Construction & Infrastructure Attorney: New York & New Jersey

You likely have several, and they stack. In New York, the Prompt Payment Act provides that "if any interim or final payment to a subcontractor is delayed beyond the due date . . . the contractor or subcontractor shall pay its subcontractor interest, beginning on the next day, at the rate of one percent a month or fraction of a month on the unpaid balance, or at a higher rate consistent with the construction contract" (General Business Law § 756-b(1)(b)). On private projects, a notice of mechanics lien "may be filed at any time during the progress of the work and the furnishing of the materials, or, within eight months after the completion of the contract, or the final performance of the work, or the final furnishing of the materials," or within four months where the improvement relates to "a single family dwelling" (Lien Law § 10(1)). On public improvements, a claimant "who has not been paid in full therefor before the expiration of a period of ninety days after the day on which the last of the labor was performed or material was furnished by him for which the claim is made, shall have the right to sue on such payment bond in his own name," and a claimant with no contract with the general contractor must give "written notice to such contractor within one hundred twenty days from the date on which the last of the labor was performed or the last of the material was furnished" (State Finance Law § 137(3)). Breach of contract is available as well. Each has its own deadline, and some may already be running. Bring your contract and payment records to a free consultation and Eugene will sequence the remedies for maximum leverage.

The usual sequence: document the claim (notices, daily reports, photos), make a proper written demand, preserve lien or bond rights before deadlines pass, negotiate, and litigate only if the numbers justify it. Contractors lose more money to missed notices and blown deadlines than to bad facts. The firm manages the sequence so nothing lapses while talks continue.

Stop and get it in writing. Most contracts make unsigned change orders unenforceable, and "we will work it out later" is how contractors fund other people’s buildings. If you have already done the work, claims like quantum meruit may still recover value, but the proof burden is heavier. Bondar Legal drafts change-order protocols that keep you paid and defensible.

On New York public works, Labor Law § 220(3)(a) provides that "[t]he wages to be paid for a legal day's work . . . to laborers, workmen or mechanics upon such public works, shall be not less than the prevailing rate of wages," and that "[n]o employee shall be deemed to be an apprentice unless he is individually registered in an apprenticeship program which is duly registered with the commissioner of labor." Every contractor and subcontractor "shall submit to the department of jurisdiction within thirty days after issuance of its first payroll, and every thirty days thereafter, a transcript of the original payroll record . . . subscribed and sworn to or affirmed as true under the penalties of perjury" (Labor Law § 220(3-a)(a)(iii)). On federal projects, the Davis-Bacon Act requires that covered contracts stipulate that "the contractor or subcontractor shall pay all mechanics and laborers employed directly on the site of the work, unconditionally and at least once a week . . . computed at wage rates not less than those stated in the advertised specifications" (40 U.S.C. § 3142(c)(1)). Violations mean withheld payments (Labor Law § 220-b(2)(a)), interest and "a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding twenty-five percent of the total amount found to be due" (Labor Law § 220-b(2)(d)), and, after two willful final determinations "within any consecutive six-year period," ineligibility "to submit a bid on or be awarded any public work contract or subcontract with the state, any municipal corporation or public body for a period of five years from the second final determination" (Labor Law § 220-b(3)(b)(1)). Liability flows up: a contractor must certify that if a subcontractor's employees have not been paid the scheduled wages or supplements, "the contractor shall be responsible for payment of such wages or supplements" (Labor Law § 220-a(2)). The firm keeps contractors compliant and defends them in audits and investigations.

Treat it as urgent: cure periods are short, and your response letter becomes core evidence. Do not walk off the job, do not fire back an angry email, and do not sign anything. A default termination can follow you into future bids, but handled correctly, many defaults are cured, withdrawn, or converted. Call the firm before you respond.

Possibly. It depends on your contract’s notice requirements, what caused the delay, and whether a no-damages-for-delay clause applies. Such a clause "is valid and enforceable," but the Court of Appeals has held that "even with such a clause, damages may be recovered for: (1) delays caused by the contractee's bad faith or its willful, malicious, or grossly negligent conduct, (2) uncontemplated delays, (3) delays so unreasonable that they constitute an intentional abandonment of the contract by the contractee, and (4) delays resulting from the contractee's breach of a fundamental obligation of the contract" (Corinno Civetta Constr. Corp. v. City of New York, 67 N.Y.2d 297, 309 (1986)). Contemporaneous documentation is everything. The earlier Eugene looks at a delayed project, the more of your claim he can usually preserve.

Yes, and it is the cheapest insurance you can buy. Flow-down clauses, pay-if-paid provisions, no-damages-for-delay clauses, broad indemnity, and one-sided termination rights are where contractors lose money. A flat-fee review before signature costs a fraction of litigating any one of them.