Federal Construction
ATTN: Federal Contractors, Beware of Harassment and Discrimination on Construction Sites
“Did you hear the one about . . . ?” Of course you have. We have all heard the racial and discriminatory jokes at the work place. If you are a federal contractor, you should be aware of Executive Order 11246.
In separate investigations, a staffing agency and a construction company were recently charged…
“New” Means “New” When the Construction Contract Says “New”
There’s “new.” And there’s “new to you.” And there’s “refurbished new.” And there’s “open box special new.” And there’s “floor display model new.” But when it comes to contract specifications requiring “new” equipment, one court looked to a dictionary to define it as “never used before” and “free of significant damage.”
In a recent case,…
Government Contractors: Threatening to File a Claim is Not the Same as Filing a Claim
Words matter. Grammar matters. Even punctuation matters:
Let’s eat, Grandma!
Let’s eat Grandma!
For one government contractor, its claim was recently rejected by the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals because the Board found that the Contractor did not properly state its claim. In Construction Group LLC v. Dept. of Homeland Security, 15-1 BCA para.…
Bidders: Pay Attention to Your Clocks, Fax Machines and Email Servers
Yesterday was daylight savings day, which means that you are probably running about your job this morning a little more groggy because you lost an hour of sleep. As I was waffling through emails today in my own groggy state, I received an alert about a new area code being added to the Nashville, Tennessee…
Brrrrrr, It’s Cold! How to Best Prepare a Delay Claim for Unusually Severe Weather
In anticipation of what could be an influx of wintry weather, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has made arrangements to ensure the state’s roadways stay clear. According to the Johnson City Press, TDOT has distributed more than 200,000 tons of salt and 2 million gallons of brine to stations in each of the state’s…
Are Construction Dispute Claims by the State Ever Time Barred? Depends.
I have written before about statutes of limitation and statutes of repose relating to construction disputes. I recently learned that these principles may not apply to a public owner’s claims against design professionals and contractors.
Statutes of limitation/repose? In its simplest terms, a statute of limitation is a time limit for bringing a lawsuit (…
Bargaining Room v. False Claims: 5 Tips for Negotiation of Construction Claims
Earlier this week, a settlement was reached in dispute where the contractor and designer were alleged to have filed false claims with the U.S. Government on two road projects in South Carolina. The issue raises an important question: What should a contractor do during negotiations to allow for some “bargaining room” so as to avoid…
Differing Site Conditions and Why You Should Read Pages 17-20 of the Metcalf Decision
It’s Friday morning and there are probably better things you would like to do with your remaining day than read a 22-page government contracts decision.
But if you have ever experienced a differing site condition on your project, then here is why you should read pages 17-20 of the recent decision in Metcalf Construction Company v. United States (pdf). On February 11, 2014, the Federal Circuit released its decision in the Metcalf Construction case, which addressed in part a differing site condition claim.
Although the appeal was based primarily on the standard for a breach of duty of good faith (and the opinion talks mostly about that issue), there is some good language in the second part of the opinion about how the trial court wrongly interpreted the differing site conditions provision in the public contract (pages 17-20).Continue Reading Differing Site Conditions and Why You Should Read Pages 17-20 of the Metcalf Decision
How to Assess Whether You Have A Disruption Claim on a Construction Project
As parents of seven young children, my wife and I work hard to keep order, and schedules, and boundaries, and rules for daily activities. So when Courtney and I went out of town last month, the kids (and their sitters) did not have same order, schedule, boundaries, and rules for an entire week. Our return…