Legal issues
Instructor:
Stephen M. Phillips
Year 1
Introduction to legal issues facing roofing contractors
The objective of the first-year legal curriculum is to introduce you to the basic
legal structures and issues associated with the operation of a roofing construction
contracting company doing business in the U.S. Topics include:
- Personal versus corporate liability
- Legal entities: characteristics and differences among sole proprietorships, C
corporations, S corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and holding
companies
- Risks of personal exposure in the roofing contracting business—bonding and
indemnity agreements, credit agreements, signing documents in a personal capacity
or a personal guarantee
- Grounds of legal liability—breach of contract, negligence (tort), guarantees
and warranties
- Dispute-resolution procedures for construction disputes
- Statutes of limitation and statutes of repose
- Developing your own contract forms
Year 2
Analysis of construction contracts
The objective of this class is to enable you to negotiate reasonable construction
contracts by familiarizing you with key clauses. The first step is to recognize
provisions in construction contract forms drafted by general contractors and owners
that either pose unreasonable liability risks to roofing contractors or reduce the
legal rights to which a roofing contractor normally would be entitled in the absence
of a contract provision eliminating the right. The second step is to develop an
approach to effectuate more equitable contracts. You also will become familiar with
the most commonly used construction contract forms promulgated by The American Institute
of Architects.
Year 3
Select legal issues posing liability to roofing contractors
This class will address legal liability issues faced by roofing contractors from
actual cases and problem situations. You will be presented with fact patterns and
asked to analyze how a roofing contractor should approach the problem and steps
the roofing contractor might have taken to avoid the problem. The problems will
address such legal topics as:
- Indemnification owed to an owner or general contractor for a personal-injury claim
- Liability for claims because of emissions from roofing products and pollution exclusion
in commercial general liability insurance policies
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citations and unforeseeable
employee misconduct
- Liabilities and rights arising from approved roofing contractor agreements
- Warranty liability
- Liability issues arising from your work force—immigration, discrimination claims,
wage and hour issues