Masonry Magazine April 1997 Page. 22
ARE YOU SIGNING
HAZARDOUS CONTRACTS?
By Lawrence E. Rampa
In our experience as mason contractors we have watched general contractors evolve from organizations that actually performed the majority of the work on a project into brokers and/or construction managers that perform little or no work with their own forces.
During this period the emphasis has changed from cooperation among the trades to contract administration often conducted by persons sometimes with little actual hands-on construction experience.
Today contractors accept your proposals, take the dollar amount of your bid, discard all of the proposal clarifications and send you a contract that uses wording that changes your offer into something that does not even resemble what you proposed.
The Mason Contractors Association of America and their affiliates are attempting to restore equity to sub-contractors but action is required on the part of the members if we hope to achieve fairness in contracts.
We can all start by using standard wording in our proposals and by attaching addendums to modify the severe wording of those contracts that we don't have access to at bid time and/or that we just don't read until we have a problem. For those of you who have never purchased one of the AGC/ASA/ASC Standard Form Construction Subcontracts, I would strongly suggest that you get a copy from the Mason Contractors Association of America and begin using it with your generals.
Obviously not all general contractors will accept these new sub-contractor initiative easily. You can expect some attempts at intimidation from the contractors and you can negotiate whatever items that the contractor is adamant about.
For example, if you excluded winter protection in your proposal, obviously you do not want that to be included without a price adjustment.
The pay when paid clause is sometimes worded in a way that the contractor can use your money and/or forfeit your work in order to trade the owner for something else and gives you no recourse.
Obviously we cannot cover all of the hazards created by contract wording in this writing but remember that an unscrupulous contractor can use contract wording to take unreasonable advantage.
When the judge or arbitrator looks at you and says, "Well, you didn't have to sign the contract." it's over.
When using the contract addendum (enclosed) you must cross out the article in the contract that states that this is the entire agreement.
In addition, above your signature, you need to add "As amended by attached addendum dated and initial it.
If the contractor rejects these terms you may not get the work! If the contractor wants to unilaterally control the future of your business isn't it better if he does that to your competitor than to you?
We pay association dues, deal with the realities of our business, and should be able to retain some control over the documents we sign. A reputable contractor should at least be open to negotiation. Who cares about the rest?
They can't build these buildings without sub-contractors! And we cannot survive without fair agreements.
I hope this helps and wish you all the best of luck.
Lawrence E. Rampa is president of Ramcorp Inc., 421 N. Water Street, Wilmington, IL 60481
Large Savings
Simple Erection
10,000# Pay Load
Height to 450'
Hydraulic System
Meets OSHA Standards
Workers Always At Optimum Height
Gas or 240 Single Phase Electric Power
Working Platform 12' to 52' Long, 6' to 12' Wide
Continuous Up & Down Movement (no X braces)
26081 Bulverde Road • San Antonio, TX 78261 800/554-4960 • FAX 210/438-3534
22 MASONRY-MARCH/APRIL, 1997