13 Sep, 2015

Suing the Lowest Bidder on Public Construction Projects

2018-04-23T23:55:10-05:00September 13th, 2015|Construction Contractor Advisor, Public Contracts|

The California Court of Appeals has allowed the second lowest bidders on public construction projects to sue the lowest bidder where it appears that the lowest bidder was only the lowest because it paid its employees less than the established prevailing wage.  This is a novel theory for recovery, but may provide for an opportunity to challenge improperly low bids. Background Between 2009 and 2012, American Asphalt outbid two asphalt companies [...]

11 Feb, 2015

Beware of Statutory Limits on Change Orders

2018-04-23T23:55:11-05:00February 11th, 2015|Construction Contractor Advisor, Public Contracts|

While change orders are always part of construction projects, it’s important to know whether a public agency is limited on how much it can increase the scope of the work through change orders. A contractor in Virginia found out the hard way that the state agency did not have the authority to increase the scope of the project and thus the contractor could not collect for the extra work. In [...]

17 Oct, 2013

Challenging a Public Construction Bid Award? Think Again.

2018-04-23T23:55:16-05:00October 17th, 2013|Construction Contractor Advisor, Public Contracts|

Today's post is by Doug Amen, one of our new associates at Lamson, Dugan and Murray LLP. With the competition for jobs today, the fight for lucrative government construction contracts is tougher than ever. Often contractors find themselves on the outside looking in and want to do something about it. Unfortunately, for anyone attempting to challenge a construction contract bid the cards are stacked against them. That’s because in order to [...]

10 May, 2012

Biggest DBE Fraud Ever or Best Proof of Major Flaw in the DBE Program

2012-05-10T09:05:11-05:00May 10th, 2012|Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, Penalty, Public Contracts|

Last month a business owner was convicted in what is being heralded as the largest Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) fraud case in history. The scheme lasted over 15 years and involved over $136 million in government contracts. But, is this simply a story of fraud or does it expose a much larger issue -- a major flaw in the DBE program? The case was filed against Joseph Nagle, the president, [...]

18 May, 2011

Protecting your Payment Rights on Public Projects

2011-05-18T13:36:53-05:00May 18th, 2011|Construction Law, Payment Bond, Public Contracts|

Our clients often ask how they can best protect their rights on a public construction project because they know they can’t file a lien.  Contractors on public projects must be very careful about protecting their claim because there are very specific steps that must be followed.               Nebraska statute section 52-118 contemplates two types of situations--those in which the subcontractor or supplier has a contract with the contractor and those [...]

2 May, 2011

Calling Contractors, Subcontractors and Builders

2011-05-02T15:23:33-05:00May 2nd, 2011|Construction Contracts, Employee Eligibility, OSHA, Public Contracts|

Welcome to Lamson, Dugan and Murray’s Construction Law blog. Here, we’ll be posting articles on a wide variety of construction related topics, including contracts, liens, dispute resolution, employee problems, insurance coverage, and updates on Nebraska and Iowa law and statutes. We hope that you find our articles beneficial to your business, and if you have a topic you’d like us to write on, drop us a line and we can [...]

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