K&R

Please read this paragraph converning Progress Payments and give me your immediate reaction. It was NOT written by me, It is not ours, we are negotiating terms and this is his original offer.

11.1 Based upon applications for payment submitted to the Contractor by the Subcontractor corresponding to applications for payment submitted by the Contractor to the Owner or Architect, and certificates issued by the owner or Architect, the Contractor shall make progress payments on account of the Subcontract Sum to the Subcontractor as provided below and elsewhere in the subcontract documents. Unless the Contractor provides the Owner with a payment bond in the full penal sum of the Contract Sum, payments received by the Contractor and Subcontractor shall be held for Work properly performed by their contractors and suppliers who perfomred Work or furnished materials, or both, under contract with the Contractor or Subcontractor for which payment was made to the Contractor by the Owner or to the Subcontractor by the Contractor as applicable.

Can anyone help us decifer this round of bull that shows up in our latest contract? Looks like this one will have to go out to our lawyer.

K&R

Based on the views vs posts I think everyone must agree about the lawyer.

JohnJ0906

Is that English?

K&R

Im not sure. That is just 1 of the conditions. I think there is another one saying that one is not anygood.

MDShunk

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

Holy smokes! I didn't know that Dr.Suess wrote contracts too!

I think I can decode it a little bit, but you'll naturally want to spend the couple sheckels to have your lawyer eyeball this.

Based upon applications for payment submitted to the Contractor by the Subcontractor corresponding to applications for payment submitted by the Contractor to the Owner or Architect, and certificates issued by the owner or Architect, the Contractor shall make progress payments on account of the Subcontract Sum to the Subcontractor as provided below and elsewhere in the subcontract documents.

What I think this is saying is that when you say you want your draw (application for payment), as long as that draw is in line with the contracts everyone has with everyone else, you'll get your draw.

Unless the Contractor provides the Owner with a payment bond in the full penal sum of the Contract Sum, payments received by the Contractor and Subcontractor shall be held for Work properly performed by their contractors and suppliers who perfomred Work or furnished materials, or both, under contract with the Contractor or Subcontractor for which payment was made to the Contractor by the Owner or to the Subcontractor by the Contractor as applicable.

What I think that is saying is that if the contractor doesn't have the right bond in place, nobody's getting paid until the job is done. If that's true, you need to make sure the contractor has that payment bond in place. Seems like you should ask for a copy of that so you're sure you'll get paid. I think this is to keep the contractor from stealing the owner's money and not paying the subs. They want him to have a payment bond to assure subs get paid.

Pinhead

I'd be willing to bet this is a residential job. In the last 15 years there's been an alarming increase in the number of General Contractors who craft their own contracts, contracts that shift all their liabilities onto their subs.

I read a contract a few months ago that said if after I rough wired the house, and vandals came in the night and removed all the wiring, I'd be required to reinstall at no additional cost. That and about a hundred other contract clauses caused me to tell the GC "Thanks but no thanks".

I'm seeing more and more contracts like this, one contract stipulated that the subs would be billed for use of the dumpster and portable toilet...

General Contractors stay up late at night thinking of ways to rip off sub contractors, it's up to us to always exercise caution when dealing with General Contractors.

Louieb

MD, Did you use your decoder ring? I read run away!