There are instances where a party can engage in the anticipatory repudiation of their obligations under a contract.  In essence, this is basically a party prospectively breaching the contract by repudiating their obligations in the contract. A prospective breach of contract occurs where there is absolute repudiation by one of the parties prior to the time […]

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Termination for convenience provisions are important provisions to include in construction contracts.  These are provisions that allow a party to terminate the contract for ANY REASON.  No cause is needed to exercise the termination for convenience provision.  In other words, the terminating party does not have to demonstrate the other party breached the contract.  A […]

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Does a subcontractor need to prove its delay claim (including its lost productivity claim) with expert testimony or a CPM analysis?  A federal decision out of the District Court of Maryland proposes that maybe a subcontractor does not need to go this route. See Baker DC, LLC v. Baggette Construction, Inc., 378 F.Supp.3d 399 (D.Md. 2019). […]

The post DOES A SUB NEED TO USE AN EXPERT OR PRESENT CPM ANALYSIS TO SUPPORT A DELAY CLAIM? appeared first on Florida Construction Legal Updates.

When it comes to drafting and negotiating a subcontract, there are provisions that should be important to you from a risk assessment standpoint.   From the subcontractor’s standpoint, below are questions you should ask, or issues you should consider, as you go through the subcontract.  These are the same questions and issues that are also important […]

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In the preceding posting, I wrote about making sure you comply with your property insurance policy’s post-loss policy obligations.  By failing to comply, you can render your policy ineffective meaning you are forfeiting otherwise valid insurance coverage, which was the situation discussed in the preceding posting.  As an insured, you should never want this to […]

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I am of the opinion that if your property insurer requests a sworn proof of loss, furnish one with the assistance of counsel (preferably).  Ignoring the insurer’s request or refusing to comply with insurer’s request is NOT value-added; it is simply placing you at a disadvantage based on the insurer’s argument that you, as the insured, […]

The post COMPLY WITH YOUR INSURANCE POLICY’S CONDITIONS PRECEDENT (POST-LOSS OBLIGATIONS) appeared first on Florida Construction Legal Updates.

In a prior article I discussed a material escalation provision in your construction contract to account for the volatility of the material price market.  While including such a provision may not have been much of a forethought before, it is now! What about concerns with the actual supply chain that impacts the availability of and the […]

The post HOW ARE YOU DEALING WITH MATERIAL DELAYS / SUPPLY CHAIN IMPACTS? appeared first on Florida Construction Legal Updates.

As you may know, material prices have been climbing.  And they continue to climb based on the volatility of the material market.  On top of that, there are lead times in getting material due to supply chain and other related concerns.   The question is, how are you addressing these risks?  These are risks that need […]

The post MATERIAL PRICES CLIMB…AND CLIMB…ARE YOU CONSIDERING A MATERIAL ESCALATION PROVISION? appeared first on Florida Construction Legal Updates.

The recent opinion out of the Eastern District Court of Virginia, Dickson v. Forney Enterprises, Inc., 2021 WL 1536574 (E.D.Virginia 2021),  demonstrates that the federal Miller Act is not designed to protect ALL that perform work on a federal construction project.   This is because NOT ALL work is covered under the Miller Act. In this […]

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  When it comes to proving a construction cost, particularly a cost in dispute, the cost must be REASONABLE.   Costs subject to claims must be reasonably incurred and the party incurring the costs must show the costs are reasonable. An example of the burden falling on the contractor to prove the reasonableness of costs […]

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