General Business Law Section 756 (and the sections that follow it), commonly known as the Prompt Payment Act, establish requirements for how soon a construction contractor or subcontractor must be paid and allow expedited arbitration in the event that prompt payment is not made for qualifying projects.
Continue reading “Violation of the New York Prompt Payment Act Does Not Bar Defenses”
For New York Architects, Landscape Architects, Engineers, and Land Surveyors, exposure to liability on their completed projects may extend long beyond the completion of the project itself. Exactly how long design professionals can be ‘on the hook’ for claims has been a bit of a moving target in New York, with changes and proposed additional changes to this timeframe.
Continue reading “Design Professional Liability on Completed Work”
Much construction litigation arises from disputes over Scaffold Law liability. Simply, the Scaffold Law makes certain contractors and project owners liable for injuries to workers on construction sites. The Scaffold Law has been criticized for the burdens it imposes on contractors and owners and for allowing workers to collect even if they have ignored safety rules.
New York construction law allows for the pursuit and collection of damages for delay, depending on the underlying project facts and contract terms. Where these delay claims are available, courts in New York recognize 7 major categories of delay, which may establish claims for compensation.
Given the large number and variety of documents required to administer a construction project today (plans, specifications, contracts, etc.), the likelihood of discrepancies arising between these different sources is almost unavoidable. Do you know how these documents rate in terms of their authority?
Continue reading “Are We On The Same Page? How Construction Document Conflicts Are Resolved”
Everyone knows that time is money, and in particular this is true with New York construction contracts. It is also well known that delays are often part of the construction reality, along with change orders and extras. Delays impact owners, contractors and subcontractors.
Continue reading “New York Construction Delays, All Things Being Equal, They’re Not”
Architects in New York can be found liable for damages in various situations, depending on who claims damage, and the basis of the claim itself. For example, where an owner has a direct contract with the architect, the owner could bring forth a simple claim based on the contract or a claim based on a tort action. Such a tort action, based on negligence, is a claim for malpractice.
Continue reading “The Top 5 Avenues of Architect Liability in New York”
In a nutshell, the “economic loss rule” is a rule that courts use to prevent a plaintiff from against a defendant for a tort (usually negligence) when the essence of the claim is for failure to live up to the terms of a contract.
Many contractors and subcontractors go about their work feeling protected from claims for damages because their agreements contain certain exclusions. Some of these agreements will even have language stating ‘Not responsible for [X, Y, and Z]’. But the ruling handed down February 14, 2012, by the Supreme Court, Nassau County serves as a reminder that contractual indemnity provisions are more of a privilege than a right, and are not subject to enforcement automatically.
Continue reading “NY Supreme Court Strikes Contractor Liability Limitation Provision”
One topic that came up in my practice recently was a contractor’s potential exposure to liability for punitive damages under New York law. As the name suggests, punitive damages are awarded above and beyond their contract or property damages, ‘where the wrong done was aggravated by circumstances of violence, oppression, malice, fraud, … on the part of the defendant, and are intended to address the plaintiff’s mental anguish or other aggravation, to punish the defendant for its behavior.’ Black’s Law Dictionary 390 (6th Ed. 1991).
Continue reading “Punitive Damages Claims in New York Construction Contract Disputes”
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