Construction claim trends in a changing risk landscape

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These emerging trends are challenging traditional construction risk management.

By Stephanie Thomas | August 14, 2025

As construction practices evolve to meet new environmental, technological and efficiency demands, so too do the associated risks.

Three emerging areas are giving rise to increasingly complex claims scenarios: solar farms, data centers, and modular construction. Each involves unique exposures, legal ambiguities and implications for underwriting and risk management.

Solar farms: Small damages, giant verdicts

As the renewable energy sector continues to grow worldwide, the construction of solar farms across America’s rural areas has triggered an uptick in high-severity pollution runoff claims. Though these claims often involve limited physical damage caused by silt or sediment runoff onto neighboring residential properties and waterways, they increasingly result in multi-million-dollar jury awards.

Solar farm construction involves clearing and grading large sections of land, often in rural communities. This phase of construction can lead to significant erosion and major sediment run-off into waterways and neighboring residential properties if the stormwater controls and drainage basins are inadequate. What might begin as a modest environmental incident can escalate into a highly litigious and emotionally charged dispute.

A landmark example of this trend is the Lumpkin Solar case, in which a Georgia jury awarded $135.5 million, including $125 million in punitive damages, to a couple whose private pond was contaminated by runoff during the construction of a nearby solar farm. The actual cost to remediate the damage was estimated at less than $1 million, but the verdict reflected deeper social dynamics: a strong jury inclination to penalize corporations thought to be infringing on rural livelihoods.

These high-dollar claims are rarely driven by catastrophic physical losses. Rather, they emerge from a mix of social inflation, the rise of third-party litigation funding and a growing public skepticism toward industrial-scale projects in rural settings — all resulting in nuclear jury verdicts, defined as verdicts in excess of $10 million. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have recognized this dynamic and are actively seeking similar cases, which is accelerating both the frequency and severity of these claims.

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Condo risks in focus as A&E market tightens

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By Michael Bradford | November 1, 2021

Rising losses are causing underwriters to rethink the way they analyze architects and engineers professional liability risks, and the deadly collapse of a condominium building in south Florida earlier this year is raising further concerns. 

Coverage prices have moved up gradually over the past three years as A&E professional liability losses have become more frequent and severe, sources say.

And while the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Florida, is not expected to immediately have a widespread impact on rates, it is bringing closer scrutiny to condo risks and could eventually lead to coverage restrictions, they say.

“The Surfside condo collapse will heighten awareness around the risks associated with this project type and will likely cause a further tightening for condo projects,” Lawrence Moonan, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Monterey, Calif.-based Berkley Design Professional, a unit of W.R. Berkley Corp., said in an email.

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Resilient design for a safer, more secure future

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By Andrew D. Mendelson | July 12, 2021

The consequences are undeniable. Global climate change has affected everything from the design and building of roads, bridges, homes and office complexes to the upgrading of our nation’s electrical grids and pipeline systems.

Unfortunately, the forecasts of many of the world’s leading climate research agencies are less than optimistic. According to NASA, the effects of global climate change are likely to continue “over this century and beyond” as the growing intensity and frequency of severe storm events, heat waves and wildfires increasingly wreak havoc on the nation’s infrastructure and ecosystem. In fact, the National Centers for Environmental Information, recently reported that 25 storm-related disasters in the U.S. caused more than a billion dollars in damages each from 2018 to 2019. Of these, the top five combined to cause more than $75 billion in damages.

As a result, a renewed emphasis has been placed on the creation of buildings and infrastructure that not only withstand severe natural events but remain habitable under extreme conditions. Even President Biden’s American Jobs Plan proposed wide-ranging initiatives promising that infrastructure projects developed under the plan would include funding to prevent, reduce and withstand the impacts of the climate crisis.

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Evolution of the Standard of Care Due to Climate Change

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By Andrew D. Mendelson and Dion N. Cominos | Sunday, January 3, 2021

Legal and practice standards for design and construction professionals are evolving due to climate change. While the cause of climate change is an oft-debated topic, the fact of it is largely undeniable. The earth’s global surface temperature and water levels are rising, while severe storms and climatic events have increased dramatically across the United States and not just in coastal areas.

Consequently, the standards of care and legal requirements applicable to design professionals, contractors and others involved in construction will need to be taken into consideration as part of the overall construction process.

