Construction Law Blog
Expert analysis on mechanic liens, bond claims, and payment recovery. Every article reviewed for accuracy by licensed attorneys.
Showing 169–192 of 207 articles
A project compliance checklist helps a construction business take the steps needed to get paid. Key elements include corporate registration and licensing, contract review, job sheet details, and bond paperwork captured before work begins.
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After Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, contractors rebuilding in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico face payment delays tied to insurance and FEMA. This post covers preliminary notice rules, bond gaps on disaster work, and how to protect payment rights.
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Retainage is money withheld by an owner or general contractor until a project is substantially complete, often around ten percent. This post explains how retainage works and reviews alternatives such as performance bonds, trust accounts, and other security.
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Settling a construction dispute out of court saves time, costs, and frustration. The formula of a solid contract plus mechanics lien protection plus prompt payment statutes puts you in a position of power to negotiate payment.
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Construction businesses face five recurring challenges: operating capital and cash flow, planning and growth, project complexity, finding skilled labor, and the push toward sustainability. Each one affects a company's margins and stability.
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A mechanics lien does not last forever. Lien lifespans vary by state and project from as short as six months to as long as six years, and you must foreclose or release the lien before it expires.
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Describes situations where a lien lawyer adds value beyond a basic filing, including bankruptcy or multi-state projects, negotiations, bond company dealings, complex liens, and setting up payment-tracking business processes.
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A roundup of construction law developments, including a court order to sell a Pendleton, SC mill over a mechanics lien, a lien against city-owned property in Joplin, MO, California's proposed SB 2 document tax, and a Boston shadow-law dispute.
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Reviews 2017 Florida law changes, including HB 357 expanding self-storage operator rights and the spread of the PACE program, whose liens take priority over mortgages and complicate sales and refinancing.
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Explains the two main forms of alternative dispute resolution in construction. Mediation is a non-binding facilitated discussion, while arbitration produces a binding, enforceable ruling. Both are often selected in the construction contract.
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Florida and Georgia both require a notice of commencement, but the rules differ. This guide compares who files, the filing and posting requirements, and how the notice affects subcontractor and supplier notice deadlines in each state.
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An overview of five tools that help construction office managers handle invoicing, project tracking, lien deadlines, and bond claims, including CE Tech Trends, ConAppGuru, PandaDoc, FieldLens, and Smartsheet.
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Practical tips for making a collection call on an overdue construction invoice: prepare and practice, stay professional, build rapport, find out why payment is late, and secure a specific commitment while watching your lien deadline.
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How to collect and verify job information before starting construction work, including property owner and prime contractor details needed for invoicing and mechanics liens, and how to confirm ownership through county records.
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An overview of how state-specific construction law shapes a contractor's business, covering licensing, insurance, mechanics liens, and collections, plus when to consult a construction attorney and how environmental and public-project rules apply.
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A roundup of lien law developments: a Minnesota ruling that an attorney serving a lien notice as a debt collector must comply with the FDCPA, a contractor lawsuit over the stalled Las Vegas Alon project, and Indiana electronic recording and fee changes.
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Five key terms construction professionals should review in their contracts: scope of work, payment terms, schedule of work, warranty limits, and dispute resolution. Each affects payment rights and how disputes get handled.
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Four lien-related processes a construction credit manager can automate: preliminary notices, lien filing deadlines, legal compliance records, and project documentation. Automating these tasks helps track multi-state deadlines and preserve payment rights.
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A monthly lien law roundup covering mechanics liens filed amid the Westinghouse bankruptcy on the VC Summer and Vogtle nuclear projects, a contractor's increased lien on a Norwalk theater, and a Third Circuit ruling on liens and the bankruptcy automatic stay.
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Describes how a mechanics lien lawyer helps contractors and suppliers, from setting up a process to track invoices and notices to filing the lien, notifying the proper parties, and negotiating a settlement after the claim is filed.
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Explains what a partial waiver of lien is and how it works, including how a progress payment waives a corresponding portion of lien rights and the difference between conditional and unconditional waivers.
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Seven things to check before filing a lien in any state, including licensing, foreign corporation registration, notice and filing rules, indemnification clauses, prompt payment laws, required lien details, and tracking the deadline to follow up.
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Ten practical points for filing a mechanics lien in Virginia, covering the unpaid-balance rule, preliminary notice and lien deadlines, licensing and notarization requirements, mailing rules, and how residential and other project types differ.
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Lists seven elements to review in construction standard terms and conditions, including lien waivers, change orders, dispute resolution, insurance, and the relationship of the parties, plus the core scope and payment details a contract should spell out.
Read ArticleConstruction lien deadlines are strict and unforgiving. Once they pass, your right to payment may be gone forever.