Property and Casualty
August 19, 2021
Structural Issues and Aging Buildings
While modern building codes and structural engineering have made buildings extremely safe, facilities managers must maintain a high level of upkeep for them to remain that way. As buildings age, they can lose their structural integrity. As such, if simple repairs are left untended, they can balloon into bigger issues, potentially causing significant damage that...
August 16, 2021
OSHA Urges Employers to Require Vaccinated Workers to Wear Masks
The U.S. agency that regulates workplace safety issued guidance on Friday urging employers to require many fully vaccinated workers to wear masks to protect unvaccinated colleagues and customers, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommended that workers wear masks “in areas of substantial or high community transmission,” such...
August 11, 2021
LIHTC Recapture Bonds: Top Questions Answered
We recently interviewed CMR’s Principal/President and Surety Practice Group Leader, Travis Pearson on the top questions that we receive regarding the LIHTC Recapture Bond. While the IRS no longer requires a disposition bond (IRS form 8693) to avoid tax credit recapture in the event of ownership disposition in a Low Income Housing Tax Credit Section...
August 2, 2021
Preparing Workers’ Comp for Future Pandemics
Intending to recognize additional catastrophic exposures on workers’ comp systems that can impact ratemaking, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is proposing that any event exceeding $50 million in losses be excluded from the data used to set rates, including future pandemics. Other than certified acts of terrorism, NCCI’s catastrophe provision only accounts for single-event losses...
July 26, 2021
What Does Builder’s Risk Insurance Cover?
Builder’s risk insurance provides property coverage for buildings and structures that are under construction. If you’re a builder or a commercial property owner, you could face considerable monetary loss if something goes wrong with the construction of a building if you don’t have builder’s risk insurance. This coverage is also known as “course of construction...
June 29, 2021
What To Consider In The Post-Pandemic Commercial Real Estate Environment
As vaccinations ramp up and Covid-19 transmissions decline, the journey toward normalcy seems just about over. Because of that, I believe commercial real estate generally and office space specifically remain sound investments. However, the pandemic has forever changed the way corporations and workers use these assets and, as a result, how investors should think about...
June 25, 2021
7 Key Trends Affecting 2021’s Hard Insurance Market
Around the one-year mark since the start of the pandemic, markets began to experience the lasting effects of the challenges presented to them in 2020. While I’m hopeful that there is light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, we’ll likely see hardening market conditions persist throughout 2021. Below, I explore in-depth some of the...
June 17, 2021
How to Evacuate a High-Rise Building
When asked, most people would say that they should “stop, drop, and roll” if their clothes caught fire. There are a few other basic rules most people know to follow, such as crawling on the ground because smoke rises. But many residents of apartment buildings are fuzzy on the details when it comes to emergency...
June 7, 2021
Industries That Experience the Most Fatal Work Injuries
During 2019, a total of 5,333 fatal occupational injuries occurred, marking the largest annual number since 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which reported an American died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury. Overall, fatal work injuries increased by 2% nationwide during the year. Further, the fatal work-injury rate did not change...
May 24, 2021
Amenities Are Reopening, With Technology At Their Core
Last year, once-bustling amenities in multifamily properties fell silent as residents stayed socially distanced in their units. Meanwhile, property managers sought alternative ways to engage residents and empower them to take advantage of the amenities they pay for while still feeling safe. They found that technology provided the bridge they were looking for. “In the past year, we’ve seen a rise...