Articles

The New Jersey legislature has been busy since Super Storm Sandy put damage repair on page one of the news. Legislators in Trenton have introduced over a dozen bills designed to change the way New Jersey contractors make a living. Don’t expect any of these to make your life easier. Here are highlights: S.B. 1769 […]

Have you ever bid a job without visiting the site? Not likely. Nearly every bid should begin with a job walk. All construction contractors understand that. But here’s something you may not understand. A contractor visiting the site before a residential contract is signed drops the job into a special legal category in nearly every […]

Every construction project deserves a written contract. For residential work, 31 states and the District of Columbia require a written agreement. But what about contract changes? Is a written change order required every time you do extra work? First, let’s be practical. Oral change orders are poison. The worst construction contract disputes I’ve seen are […]

  The state of New York doesn’t license construction contractors. But don’t be confused. Staying out of legal trouble in New York isn’t simple. Here’s why:  

Twenty-five states have made changes to construction contract law in the last six months. Some of these changes are trivial. Others will affect contracts for most jobs in a state. The highlights:

Search for “free construction contract” on the Web and you’ll find Rocket Lawyer near the top of the paid ads. You’ll probably see claims in that ad: “100% free” and “binding in each state.” What could be wrong with that? I’ll count the ways. “Free” is a stretch. Rocket Lawyer is a relationship marketing company. […]

All construction contracts are not created equal. Most attorneys will confirm that they could write a construction contract that either: Makes it nearly impossible to lose money on the job, or Makes losing money on the job almost certain. That’s called contract bias. Every construction contract has bias, favoring either the property owner or the […]

Was there ever a construction project that went exactly as planned? More often, you’re going to have a surprise, something unexpected – like a mistake in the plans or some site condition that requires extra work. Anything can go wrong on a job. And the result is nearly always the same – extra time and […]

I’m old enough to remember when the building code was a slim little volume — slipped easily into the back pocket of my overalls. Not true now. The code comes in 15 flavors, has thousands of pages and carries a price tag to match. The International Residential Code by itself is well over $100, whether […]

Residential contracting is a highly regulated industry. To stay in business, contractors have to comply with state and federal law. That’s not easy, at least partly because new laws are piled on every year. Right now, legislatures in twelve states are considering bills that would affect home builders and home improvement contractors. Nearly all of […]