Articles

How long should a contractor be liable for construction mistakes? A year? Two years? Ten years? Imagine being sued over a job completed 20 years ago. Memories fade. Witnesses die or disappear. Evidence gets lost. The property would have been out of your control for many years. Anything could have happened. Without a time limit […]

Artificial Intelligence is changing the way many documents are drafted. You’ve probably seen accounts of legal briefs written with AI. If AI can draft court documents, can AI draft your next construction contract? No doubt, legal research tools have changed the practice of law. I use CaseText and like it. Digital tools make the full […]

I got a good question from a contractor a few weeks ago. I didn’t have an answer. There may not be an answer. But there are good choices and bad choices. Here’s the question: “I’ve got a good payment schedule in my contract. But the lender won’t pay on my schedule. They have their schedule. […]

Thousands of homes and commercial buildings have been damaged or destroyed by hurricanes Helene and Milton. More than a few of those were buildings under construction or re-construction when the hurricanes hit. Losses will be major. Any time a project is damaged before final completion, who should pay? The owner or the contractor? Does it […]

Get Two Signatures on that Contract Last June I described a solar job that fell off the rails. Leonard signed the agreement as owner. Wife Rhonda didn’t. That left the solar contractor with half a contract. Under New Jersey law, Rhonda wasn’t bound by the contract’s arbitration clause. That made enforcement a true headache – half arbitration, […]

Three-Day Right to Cancel All home improvement jobs require the federal 3-day notice of the right to cancel. Each owner has to receive two copies of the form “Notice of Right to Cancel Under Regulation Z”. Once that form is delivered, it’s good professional practice to either: Delay the start of work until three days […]

Many times I’ve recommended inserting an arbitration clause in your construction contracts. Why? It’s conventional wisdom: Vendors usually win in arbitration. Arbitration typically costs far less than a court case. Courts won’t touch a dispute if the contract requires arbitration. Most arbitration awards are final, not subject to court review. Of course, there are exceptions. […]

Most residential solar contractors offer good contracts. Like banks and auto dealers, their model contracts are drafted by attorney specialists. That’s good because most residential solar jobs have a complication — commercial financing. That’s part of the sales pitch. Savings on the customer’s electric bill might cover most of the monthly finance charge. For PV […]

Are You Ready for the 2024 Storm Season? The National Weather Service expects an active hurricane season in 2024, including tornadoes, flooding, hailstorms and 4 to 7 major hurricanes. FEMA advises: “individuals and communities need to be prepared today.” For residential contractors, that means you should be getting ready to do storm damage repair work. […]

Ty and Carissa Schott planned to add a pool in the back yard of their Allegheny County Pennsylvania home. Country Pools bid $53,160 for the work and got the job. The Schotts advanced $26,580 as a deposit. To get their backyard ready for the pool, the Schotts paid separate contractors over $20,000 to install a […]