So, here in the Washington, DC area we are buried under a couple feet of snow. You know we have a lot of snow when the Lincoln Memorial steps have been transformed into a good tobogan run. Unfortunately, so much snow means a ton of dead load placed on roof structures. There are a number of roof collapses reported around the area. So far, the major blessing is it appears that none of these events have led to any serious personal injuries. You can definitely expect that these significant collapse events will trigger equally significant property damage claims, business interruption issues, and perhaps threaten the long-term viability of some businesses. These events include:

• The roof of the Bailey’s Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department collapsed
• A hangar roof at Dulles Airport fully collapsed, reportedly destroying several business jets
• The roof at a commercial strip store in Forestville, MD collapsed Saturday
• The roof at St. John School in Maryland collapsed, destroying six classrooms, the computer lab, library, and offices
• A storage warehouse in California, MD collapsed
• The scariest has to be the collapse of the Prince William Ice Center which happened with the building occupied with skaters; owners were able to clear all the occupants out when they observed a ceiling beam start to twist

Here is a news report on the Baileys Crossroads roof collapse from WJLA:

http://cfc.wjla.com/mediaplayer.swf

With the threat of more snow potentially on the way, the region may not have seen the last of these problems. Building owners may face some significant hurdles to full recovery, including finding out the limitations of their insurance policies, facing problems with statutes of limitations and/or statutes of repose, and finding that responsible parties are casualties of the current economic crisis and thus are judgment proof. All of these factors point to a few very important lessons:

• Know and understand your insurance coverage and its limitations before you have problems
• When shopping for insurance, evaluate risk and consider not just shopping for the lowest price; you may find that going cheap on insurance ultimately costs you far more
• Know and understand applicable statutes of limitations and statutes of repose prior to entering into design, construction, or property purchase agreements
• Factor in the impacts of these time limitation issues when you asses the appropriate levels and types of insurance your purchase
• Do your homework – conducting detailed inspections prior to purchase and properly evaluating the strength and credentials of your consultants and contractors is an investment of time and money, but it is worth it in the long run rather than face a catastrophic loss in the future

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