Florida Construction Lawyer Blog

The 10th edition of "The Florida Construction Lien Law, an Overview" by the firm's Steven M. Siegfried and Nicholas D. Siegfried has now been published and become available. Originally published in 1986 to provide lienors in Florida with important information to comply with the state's complicated lien statute, the book has become a valuable resource for all of the participants in the construction process, including lenders, owners, design professionals, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and attorneys. It includes a complete copy of the Florida lien statute and all of the forms that are needed to comply with the lien law.

The book is priced at $90, and orders can be placed via e-mail at info@siegfriedlaw.com or by calling us at 1-800-737-1390.

A recent ruling by the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court's decision that a subcontractor used delay tactics in its dispute with the general contractor for a construction project at a Miami Beach elementary school. The appellate panel confirmed the trial court's decision that the subcontractor had been properly terminated.

The case stemmed from a breach-of-contract action filed by Mario's Enterprises Painting and Wallcovering, Inc. ("Mario's") against Veitia Padron, Inc., the general contractor which had contracted Mario's as a painting subcontractor for renovations at the Feinberg Fisher K-8 Center school in Miami Beach. Once the painting work began at the school, lead was discovered in the building that was being painted, and the general contractor notified the subcontractor of several deficiencies in its work. However, the subcontractor refused to return to the school to complete its work until the lead report on the entire project was completed, even though the tested levels in the building that had been painted were well below acceptable exposure limits.

The general contractor notified the painter that if it did not return to the jobsite to continue working within 72 hours, the company would hire a replacement painting subcontractor to complete the project. After the painting was completed by the new subcontractor, Mario's sued the general contractor for breach of contract. The trial court found in favor of Veitia Padron, and the appellate panel upheld the decision and noted in its ruling that "there is sufficient competent evidence in the form of correspondence and witness testimony in the record to uphold the trial court's findings that the painter's actions were essentially delay tactics and that it was properly terminated."

This ruling reaffirms that the courts will not tolerate delay tactics by subcontractors after they are notified of deficiencies in their work and a dispute arises. Our attorneys who focus on construction law matters will continue to monitor and write about court decisions affecting the construction industry in Florida, and we encourage industry members to submit their e-mail address in the box on the right in order to automatically receive all of our blog posts.

Division 9 is the Specialty Trade Contractors and Suppliers division. We have a great group that enjoys each other's company and shares timely and valuable information useful to our law practices. Here are some of the things we have been up to in recent months and the things we plan to do this season.

Social Media & Division 9

Division 9 is now on LinkedIn! In order to facilitate communication between Division 9 members, Division 9 has created a LinkedIn Group Page. This LinkedIn Group Page will allow Division 9 members to receive updates of upcoming events and opportunities. It will also allow members to post topics, questions or issues for which other members can respond and exchange ideas, such as legal research issues, expert witness recommendations, mediator/arbitrator experiences, etc. Click here to join us on LinkedIn, or conduct a group search for "Division 9".

Recent Programs

Division 9 has enjoyed the benefit of some great educational programs within its monthly conference calls and Division 9 breakfast meetings. In December, 2010, John F. Ashley of Encore Discovery Solutions gave a very informative seminar on what every practitioner should expect when it comes to electronic discovery. The focus was on how to manage e-discovery for smaller cases or smaller clients. In January, at the Forum's Mid-Winter meeting in New York City, Division 9 teamed up with Division 11/Corporate Counsel to host a breakfast program on "Subcontractor Pass Through Claims." The program was moderated by Aaron Silberman, immediate past chair of Division 9. Most recently, at the February conference call, Bob Cox spoke about "Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Subcontractors." BIM is a cutting edge technology rapidly gaining currency in the construction industry. BIM presents a new set of legal issues to consider for our clients.

Upcoming Programs

Division 9 is gearing up to produce a breakfast program with Division 1/Dispute Avoidance and Resolution called "Desperate Litigation Measures for Desperate Times." This program will take place at the Forum's Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona in April. It will surely be a very entertaining session as the panelists will be discussing new and inventive claims being brought by practitioners in this economic climate. For our March teleconference, we plan to hear from the American Subcontractors Association concerning hot pending legislation and recent cases affecting subcontractors.

New Book Project

Division 9 is embarking on a book project concerning legal principles involving subcontracting. The project is still being organized and this is the perfect time for you to get involved. Please e-mail Aaron Silberman, asilberman@rjo.com, or Joe Kovars, jckovars@ober.com, to express your interest.

Join Us

To join Division 9/Specialty Trade Contractors and Suppliers, simply send an e-mail to the Chair, Joe Kovars, jckovars@ober.com. See for yourself why our motto is "Things are Fine in Division 9"!