Tag Archives: Miller Act

GENERAL CONTRACTOR INTERVENING TO COMPEL ARBITRATION PER THE SUBCONTRACT

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It is not uncommon that a general contractor’s subcontract will include an arbitration provision.  Or it will allow the general contractor to select binding arbitration as the method to resolve disputes at the general contractor’s SOLE OPTION.   A general contractor’s subcontract should absolutely give the general contractor this important right.  (Keep this in mind when drafting dispute resolution provisions for a general contractor.)

It is also not uncommon for a subcontractor the sue a general contractor’s payment bond surety, and NOT the general contractor.  One reason to do this is to create an argument to avoid the dispute resolution provision in the subcontract.  (Another reason is to avoid any pay-if-paid defense.)  When this occurs, a general contractor may still want to arbitrate the subcontractor’s payment bond dispute and a way to do so is for the general intervene in the lawsuit and move to compel arbitration. Sometimes, it is even practical for the general contractor to immediately initiate the arbitration process against the subcontractor, particularly if the general contractor wants to assert a counterclaim, so that the motion to compel is supported by the formal demand for arbitration (and filed with the American Arbitration Association or other body administering the arbitration).  I have done this on a number of occasions.

By way of example, in U.S. f/u/b/o American Electric Co., LLC, 2021 WL 5280665 (M.D.Fla. 2021), the general contractor hired a subcontractor for a federal construction project.  The subcontract included a binding arbitration provision.

As required, the general contractor had a Miller Act payment bond.  The subcontractor filed a Miller Act payment bond lawsuit in federal district court against the payment bond surety.  The general contractor moved to intervene in the lawsuit to compel arbitration of the dispute and stay the dispute pending the outcome of arbitration.  The general contractor also claimed that if arbitration is not compelled, it will assert a counterclaim against the subcontractor.  The district court agreed that that the general contractor was entitled to permissively intervene under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure:

[The general contractor] and [subcontractor] are the parties to the Subcontract, and, pursuant to the Payment Bond, [the general contractor] is jointly and severally liable for any sum the Court may find the Surety Defendants owe to [the subcontractor].  Under the circumstances similar to those presented in this action, other courts have found that the intervening general contractor’s claims share common questions of law or fact with the subcontractor’s suit against the general contractor’s surety. The Court reaches the same conclusion here.  [The general contractor’s] claims and defenses share common questions of law and fact with the [payment bond] action pending, and, thus, [the general contractor] has shown that its interest is based on the action pending before the Court.

American Electric Company, supra, at *3 (internal citations omitted).

Additionally, the district court further found that the subcontractor would not be prejudiced by staying the action and compelling arbitration:

Here, all considerations weigh in favor of permitting [the general contractor] to intervene. First, allowing [the general contractor] to intervene in this action will further judicial economy by preventing a multiplicity of suits and the risk of inconsistent results. If denied intervention, [the general contractor] could still initiate an arbitration action or a separate lawsuit against [the subcontractor] on the underlying contract dispute. Similarly, if [the general contractor] is barred from intervening and [the subcontractor] recovers against the Surety Defendants, the Surety Defendants may file a separate action for indemnity against [the general contractor]. These various proceedings would waste resources dealing with the same dispute and would present the untenable risk of inconsistent results.

American Electric Company, supra, at *5 (internal citations omitted).

 

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.

 

UNDERSTAND THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROVISION YOU ARE AGREEING TO

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When negotiating a contract, do not overlook the dispute resolution provision.  It is one of the more important provisions in your construction contract.   This provision will come into play and have ramifications if there is a dispute, which is certainly not uncommon on a construction project.

In dispute resolution provisions in subcontracts on federal projects, it is not unusual for that provision to include language that requires the subcontractor to STAY any dispute that concerns actions or inactions of the owner pending the resolution of any dispute between the owner and prime contractor relating to that action or inaction.   A provision to this effect should be included for the benefit of the prime contractor.  For instance, the provision may say the subcontractor agrees to stay any such claim against the prime contractor or prime contractor’s surety pending the outcome of any pass-through claim (or otherwise) submitted under the Contract Disputes Act.

