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Payment Disputes
to know when an attorney’s involvement is valuable. Here are two “red flags” that warrant a call to an attorney. First, if your proposed change in contract pricing is denied in total, you need to know right away what your next steps are in terms of getting paid. Does your contract permit you to resubmit the proposed change? Do you need to resort immediately to dispute resolution? Many contracts have very brief (meaning only a few days) timeframes for disputing the denial of a proposed change. Second, not every proposed change order is outright denied. Some just sit, and sit, and sit for months without any decision. This can be a red flag as well when the delay affects your cash flow on the project (or, perhaps, your company’s cash flow overall). Particularly for large change orders, it’s valuable to know promptly where the other side stands with respect to how much you are going to be paid for change order work. For both of these issues, an attorney familiar with construction contracts can determine quickly what your rights are and how to pursue them in an expeditious manner.
This issue is the simplest to my mind. On any project where your customer is refusing to pay you for your work, you should contact an attorney immediately. This is for one simple reason: your rights may be expiring as you read this! Do you know how to preserve your payment rights under your contract’s disputes clause? Did you do it? Did your project manager sign a lien release after this dispute arose? Did that lien release contain a legally sufficient carve-out for your payment dispute? Do you know whether you have time to file a mechanic’s lien or bond claim? An attorney can help answer all of those questions and more, as well as help you pursue your rights when negotiation fails.
If you want to learn more skills and tips about avoiding construction claim pitfalls, you can receive a free copy of my book, “The Subcontractor’s Roadmap to Getting Paid for Extra Work” by emailing me at jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com.
-Jeremy Wyatt
jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com
www.HarrisonLawGroup.com
(410) 832-0000
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