WestCon Tribune

October 2001

October News

President's Message

June Review

Believe It Or Not

President’s Message

Special thanks and appreciation to Sharon Waterman, our Program Chairman and Bob Aune our guest speaker for September who delivered an outstanding presentation on liability protection for the construction consultant with a follow along handout. Even with an active and lengthy question and answer period, we were still able to adjourn at 8:45pm and make it through the Alameda Tube.

A good dinner program is the best way to get and keep our attendance. Your suggestions, criticism and (especially) praise are always welcome. Please call Sharon Waterman at (510) 236-7435 with any or all of the above.

Jim Strong has taken on the Herculean task of updating  and reviewing the Westcon Bylaws and  Manual of Standard Operating Procedures. Anyone interested in helping/contributing should contact Jim or if you would like a copy, they should be ready after the first of the year.

Westcon is presently advertising in the San Francisco Attorney, the San Francisco Bar Association’s magazine and is looking to establish liaisons with other professional organizations (CSI, AIA, ICRI, etc.). Westcon members who are also members of another similar group, are encouraged to add mutual awareness and reciprocity of advertising, meetings, dates and special occasions. Consideration for a joint function is also a possibility. Please contact Fred Field (415) 485-5882 if you are willing to share our interest.

Fred Field, President

I hope this answers your inquiry.

June Review

Concrete Repair and Protection -

A Systems Approach

Presented by: Brad Kamin, Sika Corporation

The topic of the June meeting, Concrete Repair and Protection, A Systems Approach was well attended.

Speaker Brad Kamin, Senior Project Representative at Sika Corporation was the guest speaker.

The presentation dealt with deterioration and distress of reinforced concrete structures in service today.  The physicochemical processes include attack by acids, alkalis, cycles of wetting and drying, freezing and thawing, alkali-aggregate reactions, chlorides and carbonation.  However, among the most serious deterioration process are those caused by corrosion of reinforced steel.  Corrosion results in the reduction of effective cross-sectional area of the reinforcing bars, and also results in cracking, spalling and delamination of concrete cover.

Concrete repair is an important topic.  As Mr. Kamin emphasized the long term solution to concrete repair needs to involve a systems approach, namely to not simply repair but to repair and protect.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT....

For those of you who were unable to attend the September meeting and missed the hand out by Rod Tosetti, it is worth putting in here. Thanks to Rod for lightening up the dinner with this gem.

A Bricklayer’s Accident Report

The following is a bricklayer’s accident report, which was printed in the newsletter of the Australian equivalent of the Workers’ Compensation board. This is supposedly a true story

Had this guy died, he’d have received a Darwin Award for sure. We think of him as a closer relative to Wiley Coyote.

Dear Sir,

I am writing in response to your request for additional information in Block 3 of the accident report form. I put “poor planning “ as the cause of my accident. You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the following details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had some bricks left over which, when weighed later were found to be slightly in excess of 500 pounds. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which was attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor. Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the bricks.

You will note in Block 11 of the accident report form that I weigh 135 pounds.

Due to my surprise at being jerked off of the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel which was now proceeding downward at an equal, impressive speed. This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions and the broken collar bone, as listed in section 3 of the accident report form.. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.

Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of beginning to experience a great deal of pain.

At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks, that barrel weighed approximately 50 pounds. I refer you again to my weight. As you can imaging, I began a rapid descent, down the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and several lacerations of my legs an lower body.

Her my luck began to change slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and fortunately only tree vertebrae were cracked.

I am sorry to report, however, as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain, unable to move, I again lost my composure and presence of mind and let go of the rope, and I lay there watching the empty barrel begin its journey back down onto me. This explains the two broken legs.

I hope this answers your inquiry.

Bills Passed on Mold, Defects

Thanks to Fred Honeck  for the following article from the Daily Journal by Linda Rapattoni:

As the state Legislature session closed last week, it passed a number of bills for the governor’s signature or veto over the next several weeks that could significantly affect the practice of civil litigation.

Among measures passed last week are those which would establish guidelines for a safe level of molds in buildings, revise the process for resolving disputes over construction defects before litigation, strengthen whistleblower protections for state workers, streamline actions for eminent domain and beef up ethics standards for private arbitrators.

Sen. Debra Ortiz, D-Sacramento, introduced the Toxic Mold Protection Act in response to reports of serious health threats that indoor mold, often hidden, has posed to residents and workers. Some lawyers have speculated that mold may be the next massive tort litigation, similar to asbestos.

In its original form, SB732 would have included mold as a condition that would render a building substandard, direct the state Department of Health Services to develop standards for permissible levels of mold, and require its disclosure in residential and commercial buildings.

However, in its amended form, the bill simply requires the department to convene a task force to address mold, depending on whether it can find the funds. The Assembly Appropriations Committee estimated it would cost $400,000 in the first year and $700,000 annually for the next two to three years to develop standards. Those amounts are not seen as impediments to implementation.

To address liability concerns of real estate agents, businesses and others, the bill was amended so that if mold has been removed from a building, a buyer or prospective tenant would not have to be informed it had been present. Also, no testing of air or surfaces would be required.

Since there are hundreds of kinds of molds and they are difficult to measure, the bill would direct the development of standards only if it is feasible.

Alex Robertson of Knopfler & Robertson of Los Angeles, which specializes in mold and construction defect litigation, said development of standards would decrease litigation because the public could turn to the government for mold abatement.

A bill by Assembly woman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, that would have required the health department to establish a toxic-mold surveillance and monitoring program was amended to require the state to study fungal contamination.

Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, hopes the governor will sign AB267, a measure that would revise the process for resolving construction defects. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and was headed for approval in the Assembly, where it awaited a concurrence vote late Friday.

He agreed to limit the new process to an eight-year life span, something insurers demanded in exchange for removing their opposition. With that removal, there was no opposition to the measure.

Steinberg had worked hard to get builders, trial lawyers, designers and insurers to agree to try a new method to resolve issues that have traditionally wound up in two to three years of costly litigation.

The new process requires more up-front disclosure of the alleged defects, notification to all parties with potential liability, deadlines for steps in the process and incentives for mediating differences.

IDEAS? If you would like to give a presentation to Westcon, or have ideas or topics you would like discussed, please notify Fred Field, Program Director at (415) 485–5882. All suggestions are welcome!

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