Finishing a construction project on time and on budget is not easy. Environmental documents, work stoppages, labor contracts and other factors can send a job off-track.
Bryant & Brown helps clients navigate the various stages of projects while following all state and federal guidelines.
Over the past decade, Bryant & Brown has developed construction general conditions and special provisions for multi-million dollar construction projects and provided claims avoidance counseling and defense for school district clients, among others.
In its role as the district’s special facilities counsel, Bryant & Brown has drafted bid procedures and trained district staff on the use of Requests for Proposals and contract templates. We also have drafted and negotiated leases, joint-use agreements, and memoranda of understanding.
Our firm specializes in:
* Project implementation: It’s crucial to perform due diligence before even hiring a contractor. Bryant & Brown can help prepare documents to put a project out to bid. We can help secure the best bid available, while handling all the legal requirements.
And if problems arise from the bid process, we can handle complex litigation matters. For example, we successfully defended a California public entity in a $3.2 million bid protest in California Superior Court.
* Dispute resolution: Bryant & Brown helps head off problems and can mediate any that do arise, helping avoid work stoppages and keeping the project on schedule. We work professionally with both sides, applying our wealth of knowledge and experience in construction and business law to assure the project can continue amicably.
The firm successfully defended a claims arising out of project delays and mold contamination at a school site and won reimbursement for damages.
* Prevailing wage: California has a wide variety of labor laws dictating construction projects. Public works projects, for example, require a so-called ‘prevailing wage’ is paid. Bryant & Brown prepares all necessary paperwork and ensures compliance to help a project run seamlessly.
Bryant & Brown has represented clients after a subcontractor failed to pay the appropriate prevailing wage to its employees and resolved the matter at no cost to the client and at a significant savings in liability exposure and legal fees.
* PLAs: Project Labor Agreements, or PLAs, are when the government awards contracts for public construction projects exclusively to unionized contractors. The accord declares how disputes are resolved, sets appropriate wages and sometimes includes social or environmental justice add-ons.
Our firm helps prepare the documents, but also handles any problems between the public agency and contractor. We can also help add social or environmental justice add-ons, like hiring local employees to work the project or using only energy-efficient trucks. The firm also can negotiate carve-outs from PLAs to turn pieces of a project non-union.