For example, in U.S.A. f/u/b/o Ballard Marine Construction, LLC v. Nova Group, Inc., 2021 WL 3174799 (W.D. Wash. 2021), a prime contractor hired a subcontractor to perform a scope of work at a naval shipyard.  A differing site condition was encountered and the subcontractor was directed to continue performance and track its costs.  The subcontractor completed its work and submitted its approximate $13 Million claim from the prime contractor and its Miller Act payment bond surety.  The prime contractor and surety refused to pay until the resolution of the pass-through differing site conditions claim to the federal government.  The prime contractor had submitted a claim under the Contract Disputes Act to the federal government.  The subcontractor was not interested in waiting until the resolution of the Contract Disputes Act claim and filed suit against the prime contractor and Miller Act payment bond surety.  The prime contractor and surety moved to stay pending the outcome of the Contract Dispute Acts claim.  The trial court agreed with the prime contractor explaining, “It is not fruitful to require [the prime contractor] to fend off [the subcontractor’s] claim against it, and the [Miller Act] sureties [the prime contractor] agreed to indemnify, while simultaneously advancing [the subcontractor’s] claim for additional payment from the government through the ongoing CDA process.  [The subcontractor] agreed to such a dispute resolution procedure, and it does not claim that the increased costs were [the prime contractor’s] fault.”  Nova Group, supra, at *8.

A subcontractor with such a provision is still required to timely perfect and preserve its rights by timely filing a lawsuit against the Miller Act payment bond surety.  However, the subcontractor is now beholden to the Contract Dispute Act procedure which requires an initial decision by the contracting officer and, then, certain appeal rights.   This is not what the subcontractor wanted because it elongates any potential resolution.  However, this is what the subcontractor agreed to in the dispute resolution provision and benefits the prime contractor so that it does not have to fight the fight on two fronts, particularly when it is supporting the pass-through claim under the Contract Disputes Act claim process.

Remember, the dispute resolution provision in your contract is important and should not be overlooked; the provision has ramifications as shown in the above case!

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.

 

NOT ALL WORK IS COVERED UNDER THE FEDERAL MILLLER ACT

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The recent opinion out of the Eastern District Court of Virginia, Dickson v. Forney Enterprises, Inc., 2021 WL 1536574 (E.D.Virginia 2021),  demonstrates that the federal Miller Act is not designed to protect ALL that perform work on a federal construction project.   This is because NOT ALL work is covered under the Miller Act.

In this case, a professional engineer was subcontracted by a prime contractor to serve on site in a project management / superintendent capacity.  The prime contractor’s scope of work was completed by January 31, 2019.  However, the prime contractor was still required to inventory certain materials on site, which was performed by the engineer.  The engineer claimed it was owed in excess of $400,000 and filed a Miller Act payment bond lawsuit on February 5, 2020 (more than a year after the project was completed).

There are two immediate questions that pop out that this court deal with: (1) are the type of project management / superintendent-type services the engineer performed covered under the Miller Act; and 2) did the engineer timely file the Miller Act payment bond lawsuit within the statute of limitations if the project was completed more than a year prior to the engineer filing suit.   Both answers resulted in a resounding No!

MILLER ACT PROTECTS LABOR

The Miller Act protects labor, and while “labor” is not a defined term under the Miller Act, “courts have limited the term to refer only to physical toil or manual labor.” Dickson, supra, at *2.   Supervisory work is generally not considered labor unless it also includes manual labor.  Id.   “[C]lerical or administrative tasks [] even if performed at the job site, do not involve the physical toil or manual work necessary to bring them within the scope of the Miller Act.” Id. (citation omitted).

Here, the engineer was hired in a management and superintendent (supervisor) capacity.  He was subcontracted to oversee manual labor.  Any manual labor, to the extent there was any such as field measurement or inspections performed by the engineer, were incidental to his supervisory duties and “[t]aking field measurements and inspecting materials…were administrative tasks incidental to his role as project manager….[and] they do not rise to the level of physical toil necessary to recover under the Miller Act.” Dickson, supra, at *2 (citations omitted).

The type of work the engineer performed and sought payment for was NOT work covered under the Miller Act.

MILLER ACT STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

The Miller Act requires a plaintiff to file suit “no later than one year after the day on which the last of the labor was performed or material was supplied” by the plaintiff. Dickson, supra, at *3 citing 40 U.S.C. s. 3133(b)(4).

Here, the project was concluded as late as January 31, 2019.  “Work performed after the termination of the prime contract, like the inventory [the engineer] conducted February 8, 2019 is a post-project task and thus not recoverable under the Miller Act.” Dickson, supra, at *3.

Putting aside that inventory control would be deemed a clerical task and not “labor” covered under the Miller Act, the engineer cannot extend the one-year statute of limitations beyond one-year after the termination / completion of the project.  Id.

