Get Reimbursed for Your Attorney Fees: Dianne Lee bought a new home in Contra Costs County, just east of San Francisco Bay. Her new house didn’t have a pool. And she wanted some exterior improvements. Dianne selected David Cardiff of Advantage Pools Bay Area to do the work: a pool and spa for $88,400, a […]
Articles
- 6 Sep
- 3 Jul
When a job goes bad, you better have a good contract. That’s a point emphasized many times on these pages. But a New York case decided last month offers an interesting twist on this theme. When a Syracuse, NY job went south, the contractor claimed the agreement he drafted was void and unenforceable. Let’s see […]
- 4 May
Frank Salame owns a home in Pomona, California. Eleven months out of the year, Frank works in Lebanon as an engineer on building projects. When no one is home in Pomona, Frank has a friend, Antoinette Auon, look after his house. While Frank was in Lebanon, neighbors noticed a liquid leaking from under the garage […]
- 21 Feb
Laura and Daniel Holland wanted a custom home built on their Pocomoke City, Maryland dairy farm. They selected an architect to draw plans for a 3,912 SF residence. After several rounds of negotiations and changes, Don Littleton of Wicked Professional Services Inc. (WPS) agreed to build the house for $700,250. Don emailed Ms. Holland a […]
- 10 Oct
Every contractor knows the temptation: use cash from job A to cover expenses on job B. That’s called diversion of funds. It’s perfectly legal in some states and a crime in others. But it’s not good business in any state. The Massachusetts case of Damian Anketell illustrates my point.
- 30 Aug
What does your standard contract say about interest on late payments? If little or nothing, you may be making an expensive mistake. Here’s an example.
- 28 Aug
Craftsman’s National Estimator Cloud includes 10 costbooks which are updated quarterly. Here’s a partial summary of recent costbook-specific updates. CONSTRUCTION, JULY 2022 — sections (and pages) updated: OSB (203) Plywood (202-204, 460) Carpentry (32-37, 39-51, 56-57, 61-62, 67, 98-100, 283, 331, 389-397, 403, 476, 591, 593) Concrete Formwork (87-89, 93, 338-346, 352-353, 360, 363-369, 377-378) Framing […]
- 5 Jul
Making a Mountain Out of a Molehill Most of my blog posts are about missed opportunities — how a good contract could have avoided a costly mistake. But occasionally, a contractor does it right – and saves thousands. Consider a case decided last week by a Ventura, CA court. Plyley v. Renovating Specialist, Inc. (RSI). […]
- 1 Jun
Powerful Words in Any Contract Disputes are common on construction sites. Every contractor knows that. And any dispute can derail a project – turn a potential money-maker into a money pit. Many disputes profiled on these pages became epic legal struggles lasting years. A few of those cases ran up legal fees more than the […]
- 31 Mar
Every construction project needs a contract. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia require a written contract on all residential jobs: AR, AZ, CA, CT, DC, DE, HI, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MS, ND, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV and WY. Twelve […]