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Dear Readers:
Many of you recently attended the Texas Association of Community Schools' 5th Annual Practical Hands-On Facilities & Construction for Community School Districts & Community Colleges Advice Conference or may be attending the Texas Association of School Business Officials' Bonds, Buildings & Beyond: Understanding the Process Conference today. Both conferences sold out but were kind enough to allow me to share with you some of the material we distributed. You should also see one of our previous articles, The Ten Biggest Blunders in all of School and College Construction and What You Can Do to Avoid Them, which gives you 'at your fingertips' resources in law, Texas Attorney General's Opinions and newspaper articles. Please CLICK HERE to view the Powerpoint created based on that article (please be aware that the Powerpoint is a large file that may take a few moments to download).
Next are the Bonus Blunders, an additional six serious mistakes often made by talented administrators that simply did not understand a certain area of law.
Blunder #1
Never assume that your permanent property insurer has covered your properties when you are renovating or expanding on preexisting structures. Please CLICK HERE for more information.
Blunder #2
Never assume that your architect knows anything about whether his insurers or those of his selected engineers have issued policies in amounts and types sufficient to cover your specifications. Demand to see the policy certificate for his professional liability, not general liability, which is irrelevant to your needs most of the time.
Blunder #3
Never assume that small builders on projects such as demolition or renovation understand they must have adequate workers compensation insurance. Please CLICK HERE for more information.
Blunder #4
Never accept in place of proper payment and performance bonds a builder's offer of a letter of credit or a bank deposit. These are only an invitation for a lawsuit with the bank, not an adequate guarantee of performance or payment. Please CLICK HERE for more information
Blunder #5
Never accept leased employees who do not work for the contractor. Whether they are economical or not, they are a costly problem if they are injured or file for unpaid wages. Often, leased employees to a subcontractor are a scheme to avoid complying with the Texas Workers Compensation mandates.
Blunder #6
Never award a contract to an environmental or abatement contractor until you have fully studied whether the contractor or consultant offers adequate insurance. Sometimes responses that seem too good to be true do not offer adequate environmental coverage, which results in the building owner being a partial insurer of the buildings' defects if a worker or a building inhabitant claims an injury.
In your every professional adventure, we wish you the very best.
To find out how you can join The Fowler Law Firm Preventative School and Education Law Program, please CLICK HERE.
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This information is
provided by Laura S. Fowler, Attorney at Law with
The Fowler Law Firm PC. It is not intended as a
substitute for careful review by legal counsel of
your choosing. We would be most honored to assist
you in your every real legal need.
Contact Laura
Fowler at lfowler@thefowlerlawfirm.com
or
call (512) 441-1411.
As with any legal
issues, please consult your attorney with
questions.
