Blog

Contractor Beware: Design-Build Firms Must Review Washington’s Licensing Requirements

  • Posted by John Krawczyk
  • On September 19, 2018
Design-build contracting is a method of project delivery where the contractor provides both architectural/design and building services to the owner. Yet rarely do firms perform both design and building work in equal measure. Rather, in many instances, firms perform the vast majority of their work on the building side while advertising and providing design services […]

No Bond, No Recovery: WA Contractors Must Comply with WA Statutory Requirements or Risk Being Barred from Recovery if their Client Refuses to Pay

  • Posted by Joshua Lane
  • On September 7, 2018
The risk that a contractor’s client may refuse to pay the full contract balance is a day-to-day reality for every contractor.  That risk – and the stress it causes in the mind of any contractor – is tempered by the knowledge that Washington statutes provide contractors with ready access to the courts to file a […]

Ahlers Cressman & Sleight’s Contractor Client Prevails After 7 Week Jury Trial

  • Posted by aclawyers
  • On August 28, 2018
Last week, a 12-person King County Superior Court jury unanimously rejected nearly all of an owner’s $16.7 million dollar defect and delay claims made against a general contractor defended by Ahlers Cressman & Sleight attorneys Scott Sleight, Brett Hill, and Ceslie Blass and their co-counsel from Gillaspy & Rhode, Nicholas Korst and John Gibson.  In […]

RCW 82.32.655 Tax Avoidance Statute/Speculative Building

  • Posted by Scott R. Sleight
  • On August 16, 2018
With land prices increasing, developers are looking for opportunities to save on development costs, including cost saving tax strategies.  Thus, we have seen increasing interest in development strategies that offer tax savings.  One strategy is speculative building:  Owners of property who self-perform construction avoid sales tax and B&O tax on the self-performed scope.  See Blog […]

Contractor’s Charge of Improvements to Real Property Not Required for Laborers to Have Lien Rights

  • Posted by Matt T. Paxton
  • On June 8, 2018
In Washington, persons furnishing labor, professional services, material, or equipment for improvements of real property are generally entitled to a lien on that property, but only if their labor is furnished at the direction of the owner or the owner’s “construction agent.”[1] Whether a lien attaches, therefore, can turn on whether the person directing work is […]

Federal Contractors Should Request Debriefings as a Matter of Course

  • Posted by Scott MacDonald
  • On May 25, 2018
Federal Contractors—especially those engaging in FAR Part 15 direct contract negotiations—should make it a routine practice to timely request debriefings after the Contracting Agency excludes the bidder from the competitive range (“pre-award debriefing”) or after the Agency issues the award (“post-award debriefing”). Debriefings allow the Contractor to understand the evaluation process used by the Contracting […]

Terminating a Subcontractor or Sub-tier Contractor—Not so Fast—Read Your Contract!

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On May 11, 2018
Every few months I receive a call from a general contractor or subcontractor who has just terminated a subcontractor or sub-tier contractor for non-performance and is “checking in with me to see if there are any liability issues.”  After the termination has taken place, if the termination is wrongful, there are serious legal consequences.  Calling […]

Federal Contractors Beware, Act Swiftly on Termination for Convenience Claims!

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On April 20, 2018
In a recent Board of Contract Appeals case,[1] an Afghani general contractor performing work for the US government (Army) in Afghanistan got a wake-up call that when it comes to termination for convenience clauses, the boards and courts will, unless good cause is shown otherwise, strictly enforce deadline clauses. FAR 52.249-2 provides as follows: (e) After termination, […]

Ninth Circuit Rules that US Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) Does Not Authorize Arbitrators to Issue Document-Only Subpoenas to Third Parties

  • Posted by John P. Ahlers
  • On April 3, 2018
The Ninth Circuit in CVS Health Corp. v. Vividus, LLC, 878 F.3d 703 (9th Cir. 2017) recently held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) does not grant arbitrators the power to compel the production of documents from third parties outside a hearing.  To reach this result, the Ninth Circuit relied on a textual reading of […]