2 Jan, 2024

Your Contract Terms Should Not Be “Standard”

2024-01-02T11:30:04-06:00January 2nd, 2024|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Contracts, Nebraska Construction|

Many clients come through our doors because a project has gone wrong due to obligations they unknowingly take on after signing “industry standard” contracts. Standard industry contracts make for good starting points, but careful contractors will want to move beyond, or at least study, the “typical” terms in a contract to maximize the opportunities for success on a project, including being paid for the work you complete. Form Contracts Favor [...]

20 Jan, 2021

I’m Not Getting Paid. Can I Terminate the Contract?

2021-01-21T08:58:20-06:00January 20th, 2021|AIA Contracts, Breach of Contract, Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Contracts, Nebraska Construction, Nebraska Construction Law|

I’d like to say that the answer is clearly yes, but that’s rarely the case with construction contracts.  Ultimately, it will come down to the facts of your situation and whether the construction contract specifically allows you to pull off the job. Not Getting Paid Not getting paid is probably the most popular reason contractors terminate a construction contract.  The difficulty arises when we look closely at the circumstances leading [...]

29 Apr, 2020

You’ve Received COVID-19 Notice of Delay—Now What?

2020-04-25T09:20:09-05:00April 29th, 2020|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Delays, Nebraska Construction|

The coronavirus is interrupting life as we know it, including construction projects.  Throughout the country, contractors are issuing notices of schedule delays and how you respond to such a notice will be crucial to protecting your rights under your contract.  Here are some topics to consider when reviewing a notice of delay. Review the Entire Notice This may seem obvious, but dig into the notice to fully understand the basis [...]

22 Apr, 2020

Construction—The Top Industry Receiving PPP Loans

2020-04-18T08:17:40-05:00April 22nd, 2020|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Industry, Nebraska Construction|

As you have likely heard, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds have run out.  While Congress battles about how to add more funds to the PPP, the Small Business Administration has released the specifics about the number of businesses that received loans, the industries and locations. In a nutshell, the SBA approved 1,661,367 loans from 4,975 lenders.  The average size of the loans was $206,000 and about 75% were for [...]

1 Aug, 2019

Waiving Goodbye to Liquidated Damages

2019-08-01T09:37:40-05:00August 1st, 2019|Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Contracts, Liquidated Damages, Nebraska Construction|

Construction contracts often contain liquidated damage provisions, requiring a contractor to pay a set amount for each day the project is delayed.  But, as the Nebraska Supreme Court recently ruled, in U.S. Pipeline v Northern Natural Gas, an owner can waive liquidated damages where its actions induce the belief that the owner intended to waive liquidated damages. In this case, the parties agreed that the work would be done in [...]

20 Jun, 2017

Don’t Get Caught Holding the Bag: Hold the State Liable When General Contractor Fails to Pay on a Public Project.

2019-03-12T09:20:02-05:00June 20th, 2017|Bond Claims, Breach of Contract, Construction Claims, Construction Contractor Advisor, Construction Law, Government Contracting, Lien Rights, Midwest Agricultural Law, Nebraska Construction, Payment Bond|

According to a quick Google search the term holding the bag" comes from the mid eighteenth century and means be left with the onus of what was originally another's responsibility.  Nobody wants to be left holding the bag.  But that is the situation our client (subcontractor) found themselves in when upon completion of a public project the general contractor went out of business before paying the remaining amount due and [...]

22 Feb, 2015

How Long is Your Construction Warranty?

2018-04-23T23:55:11-05:00February 22nd, 2015|Construction Contractor Advisor, Nebraska Construction|

The Nebraska Court of Appeals threw a wrench into the calculation of your warranty earlier this year in Adams v. Manchester Park, LLC and Southfork Homes, Inc. In that case, the court found that the statute of limitations for a warranty claim started running after the homebuilder’s warranty expired. So, the four year breach of warranty statute of limitations did not begin until after the one year homebuilder warranty expired. [...]

