Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) has roared into the discourse of the new economy. While the construction industry has lagged behind in its implementation, there is no doubt that AI has become an inescapable reality. Opportunity for improvements in efficiency make the construction industry primed for a boom in the expansion of construction-related AI applications. The Stanford
Construction Contracts
Environmental Obligations Hiding in Plain Sight (Properties Magazine)
As many contractors know, whenever doing federal projects there might be a nagging feeling in the back of your mind. What exactly does my contract say? What type of plan do I need to address environmental concerns? You might even wonder, what are my environmental concerns? In an attempt to ease your mind, you flip…
Beware Potential Hidden “Warranties” in Contract Documents (Properties Magazine)
Warranties provided to project owners are often some of the most-negotiated provisions in a construction contract. What will the warranties cover? How can they be enforced? Perhaps most importantly: how long will they be in force? Arguments regarding one recent construction project in Ohio demonstrate the importance of knowing whether contractual language does, or does…
Department of Labor 2023 Enforcement Report – OSHA Insights
On January 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“Department”) Office of Solicitor (“SOL”) published its FY2023 Enforcement Report (“Enforcement Report”). The report provides an insight into the Department’s labor and workplace safety initiatives and enforcement focus. The messaging in the Enforcement Report is consistent to what Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP has seen and…
How Can We Overcome Material Procurement and Delivery Risks in Our Industry? (Properties Magazine)
Full Article in Properties Magazine
At the most basic level, contracts serve to assign, allocate, and mitigate risk. Parties—unsurprisingly—are typically unwilling to adopt greater risk than required, and often look to assign most of the risk to the other contracting party. While understandable, this approach may have unintended costs.
For the most part, the general…
“Greening” Your Contracts (Properties Magazine)
Full Article in Properties Magazine
Allocating the Risks and Benefits of Green Construction
Sustainable (or “green”) construction practices and the trend toward green buildings are here to stay, driven not only by federal, state, and local legislation, tax credits, and incentives, but also by consumer, corporate, and shareholder demand. If they haven’t already, owners, architects…
Promptly Pay the Subcontractor or Pay the Consequences
Under Ohio’s Prompt Pay Act, a general contractor could end up paying more for the subcontractor’s attorneys’ fees than the general contractor owed to the subcontractor. That was the ruling by the Ohio appellate court in Atlas Piers NEO v. Summit Construction Co., Inc., 2021-Ohio-2024 (9th Dist.). In Atlas Piers, the general contractor…
Employing Minors in Construction
Are you a contractor that would like to employ 16 or 17-year-olds (“minors”)? House Bill 33 (establishing the state budget for 2023-25) permits minors to work on construction sites in certain limited situations.
Note! There is nothing in the new law that requires contractors to hire minors – or to engage subcontractors who hire minors…
Beware What Your Contract Says: It Just Might Be Enforced
When reviewing a contract, how often have you had the following thoughts: “That provision is so one-sided, there’s no way it will be enforced the way it’s written!” Or “I won’t worry about negotiating that provision; a court would never enforce it as written.”
A recent decision from Ohio’s Tenth District Court of Appeals illustrates…
Laying a Foundation: Understanding Your Options When Entering into a Construction Contract (Properties Magazine)
Owners and contractors should be knowledgeable in the various contract forms and their associated risks. Among the most common construction forms are 1) lump sum, 2) cost plus a fee and the hybrid, 3) cost plus a fee with a guaranteed maximum price. Each allocates risk differently and has different benefits for the parties.
A lump…