Our final session focuses on contractual provisions for claims (and hoops that must be jumped through to preserve them), limitations of liability—including waiver of consequential damages and liquidated damages—claim dispute resolution processes, as well as suspension and termination, for cause or convenience, by contractor or subcontractor, and related compensation or liability.
The final session is this prime-contracts series will focus on contractual provisions for claims, limitations of liability – including waiver of consequential damages and liquidated damages – claim dispute resolution processes, as well as suspension and termination.
In this class, participants will learn about different types of indemnity clauses, how subtle differences in indemnity clauses can have large impacts, and how California law limits indemnity and defense obligations owners and general contractors may extract from others. The interplay between indemnity and insurance will be explained, and typical insurance requirements will be analyzed for type of coverage, reasonable limits, acceptable and unacceptable exclusions, and differences in additional insured endorsements. The role of subrogation waivers will also be considered.
In this session, participants will consider different indemnity and insurance requirements, owner requirements for subcontract qualifications and subcontracts, and the owner’s rights to communicate with and pay subcontractors.
This session takes on changes and extra work for which subcontractors may have rights to be paid and given extra time, such as changes in scope, cost increases, unforeseen conditions, and force majeure. Participants will review language setting up processes and requirements for requesting and documenting the extra work, the amount charged, and the time to be given, and conclude with notice and waiver provisions, their consequences, and how to avoid them.
What You Will Learn
This session deals with clauses addressing changes in work. What are the written requirements for changes? How are claims for extra work waived? What about oral change orders? How do differences in conditions impact contract price and time?
Explore how subcontracts allocate “credit risk”—the ability of owner and contractor to pay—including a subcontractor’s right to access financial information. When is payment due, and what conditions must be met before a contractor is obligated to pay? What security is available to assure subcontractors that funds will be there to pay subcontractor’s invoices, including liens, stop payment notices, and bond claims, and how may contract terms affect these? Terms addressing withholding and release of retention will also be discussed.
We will zero in on schedule clauses, including commencement, delays, impacts, efficiency, acceleration, substantial and final completion, and consequential and liquidated damages.
Owners, developers, and prime contractors
Craig Wallace & Dino Velez, Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP
Here we discuss subcontract clauses impacting scheduling issues—including schedule control and input, coordination, sequencing, efficiency, and acceleration—compensation and/or liability for delays, consequential and liquidated damages, and damages waivers.
Prime and sub contractors
The focus of this course will be clauses about the scope of work, the contractor’s responsibility for inspection and conditions, protection of persons and property, warranties, and uncovering and correction of work.
Owners, developers, and prime contractors
Explore standard and master contract forms and how they are used. Learn the power of inclusions, exclusions, and conditions in proposals and how they influence subcontract terms. Identify traps for the unwary that expand scope and liability, such as responsibility for the design and unforeseen conditions, and learn how to avoid them.
In this opening session, the discussion will include the different types of contracts, from lump sum to design-build, explore clauses addressing the owner’s responsibilities for financing disclosures, time for processing submittals, RFIs, change orders, and payments, and the contractor’s right to stop work.
Owners, developers and prime contractors
Contracts are at the heart of every construction project. And whether administering prime contracts, sub-contracts, or purchase orders, the required contractual tasks can be overwhelming. This 2-hour window into the life of a Contract Administrator will serve as an excellent overview of the contracting life cycle and critical associated tasks. Participants will work through identifying essential requirements, setting up effective systems, and managing within them. From negotiations to final closeout, every important step is considered.