A federal judge in Oregon has tossed a subcontractor’s unjust enrichment or “quantum meruit” claim against the owner because the subcontractor did not first exhaust its contractual remedies against the contractor.
Exhaustion of remedies is a common legal doctrine that generally requires parties to pursue relief in a particular order. In dealing with appeals from a
A federal judge in Michigan last week rejected a contractor’s efforts to avoid a jury trial this fall in its dispute with the owner of the Ludington Pumped Storage Hydro plant. The case involves a project to overhaul the 50-year-old plant, which uses electricity during periods of low demand (i.e. at night) to pump
Many construction contracts include a provision that prohibits the parties from recovering “consequential” damages in the event of a breach. Sometimes parties will negotiate and agree to a waiver of consequential damages that identifies and describes what damages are considered consequential damages. For example, the parties may agree that prohibited consequential damages include such damages as
A federal judge in Oklahoma last week ruled against an electrical subcontractor who quit work before finishing because it was allegedly unsafe to continue. The court found that the subcontractor was simply losing money, and that the safety excuse was a “post-hoc fabrication” to justify “jumping ship.”
The case involves construction of a renewable natural gas
Court Affirms $1 Nominal Damage Award in Wind Farm Construction Dispute
The general contractor on the 60-turbine wind farm project in Good Hope, Illinois, is entitled to collect a whopping $1 on its cost-to-complete claim against its terminated subcontractor. We previously reported on the court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of the general contractor
A California appeals court has upheld a $5 million award in favor of Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and against the owner of a 12-story, Virgin-brand hotel in San Francisco. Whiting-Turner agreed to construct the hotel for a guaranteed maximum price of $36 million pursuant to a modified AIA standard form agreement and general conditions. The contract called
A federal court in upstate New York is permitting a subcontractor’s delay claim to proceed notwithstanding a “no damages for delay” provision in the subcontract. The case, The Pike Company, Inc. v. Tri-Krete, Ltd., involves delay claims asserted by a subcontractor hired to install pre-cast concrete walls on a college dormitory project. The subcontractor alleges that
Not according to a decision from a federal court in Ohio. The case involves a landscaping project at a hillside home in Cincinnati. The property overlooks the Ohio River, but like many projects that become cases, it ended up in the ditch. Dissatisfied with the progress of the work, the owner told her neighbors that
Here at Bradley we frequently represent clients pursuing or opposing claims for lost productivity on construction jobs. The gist of those claims is that something happened which decreased productivity and thereby increased costs. That something can be just about anything. Differing site conditions. Unreasonable or conflicting instructions. A global pandemic. Lost productivity claims seek to reallocate costs
An Illinois federal court ruled in favor of steel subcontractor Nucor in its contract dispute with Direct Steel. The project involved the construction of pre-engineering metal buildings for the Army Corps of Engineers. The general contractor, Direct Steel, subcontracted with Nucor for the supply of steel materials. The contract included a “Must Ship By Date” of May 29