Material Costs Continue to Rise—What’s a Contractor to do?
While COVID has made the past year wild and unpredictable, this summer could be even wilder with rapidly escalating material costs. Lumber prices have tripled, steel prices are through the roof and PVC has doubled. These increases can turn into real numbers on your projects and if you don’t have [...]
How Should You Respond to An Accident on the Jobsite?
If you have ever experienced a serious accident on the jobsite, you know it can be an incredibly stressful experience. Having a plan in place setting forth how you expect employees to respond will help your company respond competently and quickly to an accident. Here are a few things to [...]
Contractors Do NOT Have to Record Vaccine Reactions
On May 21, 2021, OSHA reversed course on employer-required COVID-19 vaccinations, no longer requiring employers to record vaccine reactions. This is a great step forward for employers and is supported by both industry groups and labor unions. As you may recall, last February OSHA originally mandated that if an employer [...]
Another Reason Not to Act As Your Own General Contractor
The Nebraska Supreme Court recently issued an important opinion concerning the statute of limitations for a homeowners bringing claims against contractors. When an owner acts as his own builder or general contractor, he must file a lawsuit against a subcontractor within four years of the subcontractor completing its work, not [...]
Material Cost Increases—Are you ready?
Construction contractors are seeing material costs increase, particularly lumber, steel and fuel. As you review your contracts for 2021 and beyond, you may want to consider adding a price-escalation clause the protect against material cost increases. What is a price-escalation clause? In its simplest terms, a price-escalation clause allows contractors [...]
I’m sorry I asked. What You Need To Know About Asking Employees If They Have Been Vaccinated.
During the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic the promise of a vaccine and a return to normalcy was the light at the of the tunnel. A year later the ability to receive a vaccine is becoming rapidly available to people in almost all age groups, including your employees. However, [...]
About the Blog
The Midwest Construction Contractor Advisor was created to offer legal discussion and encourage the use of social media in the construction industry.
Craig F. Martin
Editor and Author