Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Bids vs Contracts

[Fred-List manager (fholson]

Philip Dowds Cornerstone Cohousing  rphilipdowds [at] gmail.com
is the author of the message below.  It was posted by Fred of
the Cohousing-L management team <cohousing-l-owner [at] cohousing.org>
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Construction services law varies from state to state, so there’s probably
no one-size-fits-all solution.  But here’s some stuff we take into
consideration in our community:

   - Filing claims or prosecuting lawsuits can sometimes be hard to do
   absent an agreement signed by both parties.
   - Our insurance agent recommends that we get an insurance certificate
   from *each and every vendor* who does physical work on our property —
   even from the Acme Appliance Sales guy who comes to swap out a washing
   machine.  Our agent also admits that this isn’t realistic for most condo
   associations, especially those that are self-managed.
   - We do have repeat vendors, like the plumbers, who come to provide
   minor services when we phone them up; in some cases, no price is quoted in
   advance, but after a while, they send us the bill for $800 or $2,800,
   whatever.  So what happened to the signed contract?  One approach that
   could work is that you maintain an annual signed agreement written to cover
   routine service calls.  This agreement can include a page’s worth of
   “general conditions” that should apply to any vendor working on the
   property — like for instance, “Don’t put your construction waste into our
   containers”, or “Don’t come before 8am”.
   - Non-payment?  Breach of conract?  Gross negligence?  This is America,
   and anyone can sue anyone else, anytime, for anything.  Who would want it
   any other way?  However, mediation and arbitration are alternative dispute
   resolution processes that may have advantages in some situations, and
   should be considered for larger projects.  In any event, if you don’t write
   in provisions anticipating mediation or arbitration, then litigation may
   end up as the only choice.

Thanks,
Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Cohousing
Cambridge, MA


Message: 2 Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2022 20:41:18 -0400
From: Sharon Villines
To: Cohousing-L
Subject: [C-L]_ Bids vs Contracts

For contractor bids of $10,000 to $20,000 for
straight forward work like painting, refinishing, installing shelves, etc.
do you require a contract that specifies insurance coverages and
arbitration if there are problems? What happens in the event of
non-payment?

We?ve had some huge contracts recently for replacing decks and
balconies, solar panels, and complete roof shingles. One was 2 inches thick
and went through the lawyer.

But how much of this do you require for more routine jobs?

Sharon ---- Sharon Villines Takoma Village Cohousing,
Washington DC takomavillage.org