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Well-written, Clearly-Defined Contracts Make for Successful Outcomes

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by Walter J. Adams, Jr., Berkley Alliance Managers, a Berkley Company

Once again, the American economy is in flux. We’re all now in a wait-and-see game with a virus that is endangering the well-being of both individuals and businesses worldwide.

For some contractors, the projects scheduled before COVID-19 will move forward without delay. Others will be placed on hold or cancelled which will jeopardize the incomes and livelihoods of our nation’s contractors, subcontractors, engineers and architects.

As a result, the written contracts agreed upon between all parties have never been more important. Given the unpredictability shadowing the entire construction industry, plus state and federal regulations and mandates changing daily, every detail of every project should be clearly defined. Agreements that carefully state the risks, roles, responsibilities and rights of every participant, including subcontractors, are essential for ensuring successful, profitable outcomes during the best of times, let alone when circumstances are uncertain at best.

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5 issues to consider on design/build projects

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Berkley Design Pro Design Build

During National Building Safety Month, keep these tips in mind when planning your design/build projects.

By Lawrence Moonan and Laila Santana

Property Casualty 360
May 20, 2019

It’s inevitable. Every project is bound to have a glitch or two. Big or small, there are far too many moving parts on virtually any job site to cover every issue.

These challenges have become even more glaring in an environment that increasingly employs design/build as a project delivery vehicle. Historically, when design/bid/build was the pre-eminent project delivery method, the roles of the design team and the contracting teams were clearly defined. Everyone knew where their responsibilities began and ended and there was little overlap. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case as the lines between design and construction continue to blur. In addition, expediency is now a key expectation of the project owner, which increases the potential for professional liability claims to occur.

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Public-private partnerships and the design firm

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By Andrew D. Mendelson, FAIA, Chief Risk Management Officer, Berkley Design Professional

April 11, 2019

Adapted from an article authored by Suzanne H. Harness, J.D., AIA for Berkley Design Professional

Recognizing that traditional public funding will not always be available, governmental agencies are using innovative public-private partnership (P3) models to incentivize their private-sector partners to deliver much needed local projects. For many engineers, P3 is already a familiar method of project delivery for infrastructure such as roads, bridges, tunnels, and transit. Architects are now finding that local communities are also considering P3 for other types of building projects, including athletic facilities, museums, convention centers, parking garages, courthouses, libraries, and affordable housing.

Simply stated, a P3 exists when a public entity retains a private entity to finance, design, and build a project that will deliver a benefit to the public. Often, the P3 consortium will be responsible for maintenance and operations over an extended period of time, up to 30 years. One thing is certain: private entities—and their investors and lenders—will only support P3 projects when they have confidence that the revenue stream will deliver an acceptable return on investment. The developer is then under tremendous pressure to deliver the promised financial return to investors.

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Strategically preparing for construction professional liability risk

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by Walter J. Adams, Jr.

All contractors and subcontractors should be involved in mitigating risk.

Risk is inherent with any commercial building project. From design and specification through construction, there are many moving parts capable of creating any number of problems.

In the past, roles were clearly defined under the design/bid/build project delivery methodology. Responsibilities had a beginning and end. There was little guesswork – if any at all.

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8 Steps to Successful Subconsultant Relationships

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Streamline the design-build process with a solid strategy for choosing partners

 

by Andrew Mendelson FAIA
August 8, 2018

Prime design consultants often have a great deal of project control and leverage. Unfortunately, such responsibilities increase the potential for significant risk. This is especially true if errors or omissions committed by subconsultants cause damage to the client or project. Under such circumstances, the prime will most likely be held liable as if they committed the negligent acts themselves.

Given the risks and responsibilities, it’s surprising how many times prime consultants retain subconsultants without thoroughly vetting their skills and backgrounds. Many even fail to hold written contracts with their subs or only move forward with brief agreement letters and/or the subconsultant’s proposal. But consider this: if problems occur and the prime has no contract with the subconsultant, or if the contract is inadequate or ambiguous, the prime could end up paying for the client’s entire loss.

Another problem is that primes often neglect to require insurance—or an adequate amount—from their subs which places their own deductible and policy limits at risk.

As a result, here are eight steps Berkley Design Professional recommends for helping to prepare against issues before they arise, while also protecting against costly and time-consuming delays.

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