A reader has asked whether a contractor must provide notice to preserve a claim when the contractor discovers that the plans and specifications are defective. The short answer is "yes." Virtually all construction contracts require that the contractor provide written notice of a claim. The notice provisions may differ from contract to contract, and in the instance of governmental contracts may be set by the applicable regulations, e.g., Federal Acquisition Regulations, Code of Maryland Regulations. Careful attention should be paid to the applicable notice provisions. The United States District Court for the District of Maryland found that a contractor forfeited his rights to make a claim for extended general conditions when the contractor failed to follow the claim provisions contained in the contract. The contractor indicated in a letter that it was "considering making a claim." The court found that "considering" a claim and "making" a claim are two different things. Skanska v. Battelle Memorial Institute(D. Md. 2006). Consequently, it is incumbent upon a contractor to read, understand and follow the claim provisions in its contract. For any questions, please contact Matt Hjortsberg (410)583-2400 or at Hjortsberg@bowie-jensen.com
Monday, November 24, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
Thanks for briefing us about the notice provision. There are many more clauses in the construction industry, which we are not aware of. Once browsing through net, I came across an online database Construction Wire(http://www.constructionwire.com/) where you get details of big construction projects done in past years. It clarified some other doubts I had about the whole project process. Just check the site, you will get more information about the notice provision.
Post a Comment