"INSIGHT: Coronavirus Advice for Construction Contractor Clients," Bloomberg Law

In an article published in Bloomberg Law on April 1, 2020, Judah Lifschitz and Laura Fraher offer advice for construction contractor claims in the time of the novel coronavirus, including focusing on workers’ health and safety and taking the time to scrutinize contract provisions and protect interests.

To ensure clients are taking reasonable steps to protect the health and safety of their employees, contractors, and others on their job sites, OSHA guidelines on preparing workplaces for COVID-19 are a good first resource.

”Most construction contracts include terms that address unforeseen conditions and conditions outside of the parties’ control. These clauses might be identified in the contract as “force majeure” clauses and they might be included within provisions for “excusable delay,” but these are not the only possibilities so contracts should be reviewed in their entirety to identify any relevant provisions dealing with unforeseen or uncontrollable conditions,” the authors explain.

Advising contractor clients to focus on controls and procedures to document construction projects is also important. But, given the inevitability of delays, disruptions, claims and disputes arising from the impacts of COVID-19, it is imperative to stress this now.

For the full article, click here.