Construction Law

When people purchase homes or buildings in Maryland, they trust that the construction was properly completed. Most of the time, contractors, builders and others involved in the construction do their due diligence to ensure that all the work meets proper standards,...

The modern form of a mechanic's lien can be traced to Thomas Jefferson, who used the concept in promoting the construction of Washington, the new capital city of our young republic.Today, the Supreme Court of Virginia, like other such courts in other states, maintains...

In the recent unreported case of Young Electrical Contractors, Inc. v. Dustin Construction, Inc. the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reaffirmed the validity of a pay when paid clause. In this case a subcontractor sought payment for several change orders which were...

The recent unreported case of Baker v. L & E Bustamante Concrete Co., Inc. shows that a Maryland court is not required to force a subcontractor to prove how much a homeowner owes the general contractor when the sub seeks a mechanic's lien. This is the case even...

There have been a couple changes in Maryland Law impacting contractors. The first is there are a few minor changes in the rescission notice in door to door sales which make it less cumbersome. The second is that repair work is not defined as a door to door sale if the...

Judge Michelle Hotten's well-reasoned but unpublished opinion in the case of Glen Valley Builders v. Whang may finally offer hope for exploited unlicensed contractors. The Court of Special Appeals Judge recently authored an opinion for a three judge panel in a case...

In the case of Sari v. America's Home Place, Inc., which was decided by Judge Gerald Lee in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, a homeowner copyrighted the plans which were used to build a new home. When the builder built another...

In an unpublished opinion in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit case of Mclain v. KBR, Inc.,the appeals court upheld a Federal District Court decision which dismissed a claim against an electrician under the False Claims Act. The appeals court...

The recent case of State Auto. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Old Republic Ins. Co. decided by Judge Richard Bennett of the Maryland Federal District Court involves a fascinating analysis of a Maryland commercial general liability insurance policy. At issue was an insurer's duty to...

In the Washington, D.C. case of Mason Builders, Inc. v. Bancroft Const. Co., a prime contractor was alleged to have induced one of its subcontractors to fire a lower tier subcontractor, namely D.C. Mason Builders, who was working for the subcontractor. D.C. Mason...