)

July 21, 2015
Sanjay Kurian
Construction Defects, Contracts, Dispute Resolution, Litigation

In this 2 part blog post I wanted to touch on some basics of the typical “multifamily” construction defect case. Whether the project is a condominium, apartment, assisted living facility or hotel they share many of the same issues.  There are six primary considerations in bringing these claims but each of those has many subparts which depend on specific facts of the project.  Considerations 1 to 3 are here. The fourth consideration is the type of recovery available.  Generally the cost of repairing the defective condition is the damage that can be recovered.  In the event that such repair would be economically wasteful courts may consider diminution of value to be a valid damage.  In addition, depending on the type of property there may also be lost rents, lost profits claims for the time that the property was not able to be used for its intended purpose or for partial loss...

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Multifamily Construction Defect Claims (Part 1)

July 14, 2015
Sanjay Kurian
Construction Defects, Contracts, Dispute Resolution, Litigation

In this 2 part blog post I wanted to touch on some basics of the typical “multifamily” construction defect case. Whether the project is a condominium, apartment, assisted living facility or hotel they share many of the same issues.  There are six primary considerations in bringing these claims but each of those has many subparts which depend on specific facts of the project. The first consideration is who is the true owner and is that entity able to recover for the defective construction.  Is there a condominium association or building owner? Maybe it is the hotel or facility operator that is the aggrieved party or is the developer of the building?  Knowing who has the rights to make the defect claims is a critical first step. The second consideration is to determine against whom any claims may be asserted.  Is there a claim against the developer of real property who designed, built...

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2015 Chapter 558 Legislative changes

July 8, 2015
Sanjay Kurian
Construction Defects, Legislation

As previously noted, House Bill 87 modified some of the requirements of Chapter 558, Florida Statutes.  The statute was recently signed by Governor Rick Scott and the changes will take effect Oct. 1. The original intent of Chapter 558, enacted in 2003, was to require compliance with a mandatory pre-suit process before claims for construction defects could be brought in court.  Originally the claims subject to Chapter 558 were limited to residential defect claims but now include all residential and commercial project claims for defects.  All public projects are also included except for projects involving the Florida Department of Transportation.  In my experience the pre-suit process does not resolve many claims and add barriers and costs to owners and end-users.  A cynic might believe that the statute is working as intended. Chapter 558 requires written notice from the claimant to the construction or design professionals believed to be responsible for defects or...

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