VENUE FOR SUING PUBLIC PAYMENT BOND

Posted on June 9, 2017June 9, 2017 by Edward Garber

Public payment bonds (excluding FDOT payment bonds) are governed under Florida statute s. 255.05. As it pertains to venue—the location to sue a public payment bond–the statute provides in relevant portion:

(5) In addition to the provisions of chapter 47, any action authorized under this section may be brought in the county in which the public building or public work is being construction or repaired.

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(1)(e) Any provision in a payment bond…which restricts venue of any proceeding relating to such bond…is unenforceable.

Now, what happens if a subcontractor sues only a payment bond but its subcontract with the general contractor contains a mandatory venue provision? For example, what if the general contractor is located in Lee County and the subcontract contains a venue provision for Lee County, the project is located in Collier County, the subcontractor is located in Miami-Dade County, and the surety issues bonds in Miami-Dade County? Does venue have to be in Lee County per the mandatory venue provision?

According to the decision in Travelers Casualty and Insurance Co. of America v. Community Asphalt Corp., 42 Fla. L. Weekly D1318a (Fla. 3d DCA 2017), a claimant can sue a public payment bond anywhere where venue is permitted irrespective of a mandatory venue provision in a subcontract. In this case, the project was in Collier County and the subcontract contained a mandatory venue provision for Lee County. However, the subcontractor sued the public payment bond in Miami-Dade County. The Third District held that the subcontract’s venue provision could not be read into the bond because it would be unenforceable since Florida Statute s. 255.05 renders such language that restricts venue unenforceable.

The Third District, however, did importantly note that this ruling may likely have been different if the subcontractor also sued the general contractor in the lawsuit. Because the subcontractor only sued the public payment bond, the venue provision in the subcontract did not apply.

Strategically, there are reasons why a payment bond claimant (e.g., subcontractor) does not want to sue the general contractor. One such reason is venue, as in the instant case. The subcontractor did not want to sue in Lee County and had a strong argument to sue the public payment bond in Miami-Dade County, a more preferable and convenient venue to it, and was able to do so notwithstanding the venue provision in the subcontract.

Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.

PRESERVING YOUR RIGHTS TO SECURE PAYMENT ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS (WITH EXAMPLES)

Posted on March 18, 2017March 18, 2017 by Edward Garber

All participants across the construction industry should understand what efforts they should take to maximize and collateralize payment. No one wants to work for free and, certainly, no one in the construction industry wants to work without ensuring there is some mechanism to recover payment in the event they remain unpaid. Being proactive and knowledgeable can go a long way when it comes to recovering your money.

Your Contract – It starts with the contract. You should understand those risks that are allocated to you and those that are allocated to another party. And, you should understand the contractual mechanism to resolve claims and disputes and whether your contract has a prevailing party attorney’s fees provision. In addition to contractual rights, there are tools for you to maximize your collection efforts.

Construction Liens – Construction liens apply to private projects, not public projects. This is a very valuable tool as they allow you to collateralize nonpayment against real property. It is really important you know what you need to do to preserve your construction lien rights. Construction liens are a creature of statute and the failure to properly preserve and perfect your construction lien rights can be fatal to your lien claim.

Example 1. I am a general contractor on a private condominium project. I am owed $1,000,000 from the developer. As the general contractor, I can record a construction lien within 90 days from my final furnishing on the project exclusive of punchlist and warranty work. (This is good for one year from recording unless the developer takes steps to shorten the limitations period to foreclose the lien.) I serve a copy of the lien on the developer (and others that may be listed in the Notice of Commencement) within 15 days of the recording of the lien. At least 5 days before filing suit to foreclose on the lien, I need to serve a Contractor’s Final Payment Affidavit on the developer.

