Construction Contracts

Construction projects are complex and often experience delays.  The party responsible for the delay can find itself subject to potentially severe consequences. There are various ways project owners and contractors can cause project delays, and each party wants to “own” the project float to be able to apply the project’s extra schedule time toward its

If a contractor cannot meet deadlines on a construction project or a subcontractor pulls out of a new project bid in order to pursue a more attractive opportunity, the project owner and/or prime contractor face potentially significant damages, which can include corrective work, costs of completion or substitute performance, and delay. In my latest column

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

At the forefront of concerns for those in the construction industry is the escalation in material prices and disruptions to supply chains that were in large part a byproduct of the pandemic. Project owners and contractors want to understand their rights with regard to these risks and also how the risks should be apportioned. In

Today, the construction industry faces a myriad of challenges – as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, rapidly increasing construction material costs, labor and material shortages, and a hot housing market are potential obstacles for project owners and contractors that, despite their best efforts and intentions, could prevent them from completing their construction projects on time.

The construction industry has proved adaptable over the course of the pandemic — owners and general and trade contractors have worked closely to ensure that work continued, while keeping workers safe and complying with the various government-ordered and -recommended practices intended to slow the spread of COVID-19. By now, most owners and contractors are well

Nearly all construction industry standard form contracts require mediation as part of their dispute resolution provisions. Often confused with arbitration, mediation is a negotiation facilitated by a neutral third party. Unlike arbitration — a proceeding like a trial — mediation does not result in a final binding decision. And the mediator typically does not have

In my latest column for the Daily Journal of Commerce, I look at the concept of liquidated damages – in my experience one of the top five heavily negotiated (and litigated) clauses in a construction contract. Because a project owner’s potential delay damages are often difficult to determine with certainty at the beginning of