The importance of carefully drafting, and following, a construction contract’s termination provisions was made clear for project owners and contractors by a recent Washington Supreme Court decision, Conway Construction Co. v. City of Puyallup. The city contracted with Conway to build a major roadway, but when the city lost confidence in Conway’s work, it issued the contractor a notice of termination for default and withheld payments. In the ensuing case, the Washington Supreme Court sided with Conway, holding that the termination was improper because evidence showed that Conway did not neglect or refuse to correct the defects – as was required by the contract – and affirming that the city could not claim an offset for defective work that was discovered after termination. In an article for the Daily Journal of Commerce, we provide a few tips for owners and contractors that may reduce their risk of claims and preserve their right to damages, in light of the Conway decision. Read the full article here.
Originally published as an Op-Ed by the Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce on Aug. 19, 2021.