Businesses who are engaged in construction related activities, whether on public or private projects, can anticipate that there will be new and challenging legal issues related to COVID-19. While COVID-19 continues to affect your supply chain and work efficiencies, the typical contract force majeure and delay clauses may no longer offer you remedies to address COVID-19 cost and time impacts.  Without a doubt, COVID-19 delays are now foreseeable and as such it is important to make sure your future construction contracts include provisions that will help minimize the continued COVID-19 adverse impacts. Below are couple of options to consider when entering
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Signed by President Trump on March 18, 2020, The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), requires employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for reasons related to COVID-19. At first blush, it appears the FFCRA picks up where the FMLA leaves off and requires businesses with fewer than 500 employees to pay sick and family medical leave. Indeed, DOL’s FFCRA pamphlets, posters and summary sheets indicate employers with fewer than 500 employees are on the hook.  But, are all employers with fewer than 500 employees really on the hook? A more thorough review of the Final Rule as
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I hope you and your families are well. The last couple of weeks have turned our normal upside down and literally wreaked havoc on virtually every part of the economy and your business.  Below are a four “things to think about”, during these crazy times. Consider Business Interruption Insurance Business interruption coverage is triggered when the policyholder sustains “direct physical loss of or damage to” covered property for certain causes of loss. The “physical loss” or damage does not necessarily require that a physical alteration to the property occurred. Courts have interpreted physical loss to mean property that has been rendered uninhabitable or
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The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) implemented the 8(a) Business Development Program to benefit small business owners who are either socially or economically disadvantaged by limiting competitive bidding for certain projects to only businesses that participate in the program. Legal Qualifications First and foremost, your business must qualify as a small business under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and must be owned (51 percent or greater) by at least one socially and economically disadvantaged person who is of good character and shows the potential for success in the company. You must prove your disadvantaged status by a
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The Davis Bacon Program, also referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act or DBA (40 U.S.C. §§ 3141 – 3148), was initially enacted in 1931 to provide wage protection to construction workers. Specifically, the DBA requires federal contractors to pay construction workers the prevailing local wage rate, thereby protecting local construction workers from contractors who bid less than the local wage rate on a construction project. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and federal contracting agencies have joint responsibility for enforcement of the DBA. Scope The DBA applies to contracts involving the construction of public buildings and works located in the
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