Construction Law Now Blog

In July 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a new rule expanding the injury and illness reporting requirements for many construction companies. The new rule, which went into effect on January 1, 2024, requires companies in certain ...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of the case Eastern Steel Construction, Inc. v. International Fidelity Insurance Co., in which the Pennsylvania Superior Court clarified the claims that a subcontractor may bring, as well ...

Within hours of the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 collapsing in Philadelphia due to a massive fuel truck fire, demolition commenced. Three days after the accident, Governor Josh Shapiro announced that the Pennsylvania Department of ...

Welcome back to our DMV Construction Law Series, where we discuss emergent legal issues important to contractors. This installment reviews the Washington, DC Construction Prompt Payment Act and its recent update concerning the right to setoff, which ...

In the construction industry, it is not uncommon for a contractor to be named in a lawsuit due to hidden (latent) defects in its work that injure a third party long after the work has been completed and turned over to the owner. For example, if ...

Welcome back to the DMV Construction Law Series, where we discuss emergent legal issues important to contractors. This installment looks at the use of the releases that are typically required to be signed with payment applications submitted by ...

In the construction industry, a “pay-if-paid” provision is common in subcontracts, which conditions a general contractor’s obligation to make payment to a subcontractor on the general contractor’s actual receipt of payment from the owner. In ...

The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently clarified the claims that a subcontractor may bring, as well as the judgments that may be enforced, against a surety in Pennsylvania in Eastern Steel Constructors, Inc. v. International Fidelity Insurance ...

The bidding process for a construction project includes a vast array of folks: estimators, owners, project managers, design professionals and many others. Security, especially cybersecurity, can prove a challenge, and those receiving, drafting or ...

Welcome back to our DMV Construction Law Series, where we examine different legal issues important to contractors in each post. We previously addressed the important and powerful payment mechanisms available to contractors under relevant ...

The Ordinance In 2019, an inclusionary zoning ordinance was implemented in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. Inclusionary ordinances aim to provide affordable housing to low-income families. This ordinance specifically required that at ...

Last month we wrote about Virginia Senate Bill (SB) 550, which sought to amend VA ST §§ 2.2-4354 and 11-4.6 to prohibit the use of contingent payment provisions in public and private construction projects. Since then, SB 550 was formally enacted ...

The Virginia Legislature passed a bill that, if signed into law by Governor Youngkin, would amend VA ST §§ 2.2-4354 and 11-4.6 to prohibit the use of contingent payment provisions in public and private construction projects. It states that ...

Welcome back to our DMV Construction Law Series, where each month we examine a different set of legal issues important to contractors. This installment delves into the state laws that allow contractors to assert claims on payment bonds for public ...

As we embark on 2022, the world continues to weather the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the construction industry, the pandemic has spurred certain unique and daunting challenges that are, by now, unfortunately, familiar to industry ...

Welcome to the DMV Construction Law Series, where each month we examine a different set of legal issues important to contractors. Our fourth installment briefly examines certain key parts of Virginia’s Mechanic’s Lien Law that contractors should ...

Effective January 4, 2022, New York’s amended wage theft laws enable a subcontractor’s employees to obtain judgments for unpaid wages directly against a contractor that hired their employer. The New York laws aim to provide subcontractors’ ...

In a January 2021 memorandum, Pennsylvania State Representatives Todd Stevens and Michael Driscoll reintroduced a bill that, if passed, would amend 68 P.S. § 491 to significantly limit the breadth of indemnification provisions in construction ...

For contractors trying to navigate the construction industry’s current supply-chain battles, President Dwight D. Eisenhower once articulated advice that, although not about the industry’s problem, is still right on point: “In preparing for ...

In October, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 271 (the order), imposing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on contractors who work on state projects. Specifically, the order requires that New Jersey state contractors who work “on or in connection ...