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.

 

IS A MILLER ACT PAYMENT BOND SURETY BOUND BY A DEFAULT OR DEFAULT JUDGMENT AGAINST ITS PRINCIPAL?

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Maguire-O’Hara Construction, Inc. v. Cool Roofing Systems, Inc., 2020 WL 6532852 (W.D. Oklahoma 2020) is an interesting case dealing with suretyship law and the subject of whether a Miller Act payment bond surety is bound by a default or default judgment against its prime contractor (bond principal).

In this case, a subcontractor sued a prime contractor for breach of contract and the contractor’s Miller Act payment bond surety for a breach of the payment bond.  The prime contractor did not respond to the lawsuit and the subcontractor obtained a default against the contractor.  The Miller Act payment bond surety did engage counsel to defend itself in the dispute.  Prior to trial, the subcontractor moved in limine to preclude the surety from raising defenses at trial under the subcontract because a default was entered against the prime contractor.  The subcontractor argued that the surety should be bound by the default and, therefore, precluded from raising liability defenses under the subcontract.  Such a ruling would leave the surety no defenses disputing liability at trial.

[A] suretys’ liability under the Miller Act coincides with that of the general contractor, its principal.  Accordingly, a surety [can] plead any defenses available to its principal but [can]not make a defense that could not be made by its principal.

Maguire-O’Hara Construction, supra, at *2 (internal citations and quotations omitted).

Here, the trial court held that a default against the prime contractor does not preclude its payment bond surety from raising the liability defenses of the prime contractor (the principal of the bond).  In reaching this decision, though, the trial court indicated this ruling may have likely been different if a judgment, such as a default final judgment, had been entered against the prime contractor.   The trial court cited the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Drill South, Inc. v. International Fidelity Ins. Co., 234 F.3d 1232 (11th Cir. 2020) where the appellate court affirmed a judgment against the surety because the surety was bound by the default judgment against the prime contractor.

To the extent that [the Miller Act payment bond surety] argues that it had no obligation to defend the action against [the prime contractor], we are not persuaded. We believe the issue is not whether the Agreement of Indemnity imposed an obligation on [the surety] to defend [the prime contractor], but whether it conferred a right to defend. The law requires only that a surety have notice and an opportunity to defend before it is bound by a judgment against its principal. We believe [the surety] had this right and opportunity, and simply chose, for whatever reason, not to exercise its right.

[The surety] argues, however, that when a surety and principal are sued in the same action, and the surety answers  and defends on its own behalf, the surety is not bound by a default judgment entered against the surety’s principal. Although we recognize the existence of authority supporting [the surety’s] position, those cases are not binding on this Court; nor do we find their reasoning persuasive.

We believe that the general rule that a surety is bound by a judgment entered against its principal when the surety had both notice and opportunity to defend applies whether the principal and surety are sued in the same action or in separate actions.

Drill South, 234 F.3d at 1237-1237.

 

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.

 

THINK TWICE BEFORE HEDGING A POSITION OR DEFENSE ON A SPECULATIVE EVENT OR OCCURRENCE

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Sometimes, hedging a position on a potential occurrence is not prudent.  Stated differently, hedging a position on a contingent event is not the right course of action.  The reason being is that a potential occurrence or contingent event is SPECULATIVE.   The occurrence or event may not take place and, even if it does take place, the impact is unknown.

An example of hedging a defense on such a potential occurrence or contingent event can be found in a construction dispute involving a federal project out of the Eastern District of Virginia,  U.S. f/u/b/o Champco, Inc. v. Arch Insurance Co., 2020 WL 1644565 (E.D.Va. 2020). In this case, the prime contractor hired a subcontractor to perform electrical work, under one subcontract, and install a security system, under a separate subcontract.  The subcontractor claimed it was owed money under the two subcontracts and instituted a lawsuit against the prime contractor’s Miller Act payment bond.  The prime contractor had issued the subcontractor an approximate $71,000 back-charge for delays.  While the subcontractor did not accept the back-charge, it moved for summary judgment claiming that the liability for the back-charge can be resolved at trial as there is still over $300,000 in contract balance that should be paid to it.  The prime contractor countered that the delays caused by the subcontractor could be greater than $71,000 based on a negative evaluation in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (“CPARS”).   A negative CPARS rating by the federal government due to the delays caused by the subcontractor would result in a (potential) loss of business with the federal government (i.e., lost profit) to the prime contractor.   The main problem for the prime contractor:  a negative CPARs rating was entirely speculative as there had not been a negative CPARs rating and, even if there was, the impact a negative rating would have on the prime contractor’s future business with the federal government was unknown.   To this point, the district court stated:

