Our client, a specialty millwork contractor, faced a complex construction dispute involving substantial financial and scheduling challenges on a high-profile high-rise project. The project experienced a significant delay caused by others, followed by an untenable demand to accelerate the schedule. Compounding the scheduling difficulties, the contractor faced significant on-site obstacles, including working overnight in occupied tenant spaces and inefficient material transport, forcing crews to work grueling six-day weeks and 12-hour shifts. This, coupled with over $2 million in unpaid approved change orders and $4.1 million in disputed change orders, and an improper attempt to assign liability for about $400,000 in material losses to our client, created a critical situation that threatened its very existence. The general contractor’s use of payment software, which effectively blocked our client from submitting appropriate dollar payment applications, exacerbated these issues, resulting in a severe, existential cash flow crunch. We intervened, extensively negotiating with the general contractor, and secured a new contract price zeroing-out most of the disputed change orders; full payment of all outstanding amounts, including reimbursement for the disputed material losses contingent on insurance recovery; a revised, more manageable project schedule; and an agreement for equitable handling of future change orders and payment applications. This resolution not only protected our client’s financial stability but ensured its survival and preserved its relationship with the general contractor, clearing the way for successful project completion, all without litigation.