29 Dec, 2012

What Does the Fiscal Cliff Mean for the Construction Industry?

2012-12-29T10:39:48-06:00December 29th, 2012|Government Contracting, Nebraska Construction|

Everyone is talking about the fiscal cliff and what will happen if the economy tumbles off the cliff. A review of AIA publications, AGC articles, and industry blogs, reveals that the outlook for the construction industry is not good if we do fall off the fiscal cliff. A recent study by the AIA analyzed the impact of going over the fiscal cliff. The study reviewed figures from the Office of [...]

21 Aug, 2012

The Difficulties of Litigating a Construction Claim

2012-08-21T10:12:43-05:00August 21st, 2012|Litigation, Nebraska Construction|

Litigating a construction claim can be difficult. Figuring out which claims you have against the various parties can often times take months to figure out. A recent case out of South Carolina illustrates these difficulties. In Ross Dress For Less, Inc. v. Lauth Const. Group, LLC, a developer hired a general contractor to build a warehouse. The general contractor hired a geotechnical engineer to inspect and test the soil to [...]

16 Aug, 2012

Are You Prepared to Emerge from the Recession?

2012-08-16T08:00:54-05:00August 16th, 2012|Construction Economy, Nebraska Construction|

A recent Engineering News Record had an interesting article discussing recovery risks after surviving the recession. The article, by Richard Korman, raised an interesting point of contractors taking on too much work at the backend of a recession without the necessary infrastructures in place. Not surprisingly, one of the main difficulties in emerging from a recession is that contractors are short on cash and qualified personnel. So, when a contractor [...]

7 Jun, 2012

Setting Up a Contract Administration System, Part II

2012-06-07T08:15:39-05:00June 7th, 2012|Construction Contracts, Construction Law, Nebraska Construction|

As promised, here are a few more necessary steps to set up a Contract Administration System. You can find the first two steps here. Today, we’ll discuss contract risks and the theories you may pursue to recover your damages, along with checklists for making common claims. Who is Responsible for the Risk? It is important to consider who is responsible for the risk associated with the project. When considering who [...]

17 Apr, 2012

The Joys of Litigating a Construction Claim

2012-04-17T08:32:54-05:00April 17th, 2012|Building Contracts, Construction Contracts, Construction Law, Nebraska Construction|

The Nebraska Court of Appeals recently decided a construction defect claim that illustrates the frustration that may result with taking a case to trial. After one trial and two appeals, the Court of Appeals sent the case back to the trial court to try the case a second time. And, this was over a $15,000 claim. This is one of those situations where someone is saying, “Only the attorneys got [...]

7 Mar, 2012

Notice Provisions—Are you abiding by them?

2012-03-07T08:46:35-06:00March 7th, 2012|Construction Contracts, Construction Law, Nebraska Construction|

Construction contracts often contain notice provisions that a subcontractor must follow to request additional compensation for work performed. While the notice provisions are generally straightforward, they are often one sided and a subcontractor’s failure to follow them may bar the subcontractor’s claim. A common form of change order is found in the AIA A201, which provides: Claims by either the Owner or Contractor must be initiated by written notice to [...]

9 Feb, 2012

What do you mean you won’t honor your bid?

2012-02-09T15:14:51-06:00February 9th, 2012|Construction Contracts, Construction Law, Nebraska Construction|

As a general contractor, you hate to hear that your subcontractor will not honor its bid. But, there are remedies. You may even be entitled to expectation damages – the difference between what you thought you were going to pay the old subcontractor and what you paid the new subcontractor. When a subcontractor submits a bid on which the general contractor relies in bidding a project, the general contractor may [...]

5 Jan, 2012

Government Contracting can be Difficult

2012-01-05T12:35:25-06:00January 5th, 2012|Construction Contracts, Construction Law, Government Contracting, Nebraska Construction|

Contractors often complain that while government contracts are good for business, the governmental bureaucracy is oftentimes more hassle than it is worth. A recent decision of the Boards of Contract Appeals and the Comptroller General drives this point home. In this recent situation, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business was the low bidder on a Department of Veteran Affairs project. However, the contracting officer determined that the low bid was unreasonably [...]

