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Construction Law: Contracts

It is an all-too-common scenario in California construction: Nine and a half years after completion of a major California construction project, immediately before the 10-year “statute of repose” for suing on “latent” construction defects expires, a lawsuit claiming damages for “recently discovered” latent construction defects is filed. The property owner sues the contractor for the alleged defects. The direct contractor sues all its subcontractors for indemnity and defense. The attorneys spontaneously generate. Experts proliferate. Claimed defects are extrapolated. Four or five years later, after a few dozen attorneys earn a small fortune in fees, the insurance companies make payments. Attorneys collect more fees. The owners take what remains. They repair nothing... and buy vacation homes.

The Notice of Non-Responsibility: Only Limited Protection from Contractor, Subcontractor or Supplier Mechanics Lien Claims In California, a powerful legal mechanism—the mechanics lien—enables laborers and those who supply materials and services to construction projects to obtain full payment. The mechanics lien stems from a provision in the California Constitution (Cal. Const., Art. XIV, §3; see […]

Is the title to this article possibly true? Yes, absolutely! I have seen it happen. Let me tell you how it happens so you can avoid such a result.
It is not uncommon in the construction industry for an out-of-state general contractor to include a provision in a subcontract requiring a California subcontractor to resolve disputes outside the state of California even though the work is to be performed within California. Fortunately, most California subcontractors are immune from this tactic. California law generally prohibits clauses requiring subcontractors to travel outside California to resolve construction disputes.

In the world of the building and construction industry, the general rules of contracting are fairly simple.  A supplier agrees to supply equipment or materials for a specific price and within a certain time frame, does so, and is paid an agreed sum.  Likewise, contractors and subcontractors agree to build structures per plans and specifications […]

It sometimes happens that a contractor or material supplier records a mechanics lien on your property that becomes expired. Other times, the mechanics lien may be wrong, invalid and unenforceable for some reason, serving no legitimate purpose. The contractor or material supplier may be reasonable and release the mechanics lien once these issues are brought […]

The General Rule in California: The Winner Does NOT Receive Attorney Fees and Costs: There is a common misconception that court decisions require the loser in a lawsuit to reimburse the winner for the fees and costs incurred during the lawsuit. Reliance on this misconception in developing a legal strategy for dealing with disputes is […]

Senate Bill No. 727, Imposing Liability on Contractors for Wage Claims of Subcontractor Employees: California Senate Bill 727 was approved by the Governor on September 27, 2021.  The new Act amended Labor Code Section 218.7 and added a new section 218.8 to the Labor Code.  Both Labor Code sections impose on “direct contractors” in the […]