Legal clarity = business stability

By Emma Peterson. 

Navigating a legal landscape that is growing more complex every day.  

In a new episode of From the Ground Up™, Karol Weyman got the chance to chat with John Kenney about navigating the legal world as a contractor. John is the CEO of Cotney Consulting Group and has over 45 years of experience in the field as a contractor. He shared a bit about what his company does, saying, “We work with contractors, we get information out there, we do trainings and we help them work on their business processes.” A huge part of that work is helping contractors learn how to navigate the legal landscape; things like regulations and contracts.  

Navigating this has always been key to business success, but is more important today than ever before. Why? The world is growing more complicated. John explained, “The world is getting more and more complicated with regulations, technology and more. Really, the entire way we go about business and everything else has changed.”  

An example of these complexities is tighter notice requirements and stricter enforcement of contract deadlines. John elaborated, “Owners and general contractors are absolutely starting to enforce these written notice clauses aggressively. And if you do miss a deadline, even by a day, you're going to lose your claim.” Another example of how John has seen the legal world of contracting shift recently is in relation to payment risk. He explained, “We're seeing longer payment cycles, increased disputes and a lot more owners pushing risk downstream.” 

So what can contractors do in response to these pressures and complexities? Clean records and responsive contracts. Because contractors are being held to higher standards than ever before, it is crucial to make sure you have a clear understanding of what you are getting into and set yourself up for success in the future. John shared a bit about how you can do this:  

Make sure you read your contracts carefully. I still see contractors agreeing to broad indemnification clauses that are dangerous because they don’t have any damage for delay provisions... Scope is another huge one, make sure that contracts define scope so all parties are on the same page... And another big one is using outdated contract templates. I see a lot of contractors using stuff that actually pertains to laws that have changed. So, if you’re working off a template from five or six years ago, make sure to get it reviewed to make sure you are covered today. 

Overall, the best legal protection is proactive reviews with legal experts. As John put it, “Contracts are living risk management documents. A lot of people don't understand this, so if yours hasn't been updated, then it's behind. And understanding everything in your contract is part of positive risk management.” 

Listen to the whole podcast or Watch the recording with John to learn more about navigating the legal world as a contractor.