As the second Trump administration begins next week, developers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers are evaluating the extent of the construction industry’s international ties – and contractual exposure to potential...more
1/16/2025
/ Canada ,
China ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Contract Terms ,
Contractors ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Goods or Services ,
Importers ,
Imports ,
Mexico ,
National Security ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration
On complex construction projects, there may be multiple contractors, subcontractors, vendors, suppliers, and sub-subcontractors working along side one another. With various entities working parallel there are substantial...more
Indiana, like other states, has a strong policy favoring arbitration agreements, and Indiana courts construe arbitration clauses broadly to make matters abitrable so long as they reasonably fit within the language of the...more
On December 8, 2020, in Taylor Morrison of Texas, Inc. v. Kohlmeyer, a Texas Court of Appeals rejected a contractor’s appeal of a trial court order denying the contractor’s motion to compel arbitration in a home construction...more
12/18/2020
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Arbitration ,
Construction Defects ,
Construction Industry ,
Contract Terms ,
Contractors ,
Estoppel ,
Homeowners ,
Motion to Compel ,
Purchase Agreement
Recently, in Cross v. L-M Asphalt Partners, Ltd., the Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld a contractor’s immunity from suit for negligence, where the contractor complied with the contract and construction specifications provided...more
11/17/2020
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Terms ,
Contractors ,
Federal Contractors ,
Immunity ,
Negligence ,
Strict Compliance ,
Summary Judgment
On October 15, 2020, in EMTA Insaat Taahhut ve Ticaret A.S. v. Cosmopolitan Incorporated, a federal district court held that the federal Prompt Pay Act (PPA) (31 U.S.C. §§ 3901, et al.) does not create a private right of...more
In Somerset Fine Home Building, Inc. v. Simplex Industries, Inc., the Appellate Division of the Second Department in New York upheld a dismissal based on the plaintiff’s breach of the parties’ forum selection clause. Somerset...more
Like many states, Minnesota requires subcontractors and suppliers to send pre-lien notices to owners to perfect mechanic’s lien rights. Failure to comply with the pre-lien notice statute can prove fatal to a lien enforcement...more
6/26/2020
/ Appeals ,
Construction Industry ,
Contract Terms ,
Contractors ,
Dismissals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Comply ,
Homeowners ,
Mechanics Lien ,
Notice Requirements ,
Subcontractors ,
Summary Judgment ,
Suppliers
On May 14, 2020, in James G. Davis Constr. Corp. v. FTJ, Inc., the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a judgment on an unjust enrichment claim in favor of FTJ, a drywall supplier on a condominium project, against Davis, the...more
In March, a Massachusetts federal court addressed whether a design-builder contractor could recover for breach of contract under an intended third-party beneficiary theory against a design firm hired by the project owner to...more
If you have been involved in the construction industry for any substantial amount of time, you have likely encountered an individual or an entity on a project who appears to be completely unreasonable or irrational. You may...more
Late last year, a federal trial court in New York awarded a solar development company $11.6 million in damages against Suffolk County arising out of a dispute on a multi-site carport solar construction project. The basis for...more
10/18/2017
/ Breach of Contract ,
Building Permits ,
Commercial Leases ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Terms ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Damages ,
Energy Sector ,
Parking Lots ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
State and Local Government
Which party first breached a contract often plays a determinative role in assessing entitlement for damages in a contract dispute. This theory is often referred to as the First or Material Breach Doctrine....more
Mandatory arbitration clauses have become commonplace in construction contracts. Various groups have formulated generic arbitration language to insert into disputes clauses of contracts. A good example of such language comes...more
Compliance with notice provisions in contracts is often a threshold question for courts when evaluating contract claims. In Contractors Edge, Inc. v. City of Mankato, the Minnesota Court of Appeals addressed such a...more