Practice Areas
Contracts
Construction law is fundamentally contract law. Certainly, statutes and rules come into play on construction projects, but the scope of a project, the payments to be made for the labor, materials and services provided to complete a project, and the allocation of risks and responsibilities on a project are primarily determined by the many contracts and ancillary forms necessary to deliver even the most basic project. Our lawyers are students of project delivery. We have experience negotiating all of the project-level transactions needed to deliver a project.
Selecting the correct project delivery system can make or break a project, and the wrong project delivery system might even be unlawful. We have experience with the public procurement rules in North Carolina and a working knowledge of the project delivery systems that may be used on public projects. Likewise, we are familiar with the professional and occupational licensing laws in North Carolina and the impact those laws can have on project delivery. We have worked closely with many clients to implement traditional single prime design-bid-build projects, multi-prime projects (both with and without a construction manager), CM at risk projects, public-private partnerships and design-build projects.
Our services include contract review, drafting and negotiation, including design contracts, construction contracts, supply contracts, equipment leases, loan agreements, security agreements, disposal contracts, consulting agreements, bonds and surety indemnity agreements, takeover agreements, and project-specific and manuscript insurance policies. We also assist clients with contract modifications, change orders, notices, receipts, bills of sale, storage agreements, and other similar project-level transactions that keep a project moving.
Usually, we are called upon for assistance with the contracts on a specific project, but we have also drafted form contracts for many clients, including contractors, design professionals and owners. We appreciate these opportunities for several reasons. First, we have a chance to fashion contracts that suit our clients’ individual policies, needs, and tolerance for risk, which might not be addressed very well in standard forms available from associations such as AIA and AGC. Second, we are able to help our clients integrate their standard contracts with ancillary documents such as payment applications, lien waivers and releases, and insurance policies. Finally, because we are familiar with the office systems and forms being used by our clients, we can respond more quickly to requests for assistance on specific contracts for specific projects.