Hazleton Construction Dispute Lawyers

Construction Dispute Law in Pennsylvania

Landowners and contractors in Hazleton, Pennsylvania frequently contract with each other for major construction projects. With any large construction projects, some small delays or problems are all but inevitable, but they don't usually derail the project or lead to major disputes between the parties.

Typically, contractors and landowners can resolve minor disputes amongst themselves, without having to resort to litigation. Frequently, construction contracts contain built-in remedies for mistakes and delays that can be easily corrected, such as payments to the owner for every day the project is delayed.

Even if disagreements can't be resolved amongst the parties to the contract, they don't need to take their dispute into the court system. For instance, construction contracts typically call for mediation or arbitration before any disputes are resolved by the courts. Mediation is a process by which a third party serves as a sort of intermediary in settlement negotiations between the parties to the contract. The mediator can help keep negotiations on track, and suggest possible solutions the parties might not have thought of. The mediator can't issue a binding decision, however. Arbitration is a process through which the parties agree to have their dispute resolved by a third party, which can render a binding decision. Arbitration can be faster and cheaper than litigation, and it has some other advantages, as well.

Litigation of construction disputes in Hazleton, Pennsylvania can be extremely time-consuming, stressful, and costly. Nevertheless, there are (relatively rare) occurrences where it is the only option.

Examples of Construction Disputes That Might Lead to Litigation in Hazleton, Pennsylvania

Major Delays: If the contractor or a subcontractor is at fault in causing a considerable delay to a project (several months, for example), this may lead to a lawsuit. If the contract stated that time was of the essence for some reason (maybe the project was a new store that the owner hoped to open before the holiday shopping season, for example), a court can typically award the owner any damages that were caused by the delay.

Refusal to Pay: Disputes can also arise from a client's refusal or inability to hold up his end of the deal. Sometimes, once a project is complete, or nearly so, a landowner will express an unwillingness to pay the contractor for his services. There might be a variety of reasons for this - sudden loss of money, or dissatisfaction with the quality of the work are a few examples. It's rare that a client will refuse to pay a contractor simply because they don't feel like it (and if that is the reason, they'll typically come up with a better one to argue in court). In these cases, a court will sometimes have to decide if the client is obligated to pay the full price. If the work was, indeed, not up to the standards laid out in the contract, the contractor is not entitled to the full price, but is still entitled to the actual value of the work, even if it's considerably less than the contract price.

Subcontractor Disputes: In large projects, contractors often can't handle every aspect of the construction, so they hire other (typically smaller) contractors to do some specialized work for them, such as plumbing, electrical installations, and the like. The general contractor, however, is responsible to the owner for anything that goes wrong. If a subcontractor messes up, and the owner sues the contractor, the contractor will have to pay. However, the contractor can then go after the subcontractor to recover whatever he had to pay.

Mechanic's Liens: A mechanic's lien is a way for a contractor to secure payment if a landowner refuses to pay. In such cases, if the contractor sues and wins, he or she can sometimes impose a mechanic's lien on the property he or she just worked on. This permits the contractor to force a sale of the property to cover the judgment. It is usually used when other attempts to secure payment fail.

Can a Hazleton, Pennsylvania Attorney Help?

Construction disputes and disagreements can be very challenging to deal with alone. The assistance of a Hazleton, Pennsylvania real estate attorney can make the process of dealing with these disputes much quicker and easier.

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Life in Hazleton

Hazleton is home to 24,000 Luzerne County residents who enjoy a close proximity to nearby major metropolitan areas and outstanding city parks and recreational areas. Hazleton is known as "The Mountain City" and "The Power City" because of it's abundance of foothills and abundant coal supply. One fact of which you may not be aware is that Hazleton was originally spelled "Hazelton" but a clerk misspelled it during incorporation and it stuck.

In 2006, Hazleton garnered national attention when Mayor Lou Barletta and other counsel members passed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act which initially fined business owners ,000 for each illegal immigrant they employed as well as the loss of all city issued licenses and permits. The law was later thrown out because it was considered unconstitutional and was disputed by a number of lawsuits as well as the Pennsylvania ACLU among others. Office Max, Simmons Bedding Company, Michaels, AutoZone, WEIR Materials, Amazon.com, and EB Brands are some of the important companies who are major employers in Hazleton. There are also a number of every experienced lawyers. Hazleton lawyers are familiar with many different areas of law and use their knowledge of local courts to advise you.

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Construction Dispute Law in Pennsylvania

Examples of Construction Disputes That Might Lead to Litigation in Hazleton, Pennsylvania