Texas Construction Law Blog

With material cost volatility in the current market, the topic of price escalation clauses is more prevalent. Some material costs are up and other costs are now down. Traditional lump sum contract structures do not take into account price escalation or de-escalation; whereas cost plus structures entirely and ...

It’s 3:00 p.m. on a Friday and you’ve been tasked with reviewing a construction contract by close of business. It’s long, and you only have time to review the most important terms. Which ones do you choose?

Divide and Conquer

Contract terms can be divided into three general categories of terms. There are ...

August through October marks the peak of hurricane season along the Texas Gulf Coast. Nearly every year, at least some part of the Texas coast feels the impact of a named storm during these months, either by flood, wind, rain, or all three. The resulting damage can create an immediate and dramatic need for contractors ...

Excluding consequential damages has become a regular part of negotiating engineering and construction contracts. A typical clause excludes recovery of indirect, exemplary, and consequential damages for both parties. Beyond these broad categories, there is often little negotiation as to the specific types of ...

Most sports fans are familiar with the concept of home field advantage — the idea that the home team gains an advantage over the visiting team because it is playing in familiar facilities, does not have to travel long distances before the game, and has the full depth and breadth of its local community’s support ...

A chronic issue in Texas law is defining when representations made by a “seller” prior to contract execution bind the seller, notwithstanding contract language that purports to disclaim or otherwise limit the “buyer’s” right to hold the seller responsible for the pre-contract representations ...

Less than a year ago, Texas Senate Bill 219, addressing liability for construction defects due to defects in design documents, went into effect and was codified as Chapter 59 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code. Where the statute applies, it generally provides that contractors do not bear the risk of design ...

On March 31, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued an important decision regarding federal courts’ subject matter jurisdiction to confirm, vacate, or modify arbitral awards under Sections 9 and 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). The issue was whether, in such proceedings, courts can use a ...

Earlier this month, our firm was well-represented at the 35^th Annual Construction Law Conference in San Antonio, Texas. As always, the conference presented great opportunities to visit with colleagues and other construction law practitioners throughout Texas, meet new friends, and to learn of recent legal ...

On February 17, 2022, the Court of Appeals in El Paso, Texas reversed a summary judgment in favor of a mineral lien subcontractor claimant because, at the time the lien was filed, nothing further was owed under the prime agreement (Pearl Res. Operating Co. LLC v. Transcon Capital, LLC, No. 08-19-00288-CV, 2022 WL ...