construction contracts Archive

As unpaid subcontractors and suppliers cannot lien federal projects, the Miller Act was adopted to ensure payment bonds would guarantee payment of those providing labor or material to federal jobs. Contractors and their bonding companies have argued that “pay if paid” clauses or “no damage for delay” clauses in subcontracts can be utilized to insulate […]

Change Orders are as common to construction as lawsuits are to lawyers. But the process for dealing with them, when there is no agreement, can vary widely. And yet, the first thing you should do when encountering a change is almost always the same – READ THE CONTRACT. Now that you have the contract in […]

In Ohio Fabricators, Inc. v. Aster Elements, Inc., 2019-Ohio-3978, Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals recently refused to uphold a purported pay-if-paid clause despite the fact the clause included the phrase “condition precedent.” In the past, the use of the term “condition precedent” normally signified the payment terms were “pay-if-paid,” which required the general contractor to […]

On August 14, 2019, the Court of Appeals, Ninth Judicial District (Summit County) handed Ohio subcontractors and suppliers a victory on mechanic’s lien rights by reversing and remanding a trial court decision where the lower court had held that a subcontractor’s notice of furnishing was invalid because it was served before the sub had performed any labor or […]

The terms, Design-Assist and Design-Build, are frequently used by the construction industry in recent years. While they sound similar, they could not mean more different things. Design Assist Under Design-Assist, the construction team, often including key subcontractors, is engaged by the owner to collaborate with the design professional during the design phase to improve constructability […]