Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Hartford partner Joseph Blyskal, associate Kelcie Reid and law clerk Julianna Houldcroft authored an article "Ordinance or Law Coverage in Connection with Direct Physical Loss and Code Upgrades" in the May edition of DRI's For the Defense publication.
The article describes the role of ordinance or law coverage in standard commercial property insurance policies, disputes regarding the scope of ordinance or law coverage, and the assessment of repairs in different situations. The article states, "The standard commercial property insurance policy does not cover loss or damage resulting from the enforcement of an ordinance or law regulating the construction, use, repair, or demolition of a building," and further describes the coverage available via additional specific policy or endorsement options.
The authors detail the assessment of repairs to undamaged portions of a building system or adjoining building system, repairs of latent or preexisting code violations discovered during post-loss inspections, and repairs to entire properties or structures.
To read the full article, please click here.