CONSTRUCTION LAW
The COVID-19 pandemic (or perhaps the resulting monetary
policy) has caused material costs to skyrocket.
For example, over the past year through February 2021,
softwood lumber spiked 73%, and iron and steel scrap surged 50%
in the last 12 months,1 with prices expected to continue to rise.
What can a contractor stuck in a fixed price contract or a
1. Skyrocketing Steel, Lumber Costs Threaten to Slow Construction
Jobs, ConstructionDive, Feb. 17, 2021,
https://www.constructiondive.com/news/skyrocketing-steel-lumber-costs-threaten-to-slow-construction-jobs/594969/
72soul/123RF
Pandemic-Related Rising
Materials Costs
How contractors can avoid losses and protect themselves
By C. Ryan Maloney, Esq., Jimerson Birr
contractor worried about price volatility do about these rising and
volatile materials costs? This article sets out to explain just that.
In particular, this article considers contractual provisions that
may provide contractors with relief: (1) force majeure clauses, (2)
elevator clauses and (3) clauses requiring the counterparty to provide
the materials.
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