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Industry Watch: How This Commonly Accepted Clause Can Legally Shut Down Your Job
Most owners sign the AIA A201 General Conditions without ever discussing Section 2.2. Until it becomes a problem. A recent court decision analyzed in Lexology highlights what happens when an owner fails to provide “evidence of financial arrangements” as required under AIA A201 §2.2. In that case, the court sided with the developer after financial…
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Best Practice: Why Reusing Old Liquidated Damages Clauses Puts Owners at Risk
For private owners, liquidated damages clauses are meant to manage schedule risk. But when those clauses are recycled from old contracts (written for different projects, markets, and risk profiles) they can become unenforceable. Worse, they can backfire at the exact moment you need them most. The Problem: Familiar Language, New Risk Liquidated damages clauses appear…
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Industry Watch: New York’s Retainage Law Exposes a Bigger Owner-Side Blind Spot
Prompt payment laws rarely come up, until they’re violated. That was my first reaction reading New York’s latest retainage amendment. I’m not surprised by the law itself. I’ve been writing about prompt payment acts around the world for years. What struck me was how many standard construction contracts are likely out of compliance under this…
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Industry Watch: Documentation Before Rework Is a Discipline, Not a Legal Tactic
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve walked a site, seen a condition that clearly needed corrective work, and heard a project leader say, “Let’s just fix it and be done.” There’s a natural urge to get a bad condition behind you. I get it — you’re protecting budget, schedule, and reputation. But the…
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Industry Watch: Prompt Payment Laws in Construction — Recent Cases Owners Can’t Ignore
On a Massachusetts project, an owner thought it was “just” behind on paperwork. Instead, a court found it had breached the Prompt Payment Act, deemed seven applications approved, and ordered payment of more than $4.6 million — before the owner’s own claims were even heard. That’s exactly what happened in the Tocci Building Corp. v.…
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Industry Watch: Rethinking Contract Risk, Beyond Schedule-Based Liquidated Damages
I have reviewed many construction contracts over the years.Most of them focus on dates and delay.Very few speak to the risks that cause the greatest harm to owners. Problem and Context A recent Lexology article on data center construction risk offers a strong introduction to liquidated damages, force majeure, and indemnity. It is a useful…
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Industry Watch: Why Small Decisions Derail Projects — And How Owners Can Stay Ahead
A friend of mine is in the middle of a kitchen remodel, and the project has taken a familiar turn. What started as a simple upgrade has become a slow drift into frustration — unclear scope, incomplete design decisions, and a growing list of misunderstandings. Listening to him describe the situation reminded me just how…
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Commentary: Understanding the Owner’s Rep vs. Project Manager in Commercial Construction
Recently, I was brought in to evaluate a client’s capital program. On paper, everything looked fine—healthy budgets, a seasoned leadership team, and a strong pipeline of commercial projects. But the moment I stepped inside the organization, the real problem was obvious:There was no project management layer at all. Internal staff—smart, committed professionals—were being labeled as…
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Industry Watch: AI in Construction Disputes Is Only the Beginning
The construction industry rarely moves first with new technology. It waits.It watches.Then it adopts, carefully, and usually late. That’s why a recent announcement from the American Arbitration Association’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) deserves attention. Not for what it solves today, but for what it signals next. AI is no longer staying on the…
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Industry Watch: How CCDC 5B-2025 Signals a More Modern and Collaborative Construction Contract
I’ve spent years treating pre-construction as its own phase of work. On many projects, that simple distinction improved clarity, reduced friction, and strengthened owner–contractor relationships. So when I reviewed the 2025 update to CCDC 5B, I recognized familiar territory. Many of the contract revisions reflect practices I’ve used for a long time. They aren’t perfect,…