22 Dec, 2011

Who’s Reviewing Your Contracts?

2011-12-22T08:13:20-06:00December 22nd, 2011|Construction Contracts, Construction Law, Contract, Nebraska Construction|

I came across a Linked-In post the other day in which an attorney was asking whether he should add any extra language to an AIA agreement between the owner and contractor. This question got me wondering how  many construction companies ponder the same question. Here are some questions to think about as you wait for the holiday party to start. Should your attorney review the contracts you are signing? And, [...]

15 Dec, 2011

Employees—What Are They Complaining About?

2011-12-15T17:57:17-06:00December 15th, 2011|Firing employee, Nebraska Construction, Retaliation, Termination|

I read an interesting article in the Engineering News Record (“ENR”) about employee whistle blower complaints and a flawed safety culture in a radioactive waste recyclying plant . Here is a link to the article. This article serves as a reminder of the importance of properly documenting and investigating employee complaints. The article discusses an employee’s complaint that he was removed from a facility for raising safety concerns and the snowball [...]

21 Nov, 2011

What Core Competencies Do You Expect From Your Construction Attorney?

2011-11-21T17:57:12-06:00November 21st, 2011|Construction Law, Nebraska Construction|

A friend of mine, Cordell Parvin, retired construction attorney and now legal consultant, recently shared a list of core competencies that he expected new construction attorneys in his firm to learn. Here is a copy of his list. It covers everything from general knowledge of the construction industry and construction law, to contract drafting and dispute resolution.  It also contains a few items that I need to brush up on. It also got me thinking [...]

17 Nov, 2011

OSHA is Still Slapping Companies with Big Fines

2011-11-17T15:05:07-06:00November 17th, 2011|Nebraska Construction, OSHA, Penalty|

Last month, OSHA visited America’s Fiberglass Animals in Minden for a follow-up visit. To put it lightly, the follow-up visit did not go well. OSHA slapped America’s Fiberglass Animals with nearly $170,000.00 in penalties. This hefty penalty certainly makes me wonder how you are doing in your OSHA compliance. Here is a breakdown of the penalties. They fell into three categories: • $63,000.00 related to fines for failure to abate [...]

9 Nov, 2011

Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Limit Your Liability?

2011-11-09T19:21:02-06:00November 9th, 2011|Construction Contracts, Construction Law, Contract, Documentation, Limit Liability, Nebraska Construction|

Did you know that you may be able to limit your liability on a construction project? Limitation of liability provisions are enforceable in Nebraska and may provide an effective method to limit your liability. Limitation of liability clauses generally set forth the upper limit a contractor may be liable for the work it performs. These clauses often times contain language like: Contractor’s maximum liability to Owner for all damages shall [...]

10 Aug, 2011

Can you improve your documentation system?

2011-08-10T11:26:34-05:00August 10th, 2011|Construction Contracts, Construction Law, Documentation, Limit Liability, Nebraska Construction|

Last week we blogged on documentation to support the amount of a construction lien. This, however, is just the tip of the documentation iceberg.  For those of you who have experienced construction litigation, you know the large number of documents involved in a case. And, perhaps you are familiar with the awkward feeling of not being able to locate fundamental documents, like the signed contract. A good documentation system will serve [...]

27 Jul, 2011

Contractor Registration – It Applies to You

2011-07-27T09:11:49-05:00July 27th, 2011|Construction Law, Contractor Registration, Nebraska Construction|

If you are a contractor doing business in Nebraska, you should be registered under the Contractor Registration Act. Although the registration requirements are not difficult, the penalties for failing to register can be significant.Under the Contractor Registration Act , all contractors performing work in Nebraska, both Nebraska and out of state companies, must be registered with the Department of Labor and obtain a registration number. The registration process is available on-line [click here] [...]

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