Publications

Construction and the Law in Texas Blocking and Tackling. It’s football season, so a discussion of fundamentals essential to successful performance is worth having. Sound fundamentals are equally important in football and in business. The fundamentals of performance and management are vital to success, but because they tend to be [...]

Construction and the Law in Texas Construction projects and the relationships of the various parties involved in a project begin with contracts of various levels and tiers. For general contractors, all the terms and conditions of these contracts are important. However, certain clauses, the language used, and the legal effect [...]

Legal Solutions On large commercial, industrial, and energy projects in both the public and private sphere, general contractors may require those subcontractors performing significant scopes of work to procure performance and payment bonds in addition to the bonds that the general might itself be required to obtain. Performance bonds are procured to alleviate some of the risk on non-performance or [...]

Construction and the Law in Texas The volume of documentation generated on many construction projects can be overwhelming at times. Depending on the role your company plays on a project and the level of interaction with other parties on the job, it’s not uncommon for project files to contain thousands [...]

Construction and the Law in Texas The construction manager at-risk (CMAR) delivery method has become increasingly popular for constructing infrastructure projects in recent years, especially in the area water and wastewater azena. Public owners have chosen this delivery method because of the flexibility it provides for their projects. A CMAR assumes the risk for construction, rehabilitation, alteration or repair of [...]

Construction and the Law in Texas Unless a project is design-build, contractors do not have a direct contractual relationship with design professionals on most projects. However, a design engineer on an infrastructure project typically plays an active role as the owner’s representative. In drafting the plans and specifications, in conducting [...]

Construction and the Law in Texas Texas courts have issued a series of opinions recently that affirm Texas as a “freedom to contract” state. These opinions have enforced harsh results for claimants who might have fared better in the past when courts were seemingly more willing to put aside contract language barring recovery in favor [...]

Construction and the Law in Texas In my January article that was a preview of this session’s construction bills and initiatives, I identified five legislative priorities for the 83rd Legislature as announced by Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus before the session started. Those priorities were education, transportation, water, [...]

Construction and the Law in Texas Green construction is a hot topic in vertical construction. The U.S. Green Building Council and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification are well known and many project managers and facilities owners strive to attain desired levels of certification for their projects. The [...]

Legal Solutions Most contractors deal with performance bonds on public jobs when they furnish a bond for the benefit of an owner. However, many contractors will require subcontractors with significant scopes of work to furnish their own performance and payment bonds on significant projects. As such, this article will provide [...]