The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a custom home designer and builder who brought an action against a competing builder and designer could possibly have a claim in violation of the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act for similar plans. The...
Construction Law
Suit on Maryland projects must be brought in D.C.
The United States District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that a subcontractor, who brought a Maryland case as a result of performing work on a project located in the State of Maryland, would instead be forced to bring that case in the District of Columbia....
Unlicensed Subcontractors Can Sue for Payment
The Court of Appeals has upheld the Court of Special Appeals and ruled that unlicensed home improvement subcontractors can sue for payment under certain limited circumstances. Hopefully, the door is now opened for rescinding the more inequitable aspects of the "no...
The importance of a construction business owner establishing a relationship with an attorney
I have had situations where clients obviously did work and were obviously owed money; however, they neglected to register their company in the state where they needed to bring their case. As a result, they lost their cases. These cases provide an example of one of the...
Paid when paid/ Paid if paid/ Flow through contract clauses
They are the lifeblood of general contractors and despised by subcontractors. Flow through agreements provide for payment of a subcontractor when or if a general contractor is paid. Contractors will tell you they need flow through clauses in their contracts, for among...
Subcontractor not Responsible for injuries caused by OSHA/ MOSHA violation after leaving job
In the recent case of C & M Builders, LLC v. Strub the Maryland Court of Appeals held that a framing subcontractor was not responsible for injuries caused by OSHA/MOSHA violations when it had left the job for three weeks and had surrendered control of the jobsite...