In this case, [prime contractor’s] claim for damages is wholly speculative.  [Prime contractor] has not produced any evidence that its stated condition precedent—a negative CPARS rating—will actually occur and will have a negative impact on its future federal contracting endeavors. Specifically, [prime contractor] has not identified any facts that indicate that it will be subject to a negative CPARS rating or any indication of the Navy’s dissatisfaction with its work as the prime contractor on the Project… Further, a CPARS rating is only one aspect taken into consideration when federal contracts are awarded.  In sum, there is no evidence of the following: (1) a negative CPARS rating issued to [prime contractor]; (2) [prime contractor’s] hypothetical negative rating will be the result of the delay [prime contractor] alleges was caused by [subcontractor]; or (3) [prime contractor’s] hypothetical negative CPARS rating will result in future lost profits.

U.S. f/u/b/o Champco, Inc., supra, at *2 (internal citation omitted).

The prime contractor hedged its defense on the potentiality that it would receive a negative CPARs rating and, if it did, it would lose business with the federal government.  Based on this, the prime contractor decided to withhold more than $300,000 in contract balance over and above the $71,000 in delay damages it could prove.  The district court saw right through this argument by finding it wholly speculative and granting summary judgment in favor of the subcontractor for the subcontract balance over and above the $71,000 that the prime contractor did not have an objective basis to withhold.

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.

QUICK NOTE: MILLER ACT PAYMENT BOND PRESENTATION

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Recently, I put on a short presentation on the nuts and bolts of Miller Act payment bonds.  You can find the presentation here.   The presentation hits on key topics that are important to know for purposes of preserving Miller Act payment bond rights and defending against these types of bond claims.

The presentation was put on for LevelSet that, among other things, helps contractors and suppliers, nationally, preserve and maximize lien, bond, and payment collection rights.

For more in depth information on Miller Act payment bonds, please check out my e-book.

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.Mil

 

TRANSFERRING VENUE OF MILLER ACT PAYMENT BOND LAWSUIT PER MANDATORY FORUM SELECTION PROVISION

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Many construction contracts contain a forum selection provision that requires disputes to brought in a particular jurisdiction.  A mandatory forum selection provision will use words of exclusivity, like “shall,” that unequivocally requires disputes to be brought in that jurisdiction.  On the other hand, a permissive forum selection provision will not use words of exclusivity meaning a dispute “may” be brought in that jurisdiction.  Where to file a lawsuit is an initial, important consideration.  (For a further discussion on how Florida deals with forum selection provisions, check this posting.)

Under the federal Miller Act, governed under federal law, lawsuits are to be brought in the district where the contract was to be performed and executed, i.e., typically where the project is located.  40 USC s. 3133.  However, this does not mean that there is not a valid basis to sue in another jurisdiction, or move to transfer venue to another jurisdiction, such as when the underlying mandatory forum selection provision requires a jurisdiction different than the where the contract is to be performed or executed.

For example, in U.S. f/u/b/o John E. Kelly & Sons Electrical Construction, Inc. v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 2020 WL 704899 (D. Maryland 2020), a subcontractor filed a Miller Act payment bond lawsuit in Maryland against the prime contractor and prime contractor’s surety.  The federal project was performed in Maryland which is why the lawsuit was filed in Maryland.  The subcontract, however, required that lawsuits “shall be brought in Morgan County, Alabama.”  The prime contractor and its Miller Act payment bond surety moved to transfer venue from Maryland to Alabama.  The federal district court agreed to transfer venue finding that “as with any statutory venue provision [such as in the Miller Act], parties way waive its protections by agreeing to a mandatory forum selection provision.”  U.S., supra, at *3.

Mandatory forum selection provisions are given signifiant weight because this is the forum that parties bargained for prior to the occurrence of any dispute.  This is why examining forum selection provisions prior to filing a lawsuit is an initial, important consideration.

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.

 

SUIT ON SUBCONTRACTOR’S COMMON LAW PAYMENT BOND

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When a subcontractor furnishes a payment bond, is it referred to as a common law payment bond governed by state law.  There is no federal statute (or even state statute in most jurisdictions) governing the requirements of a subcontractor’s payment bond, hence the reason it is oftentimes referred to as a common law payment bond.  This is different than a prime contractor’s payment bond which is generally governed by federal or state-specific statutes.

