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• New Law Requires Public Works Contract Bidders to Certify They Have Not Pleaded Guilty to Certain Crimes By Lisa A. Easterling A law passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Bobby Jindal (Act 945) requires all bidders for public works contracts to certify that they have not entered a plea of either guilty or nolo contendre to certain crimes. Each bidder for public works contracts must certify in writing that they have not pleaded guilty or nolo contendre to: (1) public bribery (La. Rev. Stat. 14:118); (2) corrupt influencing (La. Rev. Stat. 14:120); (3) extortion (La. Rev. Stat. 14:66); or (4) money laundering (La. Rev. Stat. 14:230).Additionally, a conviction of or a plea of either guilty or nolo contendre to the following state crimes or their federal counterparts bars any person or bidding entity from bidding on public projects for 5 years from the date of conviction or the date they entered the guilty or nolo plea: theft; identity theft; theft of a business record; false accounting; issuing worthless checks; bank fraud; forgery; contractors/misapplication ....
• New Law Requires Contractors to Disclose the Sharing of Contract Commission/Fees in No-Bid State and Local Government Contracts By Lisa A. Easterling A new law (Act 868) passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Bobby Jindal on July 2, 2010 requires contractors who are awarded no-bid contracts with state and local entities, or $10,000-plus bid contracts with local entities, to disclose all commissions and fees in writing.Contractors must provide a notarized affidavit of the fee disposition on a form approved by the Board of Ethics. The affidavit shall include: (1) the full value of the commission, fee or other consideration; (2) the names of all parties to receive dispositions, splits, or shares of the commission, fee or other consideration; and, (3) the signature of the party authorized to commit the entity receiving the commission, fee or consideration to the contract. If the fee sharing changes, a new affidavit reflecting the changes is required and must be recorded by the contractor in the public record. If the recorded affidavit is determined to be incorrect, then the contract becomes ....
• Building Permit Requirements Changed for Non-Resident Contractors By Lisa A. Easterling A new Louisiana law requires non-resident/out-of-state contractors to provide additional information before a building permit can be issued. The new law, amending La. Rev. Stat. 37:2171.2 (Act No. 67), has been signed by the governor. It requires a non-resident commercial, residential, or home improvement contractor to provide (1) its federal tax payer identification number to the local building permit official and (2) proof of registration to do business in Louisiana before a building permit can be issued.   ....
• What does the Transfer of Chinese Drywall Cases by the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Mean? Throughout 2004–2007 a housing boom along with a series of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico combined to create a shortage of drywall in the United States.  Needing drywall to build the homes that were much in demand, suppliers turned abroad. Chinese manufacturers stepped in, providing cheap and readily available material.  This influx of Chinese drywall was concentrated in Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi; the states most affected by Hurricanes Wilma, Katrina, and Rita.  Since 2006, it has been estimated by some sources that more than 550 million pounds of drywall have been imported from China.  There are reports that some 100,000 homes could possibly be affected nationwide. Reports of the damage caused by Chinese drywall to air conditioning units and appliances as well as health problems associated with it started to surface in 2006.  It has been reported that organic and chemical compounds in certain samples of drywall causes a ....
• Louisiana Legislature directs DHH, the Department of Insurance, and the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors to Study the Effects of "defective Chinese Drywall" By G. Trippe Hawthorne The Louisiana Legislature has adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 185, authored by Representative Tim Burns.  The resolution urges and requests that the Department of Health and Hospitals and the Deptartment of Insurance, in consultation with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, investigate the health risks associated with living in homes that contain drywall imported from China, study the potential homeowners insurance coverage issues, including triggers, endorsements, and exclusions to policies that are related to drywall imported from China, and determine whether such material should be identified as a substandard, unsafe building material.  The resolution goes on to request a report of the findings and recommendations of this study to the legislature prior to the convening of the 2010 regular session. A copy of the enrolled version of the resolution can be seen here: Download file ....
• Three Things Every Contractor Should Know Before Signing That Construction Contract for Building Remediation by G. Trippe Hawthorne and Mark D. Mese In a perfect world, Contractors would only do business with owners, designers, subcontractors, and material suppliers that they know well and trust. No surprises, misunderstandings, or disasters. In this world, doing business is risky. The trick is to identify and analyze as many of the risks as you can, so that when you take a risk, you know what the risk is, and have some ideas about how to deal with it, should things go badly. Here are three risks that you always want to identify and analyze:  1. Who is paying for the work and what is the payment mechanism? In other words, if you are doing remediation, are you going to be paid by the property owner, the building tenant, their insurer, their bank? If the person you have contracted with can’t or won’t pay you, do you have a mechanism of getting funded from the funding source? 2. What is the history of the building where you are working? Are those asbestos tiles? Is that mold in ....
