City Bar's Construction Law Built Environment Web Page Goes Live

Citing the want to “educate the public regarding the need to modernize the State's archaic public construction procurement laws,” and warning that structures like the Tappan Zee Bridge are in a precarious state of disrepair, the New York City Bar Association has launched a Web page presenting the Construction Law Committee’s recent work on the ‘Built Environment.’

The Web page contains the re-issuance and updating of the report “21st Century Construction, 20^th Century Construction Law,” as well as a synopsis of a multi-disciplinary forum on several critical issues in the Built Environment entitled “Developing the 21^st Century,” held earlier this year, and jointly sponsored by the City Bar’s Construction Law, Project Finance, and Land Use Planning and Zoning Committees. 

Among the conclusions of the report and the forum were that current laws prevent public owners from avoiding costs due to the mismatch between service delivery methodology and project needs. The laws’ exclusive focus on initial project costs to the exclusion of life cycle costs contributes to the continuing pattern of delayed maintenance, leading to increased capital needs over time. Ultimately, the public owner’s inability to avoid costs in construction incrementally increases non-discretionary debt service costs, which can crowd out discretionary—or programmatic costs—during times of budget stress. The result is that, in New York, the backlog of deferred repair, rehabilitation and maintenance has been exacerbated by the mandated methodology for procuring construction-related services.

The next multi-disciplinary educational event, co-sponsored with the New York State chapter of the American Institute of Architects and Albany Law School, is planned for the fall in Albany.  Details regarding the program are forthcoming and will be posted on the Web page.

The Web page may be viewed here: http://bit.ly/lhEUuy.

July 19, 2011