In an opinion out of the Northern District of North Dakota, U.S. v. Western Surety Company, 2010 WL 609548 (D. North Dakota 2020), the Court discussed a painting sub-subcontractor’s claim against a subcontractor’s common law payment bond on a federal project.    Here, the subcontractor hired the sub-subcontractor and a payment dispute arose.  The subcontractor furnished its own payment bond.   The sub-subcontractor filed a lawsuit against both the prime contractor’s Miller Act payment bond and the subcontractor’s common law payment bond.  The Miller Act payment bond dispute got resolved and the case proceeded as to the subcontractor’s common law payment bond.

The common law payment bond surety moved for summary judgment claiming the painting sub-subcontractor failed to properly trigger the bond because it failed to provide notice of its claim as required by the terms of the bond.   Since the bond is deemed a contract, the Court looked at principles of North Dakota contract law governing this argument.   The common law bond required a claimant to give written notice within 90 days of its last day of work (which is a common requirement in such bonds).  The surety wanted the Court to construe this language similar to the requirements of the federal Miller Act by requiring the sub-subcontractor to give it notice with substantial accuracy of the claim.  The Court rejected this sentiment, and denied the summary judgment, as the subcontractor’s payment bond made no mention of “substantial accuracy.”   The Court looked at a hodge-podge of communications finding that a reasonable jury could conclude that the painting sub-subcontractor complied with the provisions of the bond.  Additionally, the Court noted that even if the notice was inadequate, the surety failed to establish how it was prejudiced based on North Dakota law that states: “A surety is exonerated…[t]o the extent to which the surety is prejudiced by an omission of the creditor to do anything when required by the surety which it is the creditor’s duty to do.”  U.S., supra, at *6 (internal quotation and citation omitted).

Lastly, the Court discussed how the subcontractor’s common law payment bond mentions the obligee of the bond is the general contractor.  This is how all subcontractor payment bonds are worded.  However, within the bond, there is a definition for “claimants” that allows claimants to sue on the bond.  The Court addressed this to reflect that the painting sub-subcontractor, meeting the definition of claimant in the payment bond, was a third-party beneficiary of the subcontractor’s payment bond and had standing to sue the bond.

This is a good case if you are dealing with a subcontractor’s common law payment bond.  The requirements to sue the bond will be less rigorous than suing a payment bond governed by a statute, such as a Miller Act payment bond.

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.

 

ENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTUAL TERMS (E.G., FLOW-DOWN, FIELD VERIFICATION, SHOP DRAWING APPROVAL, AND NO-DAMAGE-FOR-DELAY PROVISIONS)

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What you contractually agree to matters, particularly when you are deemed a sophisticated entity.  This means you can figuratively live or die by the terms and conditions agreed to.   Don’t take it from me, but it take it from the Fourth Circuit’s decision in U.S. f/u/b/o Modern Mosaic, Ltd. v. Turner Construction Co., 2019 WL 7174550 (4th Cir. 2019), where the Court started off by stressing, “One of our country’s bedrock principles is the freedom of individuals and entities to enter into contracts and rely that their terms will be enforced.”  Id. at *1.

This case involved a dispute between a prime contractor and its precast concrete subcontractor on a federal project.  The subcontractor filed a Miller Act payment bond lawsuit.   The trial court ruled against the subcontractor based on…the subcontract’s terms!  So, yes, what you contractually agree to matters.

Example #1 – The subcontractor fabricated and installed precast concrete panels per engineering drawings. However, the parking garage was not built per dimensions meaning the panels it fabricated would not fit. The subcontractor had to perform remedial work on the panels to get them to fit.  The subcontractor pursued the prime contractor for these costs arguing the prime contractor should have field verified the dimensions. The problem for the subcontractor, however, was that the subcontract required the subcontractor, not the prime contractor, to field verify the dimensions.  Based on this language that required the subcontractor to field verify existing conditions and take field measurements, the subcontractor was not entitled to its remedial costs (and they were close to $1 Million).  Furthermore, and of importance, the Court noted that the subcontract contained a flow down provision requiring the subcontractor to be bound by all of the terms and conditions of the prime contract and assume those duties and obligations that the prime contractor was to assume towards the owner.  While this flow-down provision may often be overlooked, here it was not, as it meant the subcontractor was assuming the field verification duties that the prime contractor was responsible to perform for the owner.

