Construction Law

I represent a lot of subcontractors working on commercial construction projects, and more and more I have been seeing an end-of-project game where general contractors (especially the larger ones) try to solve project problems by pushing costs down onto subcontractors that have nothing to do…

When it convenes on January 8, 2020 in Annapolis, the first bills to be introduced before the General Assembly aim to complete billions of dollars of school construction projects throughout the state. House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1, dubbed the “Built to Learn Act…

Under the Maryland Uniform Interstate Discovery Act (“Interstate Discovery Act”), “when it is necessary to obtain the testimony of a person who lives in Maryland, parties to litigation in a sister state have the very same rights as parties to litigation in a Maryland court.” …

Every construction project carries a risk of monetary loss.  For example, a worker could be injured, the project could be delayed, or the owner could simply refuse to pay for certain project work.  Any of those adverse occurrences (not to mention almost limitless others) would…

Following the 2017 Legislative Session, Governor Larry Hogan signed a bill into law that will significantly change the procurement requirements for architects and engineers on State projects.  The new law, which goes into effect on October 1, 2017, is found in Section 13-112 of the…

The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is a federal statute that was enacted to provide, among other things, wage protections for covered employees.  It is best known for establishing the federal minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.  The FLSA can also impose liability on one…

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have recently announced new residential construction statistics for August 2016.  According to the data, building permits for privately-owned housing units in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,139,000, down 0.4…

According to the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, total construction spending for July 2016 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,153.2 billion, remaining nearly the same as June’s revised estimate of $1,153.5 billion, and is 1.5 percent above the…

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have recently announced new residential construction statistics for July 2016.  According to the data, building permits for privately-owned housing units in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,152,000, down 0.1…