Construction

Standard industry contract forms include warranty clauses that have no time limit. Those standard forms also include “correction of work” clauses requiring the contractor to address problems that arise in the year after project completion. Does t… Read More

A small group of open shop steel erectors have prevailed against an ironworkers union in a federal court case with a tortured history. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal has recently confirmed a jury verdict, awarding damages to the contractors for the… Read More

The Supreme Court of Virginia has held that final approval of a design triggered commencement of the limitations period, and not submission of the original stamped drawings. The design firm had argued that the original submittal was the triggering da… Read More

A five-sentence decision from the Eighth Circuit Federal Court of Appeal may not be a record, but it sends a blunt message: failure to provide notice of default is fatal to a performance bond claim. The reader has to go back to the lower court decisi… Read More

Consider this sentence: “courts cannot decide cases of contract interpretation on the basis of what is just or equitable.” Contractors are reminded, via an Ohio Court of Appeals decision, that claim deadlines and waiver language will be applied w… Read More

A Florida Court of Appeal has concluded that an arbitration clause incorporating the AAA Construction Industry Arbitration Rules means that the parties intended to submit issues of arbitrability to the arbitrator and not to the courts. The parties ha… Read More

The general standard in OSHA cases is that a foreman’s knowledge of a safety violation by a subordinate is imputed to the employer. An exception has been carved out by some courts when it is the foreman’s own safety violation that gives rise to t… Read More

The concept of indemnity gets a lot of press. With good reason, since an indemnity is one tool in the risk management shed. As a recent court decision shows, however, a duty to defend is different than an indemnity. And a party who seeks to establish… Read More