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For decades, construction has resisted digital disruption, wary of tools that could introduce risk in an industry where mistakes carry real-world consequences. That caution has only intensified with the arrival of AI, a technology often associated with uncertainty rather than accountability.

Yet quietly, AI is beginning to gain traction across architecture, engineering, and construction workflows. Early adopters are already reporting measurable savings in time and cost, forcing the industry to confront a question it can no longer ignore.

As automation moves deeper into planning, design, and documentation, the debate is shifting. The issue is no longer whether AI belongs in construction, but what its rise means for the engineers who have long held the industry together.

China is preparing to drop or relax the so-called “three red lines” policy — a set of regulatory borrowing limits introduced in 2020 that capped developers’ leverage by tying debt to assets, equity, and cash flows. At its core, the policy aimed to rein in debt-fuelled growth after years of rapid expansion by forcing developers to deleverage. But it also compressed borrowing capacity sharply, contributing to liquidity stress, project slowdowns, and outright defaults among major developers. Evergrande, Country Garden, and others stumbled not just because of broader economic headwinds but because the policy made new financing harder to secure, even for firms that were operationally solvent.

Relaxing or removing these red lines could provide immediate relief by loosening credit conditions for developers and unlocking funding that was effectively choked off under the old regime. In theory, better access to capital would allow builders to complete stalled projects, support refinancing needs, and reduce the cascade of distressed sales, ratings downgrades, and fire-sale pricing that defined much of the past few years. It could also restore some confidence among domestic and international lenders who have grown wary of Chinese property credit because of repeated liquidity squeezes triggered by regulatory constraints.

But dropping the red lines is not a panacea. The underlying structural problems in China’s real estate market (oversupply in lower-tier cities, weak buyer confidence, a demographic slowdown, and heavy household indebtedness) will not disappear simply because leverage limits ease. Developers facing weak sales and falling prices may still struggle to generate cash flow even with more generous financing terms. Moreover, lenders will still price risk conservatively if they believe demand fundamentals are impaired, meaning cheaper credit might not flow where it is most needed. A roll-back of regulatory curbs also risks reigniting concerns about unchecked debt if not paired with prudent oversight, which was the original intent of the policy.

Rolling back the “three red lines” could provide a liquidity lifeline and help developers patch balance sheets and finish projects more readily, but it doesn’t automatically fix the deeper demand, demographic, and structural headwinds that have slowed China’s real estate engine. The shift signals a policy pivot toward supporting growth, yet the sector’s recovery will still depend on restoring buyer confidence, clearing excess inventory, and aligning financing conditions with real economic demand—a combination that regulatory changes alone cannot guarantee.

A Los Angeles-area manufacturing company is fighting back against what it calls a wave of fraudulent asbestos lawsuits, accusing a law firm of submitting fabricated claims on behalf of deceased workers. The company’s complaint asserts that the law firm knowingly filed cases that misrepresented employment histories and exposure details, alleging that some plaintiffs never even worked at the manufacturer’s facilities. The suit seeks damages and sanctions, characterizing the purported conduct as an abuse of the legal system.

Asbestos, a mineral once widely used for fire resistance and insulation, remains a persistent hazard decades after its regulatory phase-out. Exposure to asbestos fibers can lead to serious illnesses such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer, often emerging many years after the initial contact. Because of the long latency period and the severity of these diseases, asbestos litigation has been a major area of tort claims for decades, with complex chains of employer history, product identification, and exposure patterns driving thousands of cases across the country.

The manufacturer’s allegations underscore not only the health risks associated with historical asbestos use but also the challenges in verifying exposure and employment histories long after the fact. In many asbestos cases, establishing that a worker was present at a site with asbestos-containing materials and linking that exposure directly to illness can be difficult and often depends on historical records, witness testimony, and expert analysis. The fraudulent lawsuit claims allege that those evidentiary checkpoints were bypassed or fabricated in pursuit of fees, raising concerns about litigation integrity in a high-stakes area of personal injury law.

Asbestos remains a public health concern in older structures, industrial settings, and legacy installations where friable asbestos materials can still release dangerous fibers. Even today, removal and abatement work is tightly regulated precisely because of these risks. Cases like this one, whether ultimately proven or dismissed, highlight the enduring role that asbestos plays legally and medically, decades after its widespread industrial use. In the court of public opinion and in the legal system, maintaining rigorous standards of proof is critical, both to protect genuinely affected workers and to ensure that the judicial process is not distorted by false claims.

Propmodo Daily is written and edited by Franco Faraudo with contributions from readers like you and the Propmodo team.

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