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Can Construction Estimating Software Help You Win Bids?

On May 7, 2012 Author By Seth Smiley
       

Here at ConstructionLawMonitor.com, I often get industry experts who would like my readers to hear their opinions or help spread the word on what is going on in the construction industry. Software Adviceis a company who helps those in selected industries choose the best software for the business. Statistics are always a great way to show if what you are doing is correct and who all it is affecting. Below is a write up from Derek Singleton at Software Advice regarding its Construction Estimating survey. The idea of estimating is to win bids at a price that will make money for the construction company. Software Advice surveyed the industry and their findings are indicated below:

Guest Post: Derek Singleton, ERP Analyst, Software Advice

“At Software Advice, we spend a lot of time reviewing construction software of every variety. While we’re well-versed in the promised benefits of various systems, we’re always interested to know whether those benefits are realized by companies. Toward that end, we decided to survey the construction estimating industry to find out whether estimating software actually helps companies win bids.

To get responses, we enlisted the help of everyone from construction bloggers to LinkedIn group admins and construction associations. Ultimately, we came up with a set of benchmark findings that will allow estimators to compare themselves against industry standards.

More than 100 companies responded to the survey and shared their thoughts on how to effectively estimate. The companies that responded to the survey represent a variety of trades and company sizes.

While the types and sizes of construction companies participating in the survey varied, there were a few commonalities between companies and how they estimated their jobs. For instance, while the jury is still out as to whether spreadsheets are a good method of estimating, a majority of companies that use an estimating system found that the software helped them perform better estimates.

Of course, as one participant noted, it’s possible that the people who use estimating software are more meticulous in their data entry by nature. However the strong correlation between estimating software and effectiveness suggests that having an automated system at hand improves your ability to estimate.

There were also some interesting findings about how accurate your estimating data is and the method used. As an example, participants that use an estimating program reported that they underbid projects only 5 percent of the time. Meanwhile, companies that rely on spreadsheets report that they underbid roughly 15 percent of the time.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the results of our survey, please visit our website where we are hosting the results at: 2012 ConstructionEstimatingBenchmarkReport.

It’d be great if you can share your thoughts on whether these findings match your own experience as well. Also, if you have a tip to offer others in the industry, please share that as well.”

Posted in:    Bidding, California, Construction Contracts, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington   /  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,   /   Leave a comment

Around the Web: New Orleans Receives $40 million FEMA Grant

On May 5, 2012 Author By Seth Smiley
       

Guest Post: Sarah Smith – legal assistant at Wolfe Law Group, LLC.

It’s been seven years since devastating Hurricane Katrina destructed the City of New Orleans, and in that time the city has joined together to move forward in a positive direction to help rebuild the historical attraction. The pride and persistence of the residents have kept the city alive, and their determination has not gone unnoticed. FEMA has granted New Orleans $40 million to continue its transformation to a restored city. The grant has been allocated towards roadways in New Orleans and surrounding areas, New Orleans Museum of Art, LSPCA, Youth City Center, LSU Health Sciences Center, and LSU School of Dentistry. The bulk of the grant will go towards the Morris F.X. Jeff Municipal Auditorium in which significant damage to the electrical and mechanical systems, floors, walls, and seats will be repaired.  This city has proven to stay confident and resilient through difficult times, and such a grant will add to the city’s positive focus. If you would like to find more information about the breakdown of allocations, check out Nola.com’s article.

Posted in:    Around The Web, Construction Contracts, Construction News, Louisiana, Uncategorized   /  Tags: , , , , ,   /   Leave a comment

Eviction – Get Out Of My Property!

On May 2, 2012 Author By Seth Smiley
       

Here in Louisiana as is the case in many states there is no “self-help” with regard to Landlords evicting an unworthy, lease breaching tenant. Evictions can be a prickly subject and even more difficult when you have a tenant who will simply not vacate the property. When it comes to commercial property and leases, there are very strict rules that must be followed in order to have a tenant kicked out.

Eviction proceedings are ones that are considered summary proceedings here in Louisiana. These are ones that can be conducted much faster than an ordinary proceeding. See La C.C.P. art. 2591. Unfortunately this is not always the case and the Judge may use his discretion to retard the progress of the action.

Depending on the type of lease that Landlord and Tenant will determine how the lease may be terminated and eviction proceeding started. Termination of a lease is governed by La C.C.P. art. 4701 et seq. A helpful aspect for a Landlord to put into his lease, is that La C.C.P. art. 4701 notice is waived, therefore the Landlord will be able to institute eviction proceedings immediately upon default or termination of the lease.

The law has specific definitions for all the parties involved with a lease and eviction. These definitions are spelled out in the code at La C.C.P. art 4704. Terms such as Lease, Lessee, Lessor, Occupant, Owner and Premises are literally spelled out by the code. This is helpful to determine who the parties are.

If the Landlord is awarded possession of the premises by a court, and the tenant does not remove itself from the premises, then a Warrant will be issued to have the sheriff remove the tenant from the premises. This is a very serious penalty. See La C.C.P. arts 4731 and 4733 for more on this procedure.

Landlord / Tenant relationships can be very frictional at times. Most of the time the parties get along and there are not issues. In the small majority of the time where there are disputes, the lease will control. Further, the eviction proceeding is where the parties will have their day in court. I have dealt with a number of lease disputes here recently, and none are easy by the time they get to me. Its important to have a good working lease and take into account the rules to get the tenant out.