• Reminders About Louisiana's Contractor Licensing Law for Commercial Property Owners by G. Trippe Hawthorne As Insurance claims continue to be adjusted and paid out, Louisiana residential, commercial, and industrial property owners will begin the process of contracting with Contractors to repair hurricane damage. As you do so, be mindful of Louisiana’s Contractors’ Licensing law and its potential impact on you. First, know that the purpose of the licensing law is to protect Louisiana’s citizens by attempting to ensure that contractors have at least a minimal level of financial resources and insurance coverage, basic construction knowledge, and some accountability for their financial obligations. The benefit to citizens is the initial screening or weeding out of contractors that have absolutely no business in that business. It’s not foolproof, but it does help.  What the Licensing law will not do is effectively resolve any breach of contract type disputes. Assuming the contractor has met the minimum standards set out by the ....
• Using and Modifying Industry Form Construction Contracts by Linda Perez Clark and Jeffrey N. Boudreaux A number of construction industry trade groups or associations, such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), among others, have developed a variety of “standard form” construction contracts that have been used in the industry for many years, and are periodically updated. When engaging an architect or contractor, many owners are requested to sign these standard form agreements.   The beauty of these standard forms is that they are “tried and true,” as they have been around for a number of years and have been the subject of extensive litigation interpreting their content. They are also very comprehensive and address the many contingencies that come up during the construction process. But owners should avoid signing the standard form agreement without modifying the more heavy-handed, contractor-friendly provisions to make them fairer to the ....
• Construction Law Litigation Strategies by David K. Nelson Much of the time of a construction lawyer is spent assisting clients in finding solutions to the many problems that befall the typical construction project. These problems range from simple contract preparation and negotiation to the more fact-intensive work of constructive defect litigation, surety claims, liens, and payment issues. Each construction project, no matter how complex or simple, involves the same basic issues: • What is the scope of work that the parties agreed to? • What documents or plans define the scope of work? • How is the contractor to be paid for his work? • How can the owner be assured that the contractor is doing the work properly? • What is to be done when there are issues or problems with respect to any of the above? The job of the construction attorney is to help chart a course through this minefield and ideally resolve issues without judicial intervention. See the rest of the article here. It is an article of ....
• What is the Gulf Opportunity Zone? Many C-Level executives and small business owners have heard of the Gulf Opportunity Zone (the GO Zone Act) and know that it does something for Louisiana businesses, but they do not know if or how the new law can help them and their employees. Kean Miller has prepared a comprehensive summary of the GO Zone Act and its sister law, the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 ("KETRA"). This summary describes the key legislative provisions and explains how Louisiana-area businesses, both large and small, can maximize the GO Zone benefits available to them.In a nutshell, the new GO Zone legislation is the best business investment incentive program that the Gulf Coast has seen in recent memory, perhaps ever. Businesses that are considering expanding their Louisiana operations or relocating to an incentive-rich area should consider speeding up their plans quickly to take advantage of the GO Zone incentives before they expire. Download the full outline here. For more information, contact a ....
• Insurance Coverage for Defective Workmanship By G. Trippe Hawthorne A recent case out of Louisiana could be big news for general contractors, owners, and insurers. Louisiana's Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court's opinion that an upstream contractor was entitled to insurance coverage for the cost of repairing defective work performed by a subcontractor (Broadmoor Anderson v. National Union Fire Insurance of Louisiana).The Project was construction of the Hollywood Casino Hotel in Shreveport. The insurance policy at issue was a Commercial General Liability Policy, purchased by the project owner, and which named as additional insureds "all contractors" and "all tiers of subcontractors." After construction was completed, the owner began to notice problems with the ceramic tile shower stalls in many of the guest rooms. It was determined that the leaks were caused by defective workmanship in the installation of the shower pans, and the general contractor and subcontractor collaborated on a remediation of the ....
• Insurance Claims After Hurricane Katrina By Mark Mese Hurricane Katrina will undoubtedly go down in history as the worst natural disaster to hit the United States. The current estimated cost to repair damage from Hurricane Katrina caused has reached $50.0 billion, much of which may be covered by insurance. Hurricane Katrina will have enormous impact on policyholders and their insurers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Policyholders will need to act carefully and in some cases promptly to protect their rights under insurance policies providing coverage for environmental claims, business interruption claims, property loss claims, and general liability claims.Environmental Claims. Hurricane Katrina's rains, floods, and wind damage have caused a multitude of small and large environmental accidents. Businesses that are generally concerned with environmental accidents--chemical plants, manufacturing companies, oil and gas producers, and gasoline stations are not the only businesses that may be exposed to environmental claims. ....
• Private Works Act Performance Bonds - Is the Prescriptive Period Enforceable in Louisiana? By Jeff Boudreaux Is it possibile that the contractual agreement limiting the time within which an owner must file suit to enforce a private works performance bond may be unenforceable in Louisiana? We cannot predict how a judge or jury would decide the issue but humbly suggest it is this type of gray area that warrants more consideration than it typically receives. Read the article ....