Contract Disputes, Construction Contracts, Public Projects

How should construction contracts approach potential tariffs?

Offit Kurman on 1/14/2025

As an initial primer: tariffs typically work as a tax, charged on goods purchased and imported to the United States from a foreign country. The tariff is charged as a percentage on the price paid for the foreign good. Tariffs...more

Tongue Twister: Commander Closes Construction Site for COVID and Contractor Can’t Recover Contract Costs

Buchalter on 6/22/2022

Last month, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals held that a public contractor could not recover $100k in construction costs incurred following the government’s decision to close down a base in Tennessee due to...more

Scottish appeal court says NEC is not a charter for contract breaking

BCLP on 1/18/2022

The September 2020 decision by the Scottish Court of Session in Van Oord UK v. Dragados UK [2020] CSOH 87, which has now been appealed. The dispute centred on the ability of Aberdeen Harbour expansion main contractor Dragados...more

No Longer in the Dark: A Primer on the Distinction between Delay and Disruption Damages in a Construction Dispute

Buchalter on 9/24/2020

If you are left in the dark about something, you don’t have the information you should have to make an informed decision. Delay claims on a construction can be confusing, especially when you think about the delay to the work...more

Government’s Apparent Acquiescence Doesn’t Overcome “Plain” Contract Language

Stinson - Government Contracting Matters on 4/25/2020

Despite “troubling” government conduct, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) recently denied an appeal arising out of electrical work performed on a $38 million construction project involving the ground-up...more

Use Of The Word “In” Indicates Geography; Use Of The Word “Of” Indicates Sovereignty: Federal District Court In Maryland Holds...

Troutman Pepper Locke on 1/4/2018

Pritchett Controls, Inc. v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192182, 2017 WL 5591872 (D. Md. Nov. 21, 2017) - James W. Ancel, Inc. (“JWA”) was the prime contractor on a project for the Maryland...more

Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act Not Applicable to Public Works Project

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 6/25/2015

In a decision issued last week in Clipper Pipe & Service, Inc. v. Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that the Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act, 73 P.S §§ 501-516 (CASPA) does not...more

When the Federal Govt acts badly, but not badly enough to show bad faith – what’s a contractor to do?

Williams Mullen on 6/15/2015

In the prior issue of this newsletter, we included an article on the high standard of proof and the practical considerations for a federal government contractor claiming that the federal government acted in bad faith in its...more

Construction Manager at Risk Held to Assume the Risk of Design Changes on Massachusetts Public Construction Project

Troutman Pepper on 6/1/2015

The Massachusetts Superior Court (County of Worcester) held in Coghlin Electrical Contractors, Inc. v. Gilbane Building Co. and Travelers & Surety Company of America decided on June 24, 2014 that a Construction Manager at...more

Subcontractor Working on a Federal Project in Tennessee Protected by Tennessee Prompt Pay Act

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 1/12/2015

The operation and applicability of prompt pay acts in various states is something that contractors ignore to their detriment. A recent Tennessee case drives home the importance of understanding the applicability of any prompt...more

Illinois Court Holds Relief Available to a Sub-Subcontractor Under an Unjust Enrichment Theory for Work Requested but Not Paid for...

Troutman Pepper on 12/9/2014

C. Szabo Contracting, Inc. v. Lorig Construction Co., 2014 IL App (2d) 131328; 2014 Ill. App. LEXIS 699 (Sept. 29, 2014) - In May of 2006, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (“Highway Authority”) retained...more

A Recent Reminder of the Sovereign Acts Doctrine

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 10/1/2014

The sovereign acts doctrine provides that the federal government, when sued as a contractor, cannot be held liable for an obstruction to the performance of the particular contract resulting from its public and general acts as...more

Contract Disputes › Construction Contracts › Public Projects

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