In a move that was much anticipated, the Virginia senate recently passed legislation barring straight pay-if-paid clauses in construction contracts between General Contractors and Subcontractors. SB550 effectively nullifies, for both private and public construction contracts, the “condition precedent” pay-if-paid clauses that are sometimes the bane of a subcontractor’s existence. The Virginia House of Delegates passed […]
Monitor Yourself to Avoid Construction Risk
Originally posted 2014-11-24 08:00:53. As I looked through my weekly piles of mail, an article in Constructor Magazine caught my attention. The article was in the insurance commentary section of the magazine and is entitled “Avoiding Common Causes of Contractor Failure.” While this article is written from an insurance perspective, many of the same principles […]
A Lien Change for the Better (Guest Post at ZLien)
Originally posted 2017-04-10 11:00:41. During the recent General Assembly session, the Virginia legislature made a great change to the Virginia mechanic’s lien statute. I blog about it at the Zlien Blog. Here’s an excerpt of my post. The recent changes to Va. Code §43-3 (effective July 1, 2012) clarify several points regarding the allocation of […]
Sometimes You Survive Without Written Change Orders (But I Wouldn’t Recommend It)
Originally posted 2011-10-10 09:00:52. As anyone who reads Construction Law Musings on even an irregular basis knows, I am a major advocate of getting everything (especially change orders) in writing. This is particularly true where your construction contract documents require written change orders. In other words, you should make your contracts say what you want […]
Addenda to Construction Contracts Can Be an Issue
Originally posted 2016-03-02 15:25:38. We’ve all been there. Your client either has a well drafted standard subcontract (with any luck in consultation with an experienced construction attorney) that it presents to its subcontractors and suppliers or your client is presented with a construction contract that has some provisions that it would prefer were either different […]