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Example 2. I am a subcontractor on a private condominium project. I am owed $1,000,000 from the general contractor. Since I am not in privity with the owner/developer, I need to serve a Notice to Owner within 45 days of my initial furnishing on the owner and general contractor (and others listed in the Notice of Commencement). I need to record my construction lien within 90 days from my final furnishing and furnish a copy on the owner within 15 days from the recording of the lien. Also, since I am not in privity with the owner/developer, I do not need to serve a Contractor’s Final Payment Affidavit. I need to sue on the lien within 1 year from the recording of the lien (unless efforts are taken to shorten the limitation period).

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Payment Bonds (Private Projects) – There can be statutory payment bonds on private projects. The Notice of Commencement will attach a copy of the payment bond, if one exists. If one is not referenced and attached, then that means the claimant has lien rights. It is really important you know what you need to do to preserve your payment bond rights on private projects – they are not necessarily the same as preserving payment bond rights on public projects. Preserving your bond rights allows you to pursue your claim for nonpayment against a surety bond.

Example 3. I am a subcontractor on a private condominium project. I am owed $1,000,000 from the general contractor. I know from the Notice of Commencement that the general contractor furnished an unconditional payment bond. Since I am in privity with the general contractor, I do not need to serve a Notice of Intent to look to the Bond on the contractor. But, within 90 days of final furnishing, I need to serve the general contractor and payment bond surety with a Notice of Non-Payment. I then need to sue on the payment bond within 1 year from my final furnishing.

Payment Bonds (Public Projects)—There are statutory payment bonds on Florida public projects and Federal projects. There are different procedures to preserve rights depending on the type of public project and it is important to know what steps you need to take to preserve your rights. Preserving your bond rights allows you to pursue your claim for nonpayment against a surety bond.

Example 4. I am a subcontractor on a Florida school public project. I am owed $1,000,000 from the general contractor. I know that since I am in privity with the general contractor, I do not need to serve a Notice of Intent to look to the Bond on the contractor. I also know since I am in privity with the general contractor, I do not need to serve a Notice of Non-Payment on the general contractor and surety. (Note, this is different than if this were a private project). I need to sue on the payment bond within 1 year from my final furnishing.

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Example 5. I am a supplier to a subcontractor on a Florida school public project. I am owed $1,000,000 from the subcontractor. Since I am not in privity with the general contractor, I need to serve a Notice of Intent to look to the Bond within 45 days of my initial furnishing. Also, since I am not in privity with the general contractor, I need to serve a Notice of Non-Payment on the general contractor and surety within 90 days of my final furnishing. I need to sue on the payment bond within 1 year from my final furnishing.

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Example 6. I am a sub-subcontractor on an FDOT public transportation project. I am owed $1,000,000 from the subcontractor. Since I am not in privity of contract with the general contractor, I need to serve a Notice of Intent to look to the Bond on the general contractor within 90 days of my initial furnishing. (Note, this is different than other public projects.) Also, since I am not in privity with the general contractor, I need to serve a Notice of Non-Payment within 90 days of my final furnishing on the general contractor and surety. I then need to sue on the payment bond within 365 days of the final acceptance of the contract and work by the FDOT. (Note, this is different than other public projects.)

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Example 7. I am a subcontractor to a prime contractor on a federal project. I am owed $1,000,000 from the prime contractor. Since this is a federal project, there is no preliminary notice requirement. (Note, this is different than other public projects.) Since I am in privity with the general contractor, I do not need to serve a Notice of Non-payment on the prime contractor within 90 days of my final furnishing. I need to sue on the payment bond within 1 year from my final furnishing.

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Example 8. I am a supplier to a subcontractor on a federal project. I am owed $1,000,000 from the subcontractor. Since this is a federal project, there is no preliminary notice requirement. Also, since I am not in privity with the prime contractor, I need to serve a Notice of Non-Payment only on the prime contractor within 90 days of my final furnishing. (Note, this is different than other public projects.) I need to sue on the payment bond within 1 year from my final furnishing.

