On June 28, 2024, Governor DeWine signed HB50 which redefines some important definitions in the Home Construction Suppliers Services Act (RC 4722) (HCSSA). The change will require ALL Ohio construction contractors to review...more
Dear YouDig?,
I am the CEO of a prominent and established developer. It’s been a long wonderful road. We are blessed with a great team who have worked together with great success. When I look back, the only thing I wish I...more
Dear YouDig?,
We bought a gorgeous waterfront lot on the shores of Lake Erie near the adventurous Lake Erie Islands. We love being on the water and we love boating so naturally we wanted our own dock and breakwall. Turns...more
3/7/2023
/ Building Permits ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coastal Real Estate ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waterfront Properties ,
Waters of the United States
Dear YouDig?,
Our “Top Gun” bid team is thrilled to have secured a prime plumbing subcontractor on a new hospital project. One problem, the general contractor trashed our form. We are stuck with a mind boggling 60 page...more
Dear YouDig?,
I am dealing with a very sensitive problem related to a large project. Someone on our team may have (and I emphasize MAY) done something that could put us in jeopardy. I don’t like to hire lawyers. Who does? I...more
Dear YouDig?,
It has been a struggle lately. We don’t have trouble getting work. In fact we are booming. The problem: We can’t seem to close out a project without email accusations, letter campaigns, lawyers and a whole...more
Dear YouDig?
We are thrilled to be adding a four story children’s wing to our hospital. Construction was progressing well and near completion. Last week a blizzard with sub-zero temperatures blew through. When we returned...more
Dear YouDig?,
Seriously, we run into contractors that will lie, lie, lie and then after taking a breath will lie some more. They did the work. They followed specs. They received verbal authority. They have the troops...more
Dear YouDig?
We are a well-established and successful multi-national manufacturer. We sought to hire a certain specialty construction firm to be general contractor for several of our plant expansions. Well, we started...more
Dear YouDig?,
We are a tree service contractor and some shady property manager is trying to give us a haircut. We don’t want a haircut. We like our hair AS IS.
We had a contract. We changed the scope through agreed upon...more
9/28/2020
/ Change Orders ,
Conditions of Payment ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Disputes ,
Credibility ,
Due Diligence ,
General Contractors ,
Managers ,
Reputation Management ,
Underpayment
Dear YouDig?,
We are a design builder. We hired a design team to do the preliminary design for our bid on a large DB project. We won the bid. Of course we warranted to the project owner that we would build the project, as...more
8/20/2020
/ Breach of Contract ,
Change Orders ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Disputes ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Terms ,
Design-Build ,
Subcontracts ,
Waiver of Liability
Dear YouDig?,
Ok… this is getting ridiculous. We are a subcontractor working on a project for an “essential business.” We have emphasized the safety and government guidelines to our team members in light of COVID-19. To a...more
5/12/2020
/ Complaint Procedures ,
Construction Project ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Documentation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
General Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Risk Management ,
Subcontractors ,
Workplace Safety
Dear YouDig?
Guess what? There is a beautiful new ice arena at a major university in Ohio. We know because we supplied the materials, labor and installation services of the entire ice rink including the sub floor heave...more
Dear YouDig?,
We are finishing up a contract to start a piece of a big project. The owner is pushing for a 10 percent retainer of all of our payments. It does not seem fair as most of our costs are front loaded and most of...more
Dear YouDig?
Emergency! We are in the middle of digging some deep trenches for an Ohio sewer project. I kid you not, we showed up this morning and there were at least 20 wild turkeys pacing and poking around in the...more
Dear YouDig?,
We are in the middle of a massive addition to our warehouse. The value is high seven figures in construction services. We don’t do this all the time but we fell in love with the Design-Builder, signed their...more
Dear YouDig?,
I admit it. As an engineer I like to tinker. A few months in to a factory project our team tinkered up a change in the materials and the delivery system that would save the owner a bucket of money for just a...more
Dear YouDig?,
As an Ohio highway contractor we must include an incredible amount of temporary structures on our jobs and even temporary personnel from time to time. We don’t understand why we are getting popped with paying...more
Dear YouDig?
I am CEO of a mid-west manufacturing company. At long last, those extremely tough times have drifted away. We are thrilled with our plans to construct a new state-of-the-art facility opening in 2020. The...more
Dear YouDig?,
We have been very successful in constructing strip centers throughout the Midwest. Our success has brought us many opportunities to venture into other areas. We always stay in our lane and reject these...more
Dear YouDig?
We build interstates. We always have a need for good hard working laborers. Yesterday the hall sent us four workers. The first one to walk in was a Rastafarian sporting a wrist full of colorful hemp bracelets...more
Dear YouDig?,
When we say we have a project team, we mean it. We seek input from all of our project players. Recently, we hired a highly recommended and accomplished assistant project manager on the belief that he would...more
We continue our 3 part “Dear YouDig?” Series to Highlight Highway Construction Safety.
Part III: Slow Down and Stop Texting You Drunken Fool -
Dear YouDig?,
The scene is familiar. It is night in an active road...more
5/3/2019
/ Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Construction/Work Zones ,
Distracted Driving ,
Highways ,
Infractions ,
Inherently Dangerous Activities ,
Public Projects ,
Public Safety ,
Roads ,
Vehicle Code ,
Workplace Safety
ATTENTION YOUDIG? READERS !!! IT’S ROAD CONSTRUCTION SEASON
BULLETIN: Highway construction zones are among the most dangerous places on earth.
Today we begin our 3 part “Dear YouDig?” Series to Highlight Highway...more
4/9/2019
/ Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Contractors ,
Highways ,
Public Projects ,
Public Safety ,
Roads ,
Safety Equipment ,
Safety Laws ,
Safety Precautions ,
Safety Violations ,
Workplace Safety
Dear YouDig?
We decided to expand our plant to meet the needs of a major international customer. This is a game changer for us. We MUST have the expansion completed within 10 months in order to meet the client’s demands or...more