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In late December 2023, the Federal Acquisition Rules were amended to require project labor agreements (PLA) in all federal projects with an estimated total construction cost of $35 million or more.  Will this new rule enhance or impede competition on large scale construction projects, and will it moderate or escalate labor costs?  The battle lines have been drawn, but the questions remain unanswered. Under FAR 22.503, federal agencies must require use of PLAs for contractors and subcontractors engaged in construction on the large scale projects unless an exception applies. The exceptions, wh

The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) recently adopted a new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) aimed at protecting workers in the engineered stone industry from silicosis, a serious and sometimes fatal lung disease. The ETS stems from a February 2023 petition that urged the regulatory agency to adopt an emergency standard to protect workers in the engineered stone fabrication industry from exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS). While the ETS generally applies to all California employers, it targets employers in the engineered stone industry, an ind

The 2023 Texas Legislative Session brought several important changes to residential construction. First, HB 2022, effective September 1, 2023, made several changes to the Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA) and second, HB 2024, effective June 9, 2023, created a shorter statute of repose for qualifying contractors. Modifications to the RCLA The RCLA, Chapter 27 of the Texas Property Code, applies to “any action to recover damages or other relief arising from a construction defect, except a claim for personal injury, survival, or wrongful death or for damage to goods.” Tex. Prop. C

Recently, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals found that the U.S. Navy waived claims for liquidated damages and was unjustified in terminating a contractor when it allowed the contractor to miss the contract completion date and never set a new completion date.   The contractor, Consorzio Stabile GMG SCARL, was contracted by the U.S. Navy to install blast resistant doors at a facility in Bahrain. Corsorzio’s contract  required the doors would be installed no later than September 29, 2019.  Consorzio had numerous problems in obtaining the properly designed and manufactured doors,

In determining whether a party has waived its right to arbitrate, must prejudice be shown? In Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., the United States Supreme Court in answered this question, no. In Morgan, Morgan sued her employer, Sundance, for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, alleging Sundance failed to pay her overtime while working at a Taco Bell franchise. When she was initially hired, Morgan signed an agreement requiring arbitration of any disputes. Morgan nonetheless filed her claim in the US District Court for Southern District of Iowa. In lieu of immediately invoking its arbitration ri

On October 23, 2023, a final rule regarding calculation of prevailing wage rates for federal contracting work took effect.  Almost immediately afterwards, two lawsuits were filed in Texas to stop enforcement of the rule.  Why has so much attention been paid to the final rule and how does the rule potentially impact you? The Associated Builders and Contractors (“ABC”) and Associated General Contractors (“AGC”) of America recently filed suit in the Eastern District of Texas against the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) to prevent enforcement of the DOL’s final rule “Updating of

As an example of how trial and appellate courts are reigning in nuclear verdicts, a federal judge in Georgia recently reduced a $135 million jury verdict to a $5 million judgment.  What was the court’s rationale and how might it impact other nuclear verdicts in other states? Shaun and Amie Harris sued Westwood Professional Services Inc. (Westwood), Silicon Ranch Corporation (SLC), Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives Inc. (IEA), and IEA Constructors, LLC (IEA Constructors), asserting claims for nuisance, trespass, and negligence for damage to their land. The Harrises alleged that SLC’s