By: Christopher E. Nyenhuis and Mark A. Rysberg On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law. The IIJA appropriates $1.2 trillion in funding for physical infrastructure improvements. This represents the...
Mark Rysberg Publications
Reading Between the Lines: An Avoidable Insurance Coverage Issue Revealed in Skanska USA Building v. M.A.P. Mechanical
Insurance coverage is an integral part of the construction process. The contract documents rely on insurance to facilitate the risk allocation and risk transfer needs of the project. These contractual specifications lay out the types of coverage, policy limits, and...
Managing Cash-Flow during the COVID-19 Crisis for Compliance with the Michigan Builders’ Trust Fund Act
The Great Recession is still fresh in many people’s minds. Those involved in the construction industry certainly recall how those economic problems resulted in tightening cash-flow and the demise of contractors such as Lamar Construction. The present crisis is causing...
Construction Defect Coverage: the Michigan Supreme Court revisits the question of whether coverage exists for construction defects under standard commercial general liability policies
An important case for contractors and subcontractors has surfaced at the Michigan Supreme Court. Skanska USA Building, Inc. v. M.A.P. Mechanical Contractors, Inc. raises the question: is property damage coverage under a standard commercial general liability policy...
Captive Insurance Update: Limitation on Premium Revenue Increases
On January 1, 2019, the limitation on premium revenue under IRC 831(b) increased from $2.2 million to approximately $2.3 million. This occurred by operation of 26 U.S.C. 831(E), which provides that the $2.2 million limit shall be increased annually by a cost-of-living adjustment rounded up to the next lowest multiple of $50,000.
Captive Insurance Programs Improve a Contractor’s Bottom Line
By Mark Rysberg, Esq. and Daniel Hatch, Esq. Attorneys Mark A. Rysberg and Daniel J. Hatch of Hilger Hammond recently authored a comprehensive article in CFMA Building Profits magazine regarding captive insurance programs and how they can improve a contractor’s bottom...
Repeal of Prevailing Wage Constitutional Challenges Rejected
By Mark Rysberg, Esq. In 2018, the Michigan Legislature repealed Michigan’s prevailing wage statute following a citizen led initiative to repeal the same. A group supporting prevailing wage law, Protect Michigan Jobs, recently challenged the validity of the repealing...
Captive Insurance Opportunities Using Contractor Controlled Insurance Programs (CCIPs)
By: Mark A. Rysberg Captive insurance within the building construction industry is well established. Such programs are generally developed to reduce insurance premium costs and to approach risk management from a strategic perspective. Captive insurance programs can...
Controlled Insurance Programs Within the Construction Industry
By: Mark A. Rysberg A controlled insurance program (CIP) can be implemented on a construction project to provide project-specific coverage that is directed at managing the risks transferred to third-party insurers. There are generally two forms of CIPs; those...
Captive Insurance – Do the Changes to the 2018 Corporate Tax Rates Impact the Viability of 831(b) Captive Insurance Programs?
By: Mark A. Rysberg The short answer is: no. From the perspective of some people, the reduction in the corporate tax rate from the rate that existed in 2017 to the rates that will be applied in 2018 eliminates the incentives for captive insurance participants to elect...