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By Martha Perkins Whether you are a bond producer, owner, contractor, or subcontractor, success in the construction industry is largely an exercise in risk management—and construction contracts serve as a powerful tool to allocate those risks across parties. That is why it is so important to understand their intricacies. We asked Scott Walters, an attorney at the law firm of Smith, ...

  By Michael C. Zisa and Susan Elliott Two recent decisions from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Court of Federal Claims highlight that sureties and bond producers are not immune to the potentially severe consequences of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and related federal fraud statutes. In each case, the Court ...

The National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP) is celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2017. To illustrate the Association’s history while looking toward the future, NASBP produced a series of exciting communication pieces to share with the NASBP membership—including a commemorative brochure, an illuminated six-panel historical exhibit, and a special anniversary edition of Surety Bond Quarterly magazine. Attendees at the NASBP 2017 Annual ...

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently released the 2017 edition of its key agreements in the A201 family of documents. These design-bid-build agreements, updated every ten years to reflect the evolving construction industry, are universally seen as an industry standard and have crucial implications for surety bond professionals. “The 2017 release included several revisions to AIA’s flagship document, the ...

Your digital edition of the NASBP 75th Anniversary Commemorative Brochure is available now.

By Mark McCallum As NASBP celebrates its 75th Anniversary, its Government Relations team remains focused on effecting positive change for the NASBP membership. Adapting to a changing political environment has always required a strategic government relations agenda—and NASBP continues to rise to the call. Infrastructure “There is a great deal of energy on Capitol Hill right now in terms of ...

Massachusetts Supreme Court’s Decision Sets New Standard for CMs’ Responsibility for Design The following article is an update on the Coghlin vs. Gilbane case. Michael C. Zisa, Esq. and Warren E. Friedman, Esq. of the law firm of Peckar & Abramson, P.C. describe how the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision creates a new standard governing the Spearin Doctrine and an ...

Electronic bond forms to improve operational efficiency Surety bond producers know all too well the frustrations of entering the same bond data over and over into different surety companies’ systems. Now, there may be an end in sight to that repetitive task. NASBP, in conjunction with the Surety and Fidelity Association of America and ACORD, a global, nonprofit insurance standards ...

By Andrew Avalon In a perfect world, the owner never changes his mind, the engineer never alters his drawings, the contractor never has execution problems, the resident engineer’s decisions are perfect, and Mother Nature behaves herself. That perfect world does not exist. In the real world, with geometric precision, the forces of owner, engineer, contractor, and Mother Nature combine to ...

By Dan Bonnet In the wake of some of the largest data breaches to hit health insurance companies, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has followed on the heels of the Securities and Exchange Commission and has issued guidance on cybersecurity. Because nearly all surety bonds in the United States are underwritten by subsidiaries or divisions of insurance companies, ...