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ISTOCK.COM/RICHARD JOHNSON By Aron C. Beezley and Lisa Markman of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA), in the case of StructSure Projects, Inc., recently granted COVID-19-related costs to a contractor under a fixed-price contract. The key facts, holdings, and takeaways from this noteworthy case are discussed below.    The Facts The government awarded the ...

ISTOCK.COM/RELIF By Antonio R. Franco, Jon Williams, Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV, and Matthew E. Feinberg of PilieroMazza Government contractors maintaining or seeking HUBZone certification should make themselves aware of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) recent efforts to tighten and enforce new and existing rules surrounding the HUBZone program. In this article, PilieroMazza details the SBA’s enforcement efforts and the major implications for HUBZone ...

ANDRII YALANSKYI By Joseph Natarelli of Marcum LLP Macroeconomic factors continue to drive change within the construction industry. In an economic environment defined by unpredictable movement and high volatility, surety professionals and their construction clients must recognize the warning signs. This article will examine the financial issues contractors are confronting, the means they are employing to navigate those changes, and the ...

MOUSSA81 By Cavan S. Boyle of Ernstrom & Dreste LLP In a case of first impression for Indiana, the state’s intermediate appellate court recently held that the common law duty of good faith recognized between insurers and insureds does not extend to a surety-obligee relationship under performance and payment bonds on construction projects.[1] The ruling resulted in the dismissal of ...

POKPAK05 By Sarah K. Carpenter of Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP Key Takeaways The Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced its long-awaited final rule updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. The new rule will have significant impacts on many industries and businesses, particularly federal construction contractors and subcontractors. Regulated parties have 60 days from publication of the final rule in the Federal Register ...

ISTOCK.COM/TU IS Attendees at the 2023 NASBP Annual Meeting and Expo this spring had a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse into the future of the surety industry. The Institute’s RiskStream Collaborative (RSC), partnering with surety system solution providers attending the meeting, offered a state-of-the-art demonstration of a technology that enables digital bonds to be verified and authenticated on a ...

ISTOCK.COM/SANFEL By A. Michelle West of Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP Parties can expect federal courts to scrutinize forum selection clauses in federal public contracts. Subject to multifactor reasonability tests and ambiguity inquiries, only the clearest clauses survive. A North Carolina federal district court declined to enforce a forum selection clause that sought to lay venue outside the state of ...

ISTOCK.COM/FILMFOTO By Michael C. Zisa and Abby B. Salinas of Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Effective May 11, 2023, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is amending various regulations governing its Capital Access loan programs, which were created to bridge the financing gap in private markets to help small businesses start and grow. Among these changes, the SBA is simplifying criteria for determining affiliation ...

ISTOCK.COM/DZMITRY SKAZAU By Ross L. Crown of Lewis Roca The Government Accountability Office recently returned to the subject of the unavailability of key personnel listed in contract proposals. ASRC Federal Data Solutions, B-421008, December 2, 2022, 2022 CPD, ¶ 294, is a bid protest where the awardee of the contract was found to have misrepresented its capacity to furnish a key person ...

ISTOCK.COM/MILEPOST430MEDIA EJCDC’s new Construction Manager At-Risk documents enable owners and contractors to take advantage of the benefits of the CM At-Risk project delivery method. Construction delivery systems have been evolving for decades as owners and contractors continue to search for ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs on their projects. One strategy that has been gaining in popularity with both ...