Florida Construction Law

Contractors have many options when it comes to establishing vehicle policies for their business. They may choose to allow employees to take vehicles home or they may decide that vehicles are for business use only and must be locked in at the office each night. There is not one set policy that works for every roofing contractor, but no matter which type of policy you choose to implement, it’s important to have one in place.  Your business can be legally liable if you allow a bad driver on the road. If you fail to take reasonable steps to determine that the driver is qualified to drive one of your vehicles and he or she causes an accident, you could be liable under negligent entrustment. A negligent driver may also damage the company vehicle or incur a ticket, fine, or penalty that costs your business money and/or increases your insurance premiums. Get started by spelling out the basics of your policy, which might include: Requiring employees to have a valid driver’s license a...

Owners and architects are typically the drivers of sustainable design, whether their goals are to achieve a certification like LEED or simply to ensure as little negative environmental impact as possible during the building's lifecycle. Contractors, too, are in a position to influence how green a project can be, both during construction and after completion. After all, it takes buy-in and ownership from all stakeholders to achieve a project's green ambitions. With invested clients and the products and systems to do the job, contractors today can make more of an impact on sustainability than ever before. The first step toward that objective is for the owner and design team to fully communicate the project's sustainability goals to the contractor as early as possible in the bid phase, said Kristin Schuster, a project architect with  SWBR , in Rochester, NY. From there, the contractor can help shepherd along — and even improve upon — those goals as it carries ...

Hurricanes have brought a myriad of legal issues to the forefront.  One of the most important things for any roofing contractor or supplier to remember during hurricane repairs are the Florida-specific, price gouging laws.  Florida Statute 501.610, commonly referred to as the Price Gouging Statute, states that during a declared state of emergency the rental or sale of essential commodities for an amount that grossly exceeds the average price for that commodity during the 30 days before the declaration of the state of emergency is unlawful. The statute defines a “commodity” as any goods, services, materials, merchandise, supplies, equipment, lumber, and other products necessary for consumption or use as a direct result of the emergency. Inflated prices on the rental or sale of the commodities is unlawful unless the increase in the amount charged is attributable to additional costs incurred in connection with the sale of the commodity. With regard the roofing industry, the Pri...

Haley & Aldrich, an environmental and engineering consulting firm, has issued an  Action Report: Stop Talking About Safety Culture and Get Real About Risk . The report addresses the ways companies can prevent workplace incidents and recommends that manufacturers shift their focus to risk-competence rather than a safety culture focused on compliance alone.  The report dispels safety myths, addresses problems with a safety compliance culture and identifies strategies companies can take to reduce incidents in the workplace. “We’ve seen time and time again how some manufacturers are lulled into a false sense of security by complying with safety checklists instead of taking a good, hard look into their potential areas of risk,” said Danyle Hepler, associate scientist, at Haley & Aldrich. “For example, on the day that the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11 people, ironically, executives were at the facility to celebrate the company’s seventh year wi...