As reflected from the examples, preserving and perfecting construction lien and payment bond rights is nuanced and depends on the type of project. Know your rights. Be proactive when it comes to preserving and perfecting your rights. And, make sure to utilize the services of a construction attorney that can help you maximize your collection efforts correctly.

DURATION OF PUBLIC PAYMENT BOND = FULL TERM OF PUBLIC CONTRACT

Posted on August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 by Edward Garber

Florida Statute s. 255.05 governs public payment bond rights on Florida public construction projects (other than Florida Department of Transportation projects). This is an important statute for all that perform Florida public construction work! (Check out this article for more information on s. 255.05 and this chart summarizing steps required to preserve payment bond rights.) If you are subcontractor, sub-subcontractor or supplier on a Florida public construction project, you want to understand what you need do to preserve and perfect payment bond rights to secure any potential nonpayment. And, if you are a prime contractor that furnished a public payment bond, you will likely be indemnifying your payment bond surety with respect to any payment bond claim. You want to know those payment bond claims that are worth fighting and those that are worth spending the time and effort on the frontend to efficiently resolve because payment bond claims create a statutory basis to recover attorney’s fees.

The recent opinion in Maschmeyer Concrete Co. of Florida v. American Southern Ins. Co., 2016 WL 3746379 (M.D.Fla. 2016) serves as an example of a contested public payment bond dispute between a supplier and payment bond surety. In this matter, a prime contractor was awarded a concrete repair and construction contract from the City of Orlando in 2011. The City’s acceptance letter to the prime contractor stated that the contract was for one year but could be renewed upon mutual agreement as provided in the City’s solicitation upon entering into an amendment to the contract. The terms of the solicitation and contract allowed the City to renew the contract for four additional one-year terms.

Before the expiration of initial one-year term, the City sent an amendment to the prime contractor renewing the contract for an additional year. The prime contractor signed the amendment. The amendment required the contractor to submit a public (payment) bond, which the contractor furnished. The bond stated that it was for a period of one year from 12/1/12 through 11/30/13.

Before the expiration of the second one-year term, the City sent another renewal amendment to the prime contractor renewing the contract for an additional year. The prime contractor signed the amendment. An updated bond was never furnished.

Before the expiration of the third one-year term, the City sent another renewal amendment to the prime contractor renewing the contract for an additional year. The prime contractor signed the amendment. An updated bond was never furnished. During this renewal period, a supplier furnished materials to the prime contractor that was utilized in the concrete repair and restoration work. The prime contractor did not pay the supplier and the supplier initiated an action against the prime contractor’s public payment bond.

The surety argued that the supplier did NOT have payment bond rights because the supplier furnished materials after the expiration of the payment bond—after the11/30/13 duration listed in the bond. The supplier argued that any expiration or duration limitation in the payment bond was unenforceable under s. 255.05 since a public payment bond cannot expand or limit the effective duration of the bond. Fla. Stat. s. 255.05(e). But, what does “effective duration of the bond” mean? “The only reasonable interpretation of ‘effective duration’ of the Statutory [public ] Bond is a bond duration that corresponds with the full term of the Public Work Contract identified on the face of the Statutory Bond or incorporated by reference in the Statutory Bond.” Maschmeyer Concrete Co. of Florida, 2016 WL at *4.

Here, although the contract was for a one-year term, the terms of the contract / solicitation allowed it to be renewed an additional four years. Thus, the City renewing the contract through amendments was authorized pursuant to the very contract that was identified and incorporated into the public payment bond. The fact that the bond was never updated is of no moment because the bond legally had to remain in effect during the duration of the contract.

Under the surety’s argument, the supplier was s*** out of luck because the supplier furnished materials outside of the bond’s listed duration. Hence, the supplier was furnishing materials to a project where there was no bond to protect its financial interests. This gotcha-type argument does not seem reasonable. There was a bond in place because the City required a bond. Whether that bond was renewed or not should not make a difference because the contract was still in effect and the prime contractor was still performing under the contract after the listed duration in the bond. To punish a supplier because the base contract is still in effect and being performed makes no rationale sense. What does make sense, however, is that as long as a prime contractor is still performing base contract work, the public payment bond is still in effect to secure any potential nonpayment.

