Philadelphia Construction Law Blog

n an opinion issued in July, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court categorically declared the award of attorneys’ fees and penalties under the Pennsylvania Prompt Pay Act to be discretionary. While the statute itself contains language which suggests such an outcome, the Court’s decision in Scott Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Allentown formally settles an issue which many construction practitioners understood differently and argued differently in litigation.

A recent Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court opinion indicated a possible change in how the Court’s view certain construction related claims under the Public School Code in Pennsylvania. In F. Zacherl, Inc. v. Flaherty Mechanical Contractors, LLC, the Court ruled that an agreement with a completion contractor to finish the original prime contractor’s scope of work did not require separate approval from the School Board.

President Obama signed an executive order that will have a huge impact on the construction industry on July 31, 2014. Amazingly, it has received little fanfare or attention until now.

The General Assembly passed changes to the Pennsylvania Steel Products Procurement Act that Governor Corbett recently signed. The legislation (HB 1840), which will go into effect this month, effectively creates an exemption from the law’s requirement for certain listed items and directs the Department of General Services to issue a list on its website for those in the construction industry to check. The Steel Products Procurement Act requires that steel being used in public works projects in the Commonwealth be made in the U.S. To qualify as “made in the U.S.A.”, 75% of the cost to mine, produce, or manufacture the product must be incurred in the United States. The statutory definition of “public works” is broad and includes construction of all types as well as maintenance. The changes to the law create a range of exceptions to the “made in the U.S.A.” requirement for certain machinery and equipment. To be exempt, the DGS must certify in writing that an item qualifies for the exemption list because there are insufficient amounts of the steel product made in the U.S. to allow contractors to meet the requirement. The new provisions also charge the DGS with conducting an annual review of the list and the industry to update the list and to subsequently post that list on a publicly accessible website so that those putting in bids for public works projects can access it. Contractors involved in public works projects should be aware of this statute and not assume it can be […]

As election season hits full stride in the race to November 6, a good deal has been discussed about sequestration. The term has been mentioned most prominently in the context of cuts to defense spending. If it should occur, however, it will hit construction related budgets hard as well.

Contractors may want to think twice before attempting to negotiate the terms of a Request for Proposal. You may face the risk of having your bid rejected in Pennsylvania.

On Friday, June 29, both the House and Senate approved legislation that included an extension of the federal surface transportation reauthorization bill. The legislation provides for an estimated $105 billion in federal funding for highway, transit, safety, and related transportation programs through the end of September 2014.

On May 21, 2012, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court addressed an issue which comes up often but has not been addressed by Pennsylvania appellate courts. The issue: Does a general contractor’s use of a subcontractor’s bid in the general contractor’s bid constitute an acceptance of the subcontractor’s bid?

A subsidiary of Skanska avoided criminal prosecution by agreeing to pay a $19.6 million settlement over allegations that Skanska improperly took advantage of government set-aside programs. In conjunction with that settlement, it entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. At the time of the settlement, Skanska was the low bidder on a large subway construction project and risked not having the contract awarded to it by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.