Philadelphia Construction Law Blog

Open shop developers and contractors alike will soon have a new rule to contend with when they work in Philadelphia. The new ordinance mandating paid sick leave for companies with 10 or more employees will go into effect on June 13, 2015. Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement or working as independent contractors are exempt from the new law.

Payment clauses … no construction contract clause has a more immediate impact on the bottom line for contractors of all shapes and sizes. Understanding payment clauses can be the key to knowing when to press for payment or not and, ultimately, whether payment will ever arrive for work on a project. Careful review of your contracts with the help of counsel is a shrewd approach; but here are the basics at the risk of over-simplification.

Following the lead set in President Obama’s Executive Order 13658, the Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division issued a final rule raising the minimum wage for workers providing labor on federal construction and service contracts to $10.10 an hour.This final rule applies to new and replacement contracts that result from solicitations after January 1, 2015. It also places the Secretary of Labor in charge of setting the minimum wage beginning in 2016 with the restriction that the Secretary cannot ever lower it.

Owners and contractors on Pennsylvania construction projects are familiar with the Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act (“CASPA”). CASPA requires owners to pay contractors in accordance with the terms of their contract, and for contractors to pay subcontractors in accordance with the terms of the subcontract. If payments are not timely made without a good faith reason, CASPA allows an unpaid contractor or subcontractor to recover (in addition to the amount owed) interest at the rate of 1% per month, penalties at the rate of 1% per month, and attorney’s fees incurred to collect payment.

For many, Disney World is the “happiest place on earth”. Built in the early 1970s, the first theme park to open there was the Magic Kingdom. Two hotels that are still part of the resort – the Contemporary and Polynesian Resort Hotels – were opened at the same time.

It’s Election Day across the country. Voting for our leaders is one of the most sacred rights we have as Americans. Regardless of your political party affiliation or the issues that are important to you, please find time to vote today.

One of the most iconic symbols of American pride is the Statute of Liberty. Standing on Ellis Island in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, it represents much of what is great about America. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration revised its safety regulations governing work on electric power grids in July 2014. A final rule was passed imposing new safety standards to more closely track general industry standards. These changes will result in some revisions to both the construction of power grids and the maintenance of those grids by power companies and hired contractors.

The International Green Construction Code was developed by the International Code Council -more commonly known as the ICC – and first published in 2012. Its state purpose is to develop a model code for the measurement of sustainability in the construction industry. The goal in developing the code is to “make buildings more efficient, reduce waste, and have a positive impact on health, safety and community welfare”.

In July of this year, we reported on a change to the Pennsylvania Mechanic’s Lien Law that revised the statute to give priority to construction loans secured by open-end construction loan mortgages. The revisions also broadened the definition of cost of construction to cover a range of things – to include attorneys’ fees and accounting fees – which are part of the costs incurred to build the project. This marks a significant change in the law which can be reviewed further in our previous blog post here.