Example #2 – The subcontractor also argued that the prime contractor should bear its remedial costs to the precast panels because it accepted its shop drawings for the panels.  However, the subcontract and prime contract (that was flowed down) required the subcontractor to obtain the approval of the prime contractor for the shop drawings before it started fabricating the panels.  The subcontractor did not have the contractual right to begin fabrication prior to approval.  The subcontractor, not uncommonly, started fabrication before the shop drawings were approved by the prime contractor.  But even if the subcontractor obtained the approval, the subcontract provided that such approval does not relieve the subcontractor of performing the work per the plans and specifications and the proper matching and fitting of its work.

Example #3 – The subcontractor claimed it incurred additional costs due to soil remediation from another subcontractor. This required the subcontractor to wait many months for the soil to be properly prepared before it could finish its work.  The subcontractor also incurred storage costs during this time.  The prime contractor argued that the subcontract contained a no-damage-for-delay provision that barred the subcontractor’s damages.  The trial court, affirmed by the appellate court, agreed that the subcontractor’s damages due to the delay were barred by the no-damage-for-delay provision it agreed to in the subcontract.

And, as the Court strongly concluded: “When parties, particularly sophisticated commercial entities like [prime contractor] and [subcontractor], negotiate and enter into written agreements, they have a right to expect the provisions of those agreements will not be cast aside when a dispute arises.”  Id at 6.    The Court started off and concluded its decision with the same principle

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.

 

SERVING NOTICE OF NONPAYMENT UNDER MILLER ACT

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Under the federal Miller Act, if a claimant is NOT in privity with the prime contractor, it needs to serve a “notice of nonpayment” within 90 days of its final furnishing.   In this manner, 40 U.S.C. 3133 (b)(2) states:

 

A person having a direct contractual relationship with a subcontractor but no contractual relationship, express or implied, with the contractor furnishing the payment bond may bring a civil action on the payment bond on giving written notice to the contractor within 90 days from the date on which the person did or performed the last of the labor or furnished or supplied the last of the material for which the claim is made. The action must state with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the party to whom the material was furnished or supplied or for whom the labor was done or performed. The notice shall be served–

(A) by any means that provides written, third-party verification of delivery to the contractor at any place the contractor maintains an office or conducts business or at the contractor’s residence; or

(B) in any manner in which the United States marshal of the district in which the public improvement is situated by law may serve summons.

Although the bolded language states that, “The action must state with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the party to whom the material was furnished or supplied or for whom the labor was done…,” courts have found that this requirement also applies to the notice of nonpayment.  See Prince Payne Enterprises, Inc. f/u/b/o Prince Payne Enterprises, Inc. v. Tigua Enterprises, Inc., 2019 WL 5394197, *4 (D. South Carolina 2019).

However, there is a certain liberality regarding the format of the notice as long as it states with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the party to whom the work was done.

For instance, in Prince Payne Enterprises, a sub-subcontractor—not in privity with the prime contractor—filed a Miller Act payment bond lawsuit.  To support that it provided a notice of nonpayment to the prime contractor, the sub-subcontractor attached a hodgepodge of documentation, none of which was applicable, to its complaint, as well as alleged that it demanded payment from the prime contractor within 90 days of its final furnishing date on the project.  The prime contractor moved to dismiss the Miller Act payment bond claim based on the inapplicability of the hodgepodge of documentation which included letters that came after the 90 days expired.  But, based on the allegation that the sub-subcontractor demanded payment on the prime contractor, the Court held:

While the dates and contents of the attached exhibits may not meet the notice requirements of the Miller Act, the court must accept the allegation that Prince Payne [sub-subcontractor] demanded payment from Tigua [prime contractor] within ninety days of last performing work as true. Discovery may reveal that this is not true or that none of the communications satisfy the Miller Act’s notice requirements; however, at this early stage of litigation, the court finds that Prince Payne’s proposed amended complaint sufficiently alleges a viable cause of action for a violation of the Miller Act.

Prince Payne Enterprises, supra, at *4.

This sub-subcontractor is likely in trouble supporting that it served a notice of nonpayment within 90 days of its final furnishing date.  However, it lived to see another day by surviving a motion to dismiss.  Summary judgment will be different.  This could have been avoided had the sub-subcontractor appreciated that to preserve a Miller Act payment bond claim, it MUST serve a notice of nonpayment within 90 days of its final furnishing.  Rights preservation is everything!

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.