Posted in:    Collections, Disputes, Litigation, Louisiana, Uncategorized   /  Tags: , , , , , ,   /   1 Comment

Sworn Statement of Amount Due – Louisiana’s Public Lien

On April 17, 2012 Author By Seth Smiley
       

Here at Wolfe Law Group, I have been blogging a lot lately on liens for both public and private projects (See other posts here). Anytime a property is owned by and arm of the state then you are dealing with a public project. Although, this seems simple, many contractors do not always see the connection. The reason why so many disputes are happening now is because public projects have dominated in the years of the poor economy. Contractors on these projects need to know the rules so that they can get paid. (see La. R.S. §38:2241 et seq.)

Since the state owns the land, there are no security devices, such as a lien that can attach to the land and call for its foreclosure in the event of default or non-payment. Therefore the state has come up with its own security device to give contractors and laborers a way to collect when not receiving payment.  Here we have the Louisiana coined term: Sworn Statement of Amount Due. La. R.S. §38:2242. This document needs to be filed by the subcontractor or laborer within 45 days of when the work was accepted by the government body overseeing the project. Id.

One way for a contractor who has a sub on any tier below it to cancel the Sworn Statement of Amount Due filed, is to “bond off” the lien. La R.S. §38:2242.2. This mechanism allows for the higher tier contractor to provide security or cash at an amount 125% of the total lien. Id. At this juncture the property will be clear but there will be evidence of the bonded off lien still held with the parish mortgage office. This is pretty common practice so that higher tier companies keep the bond free while settling disputes with subs.

If at the end of the 45 day window from the state agency signing off on full completion of the project there are still any claims remaining as unpaid, then the state, claimants, or contractors may file a concursus proceeding to have the funds distributed into the registry of the court so that the parties can fight about who deserves the funds. La R.S. §38:2243. Any party may file this action, and its a very powerful tool. This is why many of the contractors will use the mechanism to “bond off” the claims, so as to prevent this process.

Finally, every parties favorite section is where attorney fees are awarded. In the Public Works Act, by statute attorney fees are permissible. This gives all parties the confidence to fight thinking that they will recover the fees. Unfortunately, recovery of attorney fees is still a difficult chore even when there is a statute. Here, La R.S. §38:2246 allows for attorney fees to any claimant who timely and properly filed its claim and recovers the full amount of the claim asserted. The reason for the emphasis in the proceeding sentence, is due to the difficulty of getting exactly what you swore was due. Claimants should be as accurate as possible when asserting claims, otherwise this statute will not apply.

The above are just a few of the many nuances contained and embedded in the Louisiana Public Works Act. Each step of the process should be carefully traversed so that the contractor does not lose rights to collect if/when the general contractor or public entity runs out of funding.

Posted in:    About Our Services, Common Topics, Construction Contracts, Filing Requirements, Litigation, Louisiana, Regulations, State & Federal Contracting, State Bond Claims   /  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   /   Leave a comment

Construction Lien Removal Suit in Louisiana

On April 5, 2012 Author By Seth Smiley
       

Attention all home owners or property owners, there is only one surefire way to have that annoying illegal lien (in Louisiana called a statement of claim and privilege) removed from the title of your property, a Mandamus action. In Louisiana and other states, a Mandamus can be used for a number of things (listed out in La R.S. §44:114) and it is a summary proceeding, meaning that it should go faster than ordinary litigation.

The Louisiana Private Works Act codified in La. R.S. §9:4801 et seq., is the origin of the rules which govern construction liens for private projects in this state. The specific statue that allows for an individual to request a Court to order the Clerk of Court to cancel a lien is La. R.S. §9:4833. The statute reads in pertinent part:

If a statement of claim or privilege is improperly filed or if the claim or privilege preserved by the filing of a statement of claim or privilege is extinguished, an owner or other interested person may require the person who has filed a statement of the claim or privilege to give a written request for cancellation in the manner provided by law directing the recorder of mortgages to cancel the statement of claim or privilege from his records.” La. R.S. §9:4833(A).

The best part about this statute is that if all of the proper notice requirements are followed and the illegal lien is not removed from the mortgage records by other means than this Mandamus proceeding, the property owner who brings the Mandamus suit is entitled to attorney fees and costs. This is huge because, this type of proceeding can cost a homeowner thousands just in legal fees. Here at Wolfe Law Group, we charge a flat rate of $3,500 for this type of proceeding, which covers all things from notices, to the actual Mandamus suit, to the trial.

Liens can be very technical and there are many instances where the letter of the law is not followed. In those instances, an owner can have the lien removed and even against the will of the party who filed the lien. As a contractor, filing a lien is very important to preserve rights against parties it did not contract with who may be liable for payment. Here at Wolfe Law Group we file liens all the time, but if your are like most contractors, funds are short and hiring an attorney can be too costly. Companies like Zlien.com are excellent resources for all things related to liens. Fortunately for lawyers and unfortunately for services like Zlien.com, enforcement of a lien and/or a Mandamus suit for removal of an illegal lien can only be filed by an attorney (or individual if self represented). I recently posted a Petition for Mandamus recently drafted and filed by Wolfe Law Group on JDSupra.com.

Bottom line: owners should file suit to have illegal liens removed from the mortgage records. If not then selling or refinancing the property will be impossible with the cloudy title. If you file suit and receive a judgment then you will be entitled to attorney fees and costs, which are provided by statute.

Posted in:    About Our Services, Construction News, Damages, Dispute A Lien, Litigation, Louisiana, Mechanics Lien   /  Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,   /   Leave a comment
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