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In USAA Casualty Insurance Co., as Subrogee v. Permanent Mission Of The Republic Of Namibia, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Namibia to the United Nations was sued for the $397,730 worth of damage to an adjoining property caused by its alleged failure to comply with Section 3309.8 of the New York City Building Code.   The Mission claimed that it was immune from suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.  The Second Circuit for the U.S. Court of Appeals not only rejected the claim of immunity for damages caused by the Mission’s negligence, but also held that the Mission had a nondelegable duty to the adjoining landowner, meaning that it was liable even if the damage was caused by work of the contractor or the subcontractor.  The decision comes during the New York City Buildings Department’s 8th annual No-Penalty Retaining Wall Inspection Program.

Entitled Experience Is Not Enough, the new multi-lingual campaign is designed to emphasize that all workers must use proper fall protection, such as safety harnesses, guardrails and netting, regardless of how long they have worked in the construction trades and how much experience they possess. A worker falling is the most commonconstruction related accidentin New York City, representing 42% of all accidents reported to the Department in 2010. Since 2008, 16 construction workers have lost their lives due to the lack of basic fall protection. In February, two ironworkers, ages 49 and 51, were killed when they fell approximately 65 feet while installing a steel beam at a job site on West 83rd Street i

Earlier this year the New York City Department of Buildings had a No-Penalty Retaining Wall Inspection Program, in which homeownerscould call 311 to request an inspection of their retaining wall without the penalty of violations. Retaining walls are important because they are designed to hold back soil that would move to a more natural slope or incline if the wall was not in place. Were that to occur, damage could be sustained not only to the building's foundation, but to the foundation of an adjacent property. Additionally, there is a potential for injury or even death where construction work is being done below street level of the adjacent property and a retaining wall collapses.Similarly, when major excavation causes damage to adjacent structures, Administrative Code of the City of New York 27-1031(b)(1) (now Administrative Code 28-3309.4) imposes liability on an owner and contractor for s

Retaining walls are designed to hold back soil that would move to a more natural slope or incline if the wall was not in place. Every homeowner is required by law to maintain their walls and their properties in a safe condition at all times. Under the No-Penalty Retaining Wall Inspection Program, homeowners may call 311 to request an inspection of their retaining wall without the penalty of violations. Every once in a while you heara story in the news about a retaining wall that collapsed on a worker engaged in a construction project on an adjoining property where the worker is injured ordies. This years program may be more important than in other years because this years unprecedented rainfall could compromise the stability of retailing walls. As temper

Homeowners have until June 1, 2009 to call 3-1-1 to request an inspection of their retaining walls by a Buildings Inspector without penalty of violation under the New York City Department of Buildings' annual No-Penalty Retaining Wall Inspection Program. Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri launched this years program on March 25, 2009. During the inspection, Building Inspectors will conduct visual examinations of retaining walls and record structural conditions such as bulging, displaced material, or leaning of the wall. If repair is needed or violating conditions that are not immediately unsafe are found on walls, the Buildings Department will defer issuing violations until June 1, 2009 to allow property owners time to take corrective action. If immediately-dangerous conditions are found upon inspection, the Buildings Department will take immediate action to force correction of the unsafe condition. Retaining walls are designed to hold back soil that would move