Search
Events Calendar
« 
February 2012
 »
SMTWTFS
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
26272829 

Volume 7 - Number 3 | January 19, 2009

Download Print Send a summary of this page to someone via email.

Recent Issues

  EDITOR'S NOTES | Volume 7 - Number 3
“A good reputation is more valuable than money,” said Roman moralist Publilius Syrus. Though money is usually at the center of construction claim disputes, it is not always the driving force. In some situations, as in this week’s first case, it is about a contractor’s reputation. The contractor opposed the contracting officer’s negative performance evaluation at the completion of the project. Because the evaluation was logged in the Construction Contractor Appraisal Support System (CCASS), all federal agencies had access to the negative review. The dispute arose over whether the claim fell within the jurisdiction of the Contract Disputes Act.

The second case debates the payment rights of third-tier contractors that fail to perfect their mechanic’s lien rights on time. Across the country, many jurisdictions prohibit such subcontractors from pursuing payment claims against owners and prime contractors, with whom they do not have signed contracts. However, the tide may be turning, at least in one state. A subcontractor argued that the owner had been unjustly enriched from its unpaid work. Though the case was remanded for more fact finding, the state appeals court entertained the notion to expand the payment rights of unpaid lower level subcontractors when a mechanic’s lien is not an option.

In the final summary, a state high court was asked to determine the lifespan of a contract bond. If the owner releases the contractor from the contract, the court determined that it also releases the surety unless it specifically reserves its bond rights.
  CHALLENGE OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION WAS A “CLAIM” UNDER CONTRACT DISPUTES ACT
A non-monetary claim is at the heart of a contractor’s challenge to a negative performance evaluation on a federal project.
  UNPAID SUBCONTRACTOR PURSUES OWNER FOR UNJUST ENRICHMENT
A vague ruling by a state appeals court leaves lower tier subcontractors hopeful that they can pursue payment recovery of unpaid work from owners through arguments of unjust enrichment.
  OWNER RELEASED CONTRACTOR AND LOST RIGHTS AGAINST BOND
A school district tries to play a game of catch and release, but once it releases its contractor, it cannot catch the surety for the contractor’s default.