Be Careful of Contractor Agreements With Construction Lenders
June 23, 2011
Contractors can limit their rights when they provide consents or agreements to the construction lender...
The Arbitration Clause in your construction contract – what does it mean?
June 22, 2011
As often happens on construction projects, disputes arise between the contracting parties. Must the parties arbitrate their dispute or can their dispute be decided in a court of law?...
Contracting Tips for Owners
May 26, 2011
Although it is very basic, owners need to take care to make sure the contracts they sign for these types of construction services protect them. Here are a couple of tips...
Construction Contracting for the Owner – Scope of Work
May 13, 2011
It is an easy enough question, what is the scope of your project? For example it may be simply to reroof the building. However, what materials should be used, what will be done with damaged plywood decking, does the existing roof need to be pulled off or can it be roofed over? These are all basic questions that need to be addressed from what appeared to be a simple question. As the owner, the scope is very important for purposes of knowing what your expectations are and that the contractor understands those expectations. The scope will also impact the price. In our reroof example, what is the contractor doing with the air conditioner stands on the flat roof? Are they being removed and put back, or the being removed and new ones put in? Can the work be done with the air conditioning units in place? Whether a reroof or any construction work...
Construction Contracting for the Owner: The Owner – Contractor Relationship
April 17, 2011
In choosing a Contractor, often the Owner chooses a Contractor through a bidding process. Sometimes the Owner engages a Contractor on their own. However the Contractor is contracted it is important to spell out the details of the terms. Courts will not protect an Owner from a bad deal that the Owner has voluntarily entered. This means that those multimillion dollar one page contracts floating around (I have seen a number of them over the years) will be enforced by a court if the Owner does not live up to the terms, no matter how one sided. In the bidding process, the Owner, with the help of the Design Professional, sends out a bid packet to various contractors and invites them to bid on the project. The Owner and Design Professional then evaluate the bids and review the responsiveness of the bid, the responsibleness of the bids (is the bidder lowballing now in hopes of issuing...
Construction Contracting for the Owner: The Owner – Design Professional Relationship
April 6, 2011
Once the owner has decided to undertake a project they generally retain the services of a design professional. The design professional is the engineer or architect hired by the owner to be used at various points throughout the project. General discussions between the owner and design professional should include the owner’s expectations of the projects, budgets, specific materials which need to be used or special considerations about the project. In both renovations and new construction these discussions would also include aesthetic considerations. Although all these discussions may happen, the scope of the design professional’s relationship with the owner is that which is spelled out in the contract between the owner and design professionals. An owner in retaining the design professional needs to define his expectations of the design professional, and those expectations should be reduced to a written contract. As an owner, if you want the design professional to provide contract administration then you must ask...
Construction Contracting for the Owner – Parties to a Construction Project
March 30, 2011
This is part 1 of our series on Construction Contracting for the owner. Once you have decided to begin a construction project, whether this project is a reroof, concrete restoration, painting, repaving or anything else, there are generally 3 main groups involved. The first of these groups is the owner. The owner is the person or entity on whose behalf the work is being done. The types of owners range from an individual, development entity, hotel, condominium association, homeowner's association or a governmental agency. Although the owner may be using a bank to finance the construction, the owner is the party generally responsible for ensuring payment to the other 2 groups. The second group is generally the design professionals. This group consists of the engineer or architect hired by the owner to prepare any drawings or specifications for the work to be done. In larger projects, the owner may contract with an Architect who then hires various subconsultants (geotechnical engineer, structural...
A Proposed Contract May Bind You Even If You Don’t Sign
March 2, 2011
unsigned contracts may bind you if you act as though you agreed to their terms...
Bidder’s Tools: Florida’s Public Records and Sunshine Laws
November 29, 2010
How do you monitor a public agency's review and evaluation of bids and proposals? What right do you have to observe evaluation committees when proposals are evaluated?...
The ABCs of Bid Advertisements and Acronyms
November 23, 2010
Have you ever responded to an ITB after being shortlisted in response to an RFQ? If you are seeking a government contract and don’t know what any of this means, don’t worry, you are not alone. Public agencies advertise their contracts and projects through a variety of methods and vehicles, which are usually referred to by acronyms. While they seem confusing at first glance, once you become familiar with the terminology, you’ll be able to better respond to the advertised project.
An Invitation for Bid (“IFB”), or Invitation to Bid (“ITB”), is usually a set of specifications that have been decided on and defined by the advertising agency. Price is usually the most important factor. The bidder that’s has the lowest price usually wins the award. However, the bidder also has to be responsive and responsible. The bid is generally responsive if includes of the information sought in the ITB’s or IFB’s specifications. A bid is considered responsible if it appears that the bidder has the ability to perform the contract.
Agencies usually use Request for Proposals (“RFP”) when they do not know what all the specifications or scope of work will be. Proposers may be required to submit a plan describing how they plan to perform the project. Price is generally still a factor, but there may be other factors like experience, capability, and management ability. Like an ITB or IFB, agencies will evaluate whether the proposals are responsive and responsible.