Words matter. Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Tennessee released its decision in a construction dispute between Ray Bell Construction Company and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Where the contractor won the first two rounds at the trial court and intermediate appellate court levels, TDOT prevailed in the final appeal.
The Dispute. The primary issue in
Some of the most frequent public contracting questions I receive are about the permissible activities for joint ventures between a minority contractor and a larger contractor. In February 2011, the Small Business Administration made some significant changes to its Section 8(a) business development program, which helped me answer many of those questions.
One major category
Where is the best place to start when you have been away from work for a family emergency? Naturally, you go back to the basics. In my next few posts, I review some of the "basic building block" or "essential" construction cases every contractor should know. The first two are Spearin and Luria Bros.
Last week, contractors and subcontractors bidding on Tennessee Department of Transportation projects received an alert from Brian Egan, TDOT Director of Construction, warning of a noticeable increase in unbalance bids [pdf]. While the rules differ among each state, you should take Egan’s warning to heart since the consequence of submitting of an unbalanced bid can
Last week I wrote a post about what is considered timely acceptance of a subcontractor’s quote. My friend and former colleague, Brian Waagner, submitted a comment to that post, focusing on the importance of a written contract. Brian also blogs at The Contractor’s Perspective. Brian’s comments are on-point, so I have included
It’s a story you have heard many times: There is an invitation for bids. There are numerous bidders … more than usual. The lowest two or three bids simply don’t make mathematical sense. On paper, it must be an unbalanced bid or an unreasonably low offer. What can you do?
Although a few
On July 15, 2011, the USDOT’s Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG) issued a final report on the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) oversight of federal-aid and Recovery Act projects administered by Local Public Agencies (LPA). You can download a copy of the report here [pdf].
The DOT-OIG initiated the audit because the FHWA previously acknowledged that LPAs
There’s a debate in Congress. There’s a debate in Congress between Chicago’s two senators. There’s a debate in Congress between Chicago’s two senators about privatization.
Last week, Bob Sechler of the Wall Street Journal described newly introduced legislation from Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill) called “The Protecting Taxpayers in Transportation Asset Transfers Act.” The bill seeks
A portion of my construction practice involves employment issues. You can imagine the types of employment-related questions that arise on the project site:
Yesterday, highway and bridge contractors in Tennessee received an alert from from TDOT officials about the affect of heavy rain in the area: "I’m sure most are aware of the anticipated rise in the Mississippi River, but could you please share with all that are working in the Mississippi River area and the backwater areas