Florida Construction Law

Even if it appears that the liquidated damages are proper, the prudent contractor will not accept the assessment at face value because there are many ways to defeat a liquidated damages clause. Liquidated damages are a fact of life in modern construction contracting. However, even if your contract contains this provision and the owner has assessed liquidated damages that does not mean the assessment is valid or enforceable. There are a number of ways you might be able to prevent an owner from keeping contract proceeds that are rightfully yours. This article will provide the reader with an idea or two that will help keep hard-earned contract proceeds in the contractor’s pocket. In a breach of contract situation, liquidated damages are designed to provide a means to compensate the non-breaching party when the actual damages are not readily ascertainable. In other words, when the non-breaching party’s actual damages will be difficult to determine in the event of a breach, then t...

Contractors should routinely review their roofing contract to make sure that it contains the most current terms and that the terms are enforceable. In these tough economic times, a contract can be a roofer’s best friend because it will contain terms that will assist the roofer in collecting money or defending claims. Although this article will not discuss all the provisions needed in a residential roofing contract, it will focus on five important provisions that every residential roofing contract should include. 1- Scope of Work Provisions – The majority of litigated disputes arise out of or relate to problems with the scope of work. Often, contractors are seeking payment for extras that were not originally contemplated in the contract. However, the homeowner may believe that the contract included all roofing work to be performed on the project. For example, a roofing contractor that is providing a new roof for a homeowner may encounter rotted decking that needs to be re...

McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Cos., New York, has reported construction starts increased 8 percent in March. Total construction starts in March were unchanged compared with March 2012.  "After the slowdown in early 2013, the March improvement for total construction is in line with what's been seen during the past year—that being, an up-and-down pattern around a gradual rising trend," says Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "The support for total construction in March came from public works and electric utilities, which bounced back from a particularly weak February. Still, both segments are not expected to register much growth for 2013 as a whole, as public works construction is facing federal budget constraints while electric utility construction is pulling back from the record high achieved in 2012. "Residential building in March paused from its steady increases during the past...

All four states in ENR Southeast's coverage area experienced sizeable gains in the volume of new construction contracts in January, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. Whether these increases foretell a coming recovery for the region's building markets, only time will tell. But the size and pervasiveness of the improvements were certainly worth noting. Here's a quick rundown of the overall gains in new contracts for each state, with each compared to last January: Florida: +29%, with $2.5 billion in new contracts; Georgia, +25%, for $944.3 million; North Carolina, +20%, for just over $1 billion in new work; and South Carolina, +35%, for a $546.5-million monthly total. A further dive into the numbers shows that these gains resulted mostly from jumps in the nonresidential category—something that should give Southeast builders cause for optimism. So, here's a quick state-by-state rundown: Florida : Nonresidential was up 31% c...