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March 19, 2021 marks one year since Governor Abbott’s first Emergency Order relating to social distancing and business shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. To say a lot has happened over the last 12 months may be the understatement of the very young decade . Add an historic snow and ice storm that impacted the entire State in mid-February, 2021 and you can get the feeling we are reenacting the story of Exodus, ten plagues and all. However, for members involved in the design and construction industry, the exodus has largely been to, not from, Texas.  While some Texas-based or Texas-he

Britney Spears probably did not envision that title of her most famous song would apply with equal vigor to love (her interpretation) and contract provisions requiring mediation as a condition precedent to filing arbitration (our interpretation).  A recent case from the Houston Court of Appeals styled Mark S. Burke, et al. v. J.B. Roberson, Jr., et al. shows how many times a party may have to do it (arbitration) again when it fails to fulfill a mediation condition precedent in the contract. A “binding dispute resolution” clause is found in most standard form construction contracts.  It o

Developers, owners, designers, contractors, and every other member of the construction industry spend enormous amounts of time negotiating risk transfer mechanisms.  Endless hours and pixels are dedicated to lengthy indemnity, additional insured, and waiver of subrogation provisions.  And while those clauses are an important part of most every contract in the industry, they only go so far.  An equally important and often overlooked risk transfer mechanism is a properly drafted scope of work.  This includes not just what’s in, but also what’s out. A.    You’re either in… Scopes of

Payment – often one of the most negotiated provisions in prime contracts and subcontracts and therefore a common claim in litigation. Getting paid and paid timely is of critical significance to contractors. If a project owner does not pay its general contractor timely, it will have massive consequences to project morale and may end up creating payment claims that might substantially delay the project. If the parties cannot reach resolution and depending on the payment provisions of the prime contract or subcontract – including any withholding or offset provisions, contractors can seek reco

The Texas Legislature convened on January 12, 2021 and will run through May 31, 2021. Below are three of the proposed legislative bills which will be of interest to contractors: Senate Bill 219 – relating to civil liability and responsibility for the consequences of defects in the plans, specification or related documents for the construction or repair of an improvement to real property. Texas is one of only two states where a contractor may bear the liability for defects in construction that are based on construction documents prepared or procured by the owner or the owner’s agent or desi