For those readers interested in federal contracting and related labor issues, our colleague Dennis Westlind recently blogged about changes implemented by the Obama Administration. Those posts address the following topics:

• Project Labor Agreements on Federally Funded Construction Projects
• Executive Orders Affecting Federal Contractors

Stay tuned for more changes as the new administration implements

Since we first blogged about Chinese drywall, homeowners in at least 19 states, including Washington and California, have reported problems associated with defective drywall.

Late last year, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) began receiving complaints about damage to homes constructed with drywall manufactured in China. The drywall reportedly contains elevated sulfur levels, which…

The Oregon Court of Appeals recently issued a ruling in the case of Waxman v. Waxman & Assoc., Inc. that resolves two significant issues regarding the statute of limitations in certain construction defect cases. First, the court ruled that where a plaintiff’s claim is based upon breach of contract, the applicable statute of limitations…

Can green buildings save the economy? Maybe that’s a stretch, but green buildings do play a significant role in the country’s GDP. By 2010, the value of green building construction is projected to be $60 billion. Perhaps more important in these times, the government is recognizing that greening our schools, homes, and office buildings could…

A retail construction project illustrates the risks to an owner when the general contractor encounters financial problems. As is typically the case, the general’s financial troubles started when he got behind in payments on earlier projects. As a result, the initial payments on the retail project went to pay subs and suppliers from the earlier projects, which…

Developer insolvencies are unfortunately becoming more and more common in our current economic climate and often result in partially completed projects being stopped. The consequences to contractors can be significant. A number of recent resort projects illustrate what the contractors and subs can typically expect.

First, the obvious, immediate problem is nonpayment, which in turn requires the…

When disputes arise between an owner and its lender, and the lender, for any number of reasons, stops funding a project, the question of whether the contractor can sue the lender sometimes arises. The theory often advanced is that the lender knew the contractor had started work and, if it did not intend to advance the…

Contract provisions stating that either the owner or the contractor’s bankruptcy will constitute an event of default are common. A corresponding provision typically sets out the nonbreaching party’s rights in the event of default, one being the right to terminate the contract. For all practical purposes, these provisions are meaningless and unenforceable.

Section 365 of the Bankruptcy…

While the technical requirements for preparing and filing liens offer countless opportunities for mistakes, two in particular seem to predominate. The first is the failure to properly calculate the 75-day period for filing the lien. The 75-day period begins to run from the earlier of (i) the day the contractor or supplier ceased to provide…