Pam Scholefield

Somewhere around page four of your subcontract, right after you started to relax because the scope of work section was pretty accurate, you hit a paragraph like this: "Subcontractor shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Contractor and Owner, and their respective officers, directors, agents, and employees, and any person or entity that Contractor must indemnify under the Prime Contract, from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, and expenses, including but not limited to...

You can read a set of plans faster than most people can read a menu. You know within minutes whether a job site is running well or being run into the ground. You love your trade and have helped build things that will outlast you by decades. That’s not nothing, that’s everything! But here’s a truth that gets ignored: knowing your trade and knowing how to run a business are two completely different skill sets. And confusing the two is one of the most common reasons talented subcontractors...

You did the work. You held up your end of the deal. And then the payment stopped. Whether it is a general contractor running short on cash, an owner in dispute with the GC, or a project that has simply gone sideways, the result is the same: you are left waiting on money you already earned. California and federal law give subcontractors powerful tools for exactly this situation: mechanic’s liens, stop payment notices, and bond claims. But every one of them comes with strict deadlines and...