Nuts & Bolts | Construction Law Blog

How long should a party to a construction project retain its project documents after completion? The good news: not forever. The bad news: longer than expected.

After completion of a construction project, the likelihood of becoming a party to a lawsuit should lessen over time. Claims regarding such issues as non-payment, delay and scope of work disputes are typically raised and pursued soon after completion of the project. These types of claims are usually recognized by the claimant sometime during or after completion of construction and soon acted upon for economic reasons.

Many legal battles in the construction industry revolve around contract interpretation disputes. Care in contract drafting is a valuable way to avoid disputes.

A fundamental principle of contract interpretation is to ascertain and give effect to the parties’ objectively expressed intent. What a party was trying to say, without accurately expressing it, does not count. Contract terms are usually given their ordinary (i.e., dictionary) meaning unless the contract specially defines them or the industry has adopted a special meaning known to both parties.