Volume 7 - Number 29 | July 20, 2009 - Construction Claims Advisor

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You are here: Home » Volume 7 - Number 29 | July 20, 2009

Volume 7 - Number 29 | July 20, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTES | Issue 7-29: On a complex construction project, the contract drawings and specifications can be voluminous. This poses a challenge to the general contractor, charged with knowledge of all that is contained in those documents. Additionally, the design documents must be read and interpreted as a whole. A single provision or depiction cannot be viewed in isolation. Every effort must be made to harmonize the documents.

In the first case reported this week, the fire protection drawings did not depict a sprinkler system in the mechanical areas. The specifications, however, required sprinklering in "all areas of the building." The contractor argued that a directive to sprinkler the mechanical areas was a constructive change in the contract. But, the basic principles of contract interpretation, reflected in a standard government contract clause, undercut the contractor's claim.

Other cases reported this week involve weather delay and contractor liability for a subcontractor's wage obligations. A contractor signed a broad form waiver and release when settling claims for extra work. Did the contractor waive its claim for weather delays to critical activities pushed back into the winter season by the changed work? And, a California court considered whether a contractor was liable for an unlicensed subcontractor's wages owed its employees, or only workers' compensation and unemployment benefits.

INCOMPLETE DRAWINGS DID NOT CREATE CONFLICT WITH SPECIFICATIONS: Even though drawings for certain trade work omit a work requirement, the specifications mandate it. The contract documents, when read as a whole, require the work described in the specifications.

CONTRACTOR RESERVED WEATHER DELAY CLAIM FROM GLOBAL RELEASE: A settlement agreement for changed work grants the contractor an extension of time, but none of that extension is attributable to weather delays. The contractor may have reserved its claim for weather delays to critical activities pushed back into the winter season by the changed work.

CONTRACTOR LIABLE FOR WAGES OF UNLICENSED SUB: A contractor that uses an unlicensed subcontractor exposes itself to liability not only for workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits for the sub’s employees, but also its unpaid wages.