QUICK NOTE: TIMING TO SUE PUBLIC PAYMENT BOND FOR RETAINAGE ON PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Posted on April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 by Edward Garber

You are a subcontractor (or sub-subcontractor) on a public construction project. The general contractor has a public payment bond per Florida Statute s. 255.05. You finished your scope some time ago but you are still owed retainage. When do you sue for retainage? There is a statutory retainage exception that governs the timing of when to sue for retainage. Check out this article for the applicable statutory language regarding the retainage exception. Timing is important to ensure that you do not prematurely sue for retainage or, worse, sue for retaiange after the statute of limitations expired.

CHART SUMMARIZING ENFORCEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION LIEN AND PAYMENT BOND RIGHTS

Posted on December 30, 2014December 30, 2014 by Edward Garber

Previously, I included a chart that summarizes the preliminary notice requirements for construction liens and payment bonds in Florida. This chart focuses on steps a potential lienor / claimant must undertake to preserve lien or payment bond rights.

Now that the lienor / claimant preserved its rights to record a lien or pursue a claim against the payment bond, what are the next steps to undertake if in fact that lienor is owed money? To follow-up on this preliminary notice chart is a chart that summarizes these next steps of enforcing the lienor’s / claimant’s rights against the real property (in the case of a lien) or the payment bond.

[gview file=”https://floridaconstru.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/lien-chart.pdf”]

CHART SUMMARIZING PRELIMINARY NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR LIENS AND PAYMENT BONDS

Posted on December 16, 2014December 16, 2014 by Edward Garber

In previous articles, I discussed preliminary notice requirements to properly preserve construction liens and payment bonds on private projects, payment bonds on public projects, and public payments bonds for Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) projects. Now, how about a chart that assists in summarizing this information:

[ws_table id=”1″]

VENUE FOR PAYMENT BOND DISPUTES IN FLORIDA

Posted on July 9, 2013July 9, 2013 by Edward Garber

Two main Florida payment bond statutes are Florida Statute s. 713.23 (payment bonds for private projects) and Florida Statute s. 255.05 (payment bonds for Florida public projects-not federal projects). Both statutes prohibit a payment bond issued after October 1, 2012 from restricting venue. In other words, if the payment bond contains a venue provision after this date, it is not enforceable.

This prohibition is important because there are times where the project is located in a venue that is not where the subcontractor resides and/or is contrary to the venue provision in the subcontract (typically, a venue where the general contractor resides).

It is good practice for the general contractor to include in its subcontract a venue provision that applies to its surety such that the subcontractor must sue the payment bond in the same venue that governs the subcontract. While it is uncertain how the new prohibition from restricting venue in a payment bond will apply in this context, the counter-argument is that the payment bond is not restricting venue, rather the “negotiated” subcontract governs the venue of any and all disputes between the parties including claims against the general contractor’s surety (and the general contractor is indemnifying and defending the surety). Worst case scenario is that the venue provision is deemed inapplicable to the surety. However, courts do not favor splitting causes of action (due to, among other things, the concern for conflicting results over the same facts) and should not favor a subcontractor lawsuit against the general contractor in one venue and a simultaneous subcontractor lawsuit against the general contractor’s payment bond surety in another venue. Indeed, courts have refused to enforce venue provisions in subcontracts in order to avoid splitting of causes of action. See, e.g., Miller & Solomon General Contractors, Inc. v. Brennan’s Glass Co., Inc., 837 So.2d 1182 (2003) (refusing to enforce subcontract venue provision when action as to lien transfer bond was filed in correct venue). Including a venue provision that also covers claims against the payment bond surety is useful in the event the general contractor wants to countersue the subcontractor or simply wants to create an argument that its subcontractor disputes should be confined to its preferred venue versus the subcontractor’s preferred venue.

