Constructing Observations | The AGC Blog

Did a problem subcontractor just place an unjustifiable lien on a project for an important repeat client? What can you do to make sure the project and client's interests are protected?  AGC MA member Attorney Hugh J. Gorman, III of Prince Lobel discusses the use of a Lien Bond as possible tool a general contractor can use to sustain project momentum and relieve an owner's concerns. Read more

A Massachusetts trial court has held that a public authority, which inadvertently prequalified an electrical contractor who did not have the proper license, can override its own prequalification decision and reject a bid from the contractor. The contractor was tripped up by a contract requirement that a corporate applicant must have a board member with the requisite license. In this instance, the contractor had one or more employees with a master electrician’s license, but did not have a board member with such a license, at least in Massachusetts. Read more

The general standard in OSHA cases is that a foreman’s knowledge of a safety violation by a subordinate is imputed to the employer. An exception has been carved out by some courts when it is the foreman’s own safety violation that gives rise to the OSHA citation, and the employer argues that the actions of a “rogue” employee should not be imputed to the employer. But what happens when both foreman and subordinate engage in an unsafe work condition? That was the situation decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in Quinlan v. Sec’y, United States DOL, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 207 (Jan. 8, 2016), available here. Read more