To some of my fellow insurance professionals, the surety business has always had an air of mystery about it. Perhaps it is the exotic language we use referring to “Obligee’s” and “Principals”. Maybe it is the surety underwriter’s ability to quickly unlock the secrets of a client’s financial statement and translate a page of…
Michigan’s two peninsulas were finally connected in 1957, after 20 years of planning, and close to $100 million in construction and engineering costs with the construction of a bridge crossing the Straits of Mackinac. But the work didn’t stop there. Something this beautiful and majestic needs constant upkeep. This engineering marvel needs constant maintenance, cleaning…
I remember receiving a particular account submission some years ago. The agent told me I was going to see some distress in their financial trend, but there were extenuating circumstances. The contractor’s significant other had been very ill for some time and the contractor’s focus had shifted to her and things slipped on the management…
Cost overruns are a common occurrence in the construction industry. It’s far too easy at the mid-point of any project to misjudge billing against the actual status of the project. That’s where the Work in Progress (WIP) report comes in. The work in progress (WIP) report or WIP schedule is one of the most important reporting mechanisms in…
Summary of Bond and Lien Laws
UPDATE: Construction spending falls as public works edge out home building 12/3/18 3:40 PM ET (MarketWatch) Share By Andrea Riquier All the data confirms: no relief for house-hunters The numbers: Construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted annual $1.309 billion in October, 0.1% lower than a revised September spending pace of $1.311 billion, the Commerce…
Commercial insurance rates generally forecast to rise in 2019 Gloria Gonzalez Escalating losses in the casualty insurance market are expected to trigger upward pricing pressure across most commercial lines of business in 2019, led by a continued rise in premiums in the auto sector, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson PLC. Auto…
Grappling with an acute labor shortage, the construction industry is being forced to get creative Kate Rogers | @KateRogers Published 4 Hours Ago Updated 1 Hour AgoCNBC.com Larry Lopez, president of construction staffing service Green JobWorks in Baltimore, Maryland, needs about 20 skilled workers — a tall order for any small employer in a tight labor market….
U.S. Construction Costs Are Soaring Posted on September 5, 2018 by Alex Carrick The press release issued on the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) data calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) highlights only a small subset of all the series generated. There is a much larger (i.e., 185-page) monthly report that features thousands of entries. Many…
Annual State of the Surety Industry Vertex Presentation – 2018