On the other hand, there are situations where a subcontractor may not want to sue the general contractor and strategically prefers to just sue the payment bond surety. One situation may be the subcontractor knows the general contractor was not paid and the subcontract contains a pay-when-paid provision which would be enforceable as to the general contractor, but not against the payment bond surety. Another situation may be due to the venue provision in the subcontract; the subcontractor prefers to sue in a venue outside of the venue provision in the subcontract and has a better argument around the venue provision if it does not join the general contractor. There is caselaw that supports an argument to sue a payment bond surety in a venue where the subcontractor (lienor) resides that, depending on the dispute, could be appealing to the subcontractor. See, e.g., American Insurance Co. v. Joyner Electric, Inc., 618 So.2d 799 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (finding that action under s. 255.05 public payment bond was proper where lienor / subcontractor resided); Coordinated Constructors v. Florida Fill, Inc., 387 So.2d 1006 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980) (finding that venue was proper under s. 713.23 private payment bond action where lienor / supplier resided).

Venue is a pretty heavily litigated procedural strategic issue. Just like any dispute, venue as to a payment bond claim should not be ignored and should absolutely be considered at the onset of a dispute.

For more information on venue provisions, please see:

https://floridaconstru.wpengine.com/venue-provisions-read-what-you-sign/

and

https://floridaconstru.wpengine.com/subcontractors-read-and-understand-the-implications-of-venue-provisions/

RECOVERING DELAY RELATED DAMAGES FROM PUBLIC PAYMENT BOND

Posted on June 23, 2013June 23, 2013 by Edward Garber

One of the advantages to subcontractors of public payment bonds issued under the Federal Miller Act (or even the Little Miller Act) is that there is an argument for the recovery of unexecuted change orders and, and as it particularly pertains to this article, impact-related costs (whether delay or inefficiency / lost productivity). This should not be overlooked although language in the governing subcontract, etc. could dilute these arguments. However, having the argument and opportunity to recover impact-related costs from a payment bond is a huge upside.

If a subcontractor is owed money for inefficiency or delay, etc., and there is a public payment bond in place, it should not automatically forego pursuing these claims against the bond. Unlike a lien where these types of costs / damages are not lienable and could render an otherwise valid lien fraudulent in Florida, these are damages that could be pursued against a public payment bond. The subcontractor should carefully craft its argument in furtherance of maximizing its best chance to recover these types of damages.

For example, in the opinion of Fisk Elec. Co. v. Travelers Cas. and Sur. Co., 2009 WL 196032 (S.D.Fla. 2009), a subcontractor sought inefficiency / lost productivity damages against a payment bond surety that appeared to be issued under Florida Statute s. 255.05 (also known as Florida’s Little Miller Act). The payment bond surety moved to dismiss the subcontractor’s complaint arguing that these types of damages are not recoverable under the bond. The Southern District, relying on federal cases interpreting the Federal Miller Act, found that a subcontractor can pursue such damages against the payment bond for its out-of-pocket unreimbursed expenses. See, e.g, U.S. f/u/b/o Pertun Const. Co. v. Harvesters Group, Inc., 918 F.2d 915, 918 (11th Cir. 1990) (finding that subcontractor could recover under Federal Miller Act bond for out-of-pocket expenses resulting from prime contractor’s delay).

To maximize the recoverability for impact-related costs, the costs should be supportable costs that the subcontractor actually incurred in the performance of its contract work. Organizing the back-up supporting these costs and theory of the impact is critical and the subcontractor looking to pursue these costs from a public payment bond should consult counsel to best position its arguments to support recovery. On the other hand, the prime contractor should ensure that its subcontract has contractual provisions that will make it challenging and provide hurdles for the subcontractor to recover such damages.