| For today's contractors, legal problems are usually hidden, like snakes in a swamp. This book shows you where to find them before they find you. You're less likely to need a $200-an-hour guide with a law degree if you follow the simple directions in this easy-to-read guidebook. It gives you directions on the simple tasks you can do yourself without the help of a lawyer, as well as point out to you when you may actually need a "pro" to take your case. For the price of about 15 minutes in a lawyer's office you'll have a guide that will make many of those visits unnecessary. You'll find directions for starting a business, what to put in every contract, how to collect what's owed you, what laws affect your jobs, what to do about job injuries, how to file a lien that holds up, how to handle warranties, and where you're liable for subcontractors.
View and Print Free Legal Forms Online!
The Contractor's Plain-English Legal Guide includes a free CD-ROM with all the legal forms shown and explained in the book, plus extra forms with filled-out copies as examples. Install the forms to your hard drive, fill them out, print, and send to your customers. Or print them out blank and fill in by hand.
From the Back Cover:
Whether you're a prime contractor, or a subcontractor, you deal with legal issues every day. In fact, you're called a contractor because you contract out to do a particular job. Write an inadequate contract and someone's going to pay—probably you. But contracts aren't the only dangers. Customers sometimes have second thoughts when it comes time for them to pay, and often there are elements in a job that you thought were clearly understood, but the customer seems to have been at a different conversation.
We all see things from our own perspective, but the law is the foundation that keeps things straight. You need to know what the law requires you to do, and what protections the law offers you. But law school isn't usually an option, and you probably don't have the money for an attorney to follow you around all day to make sure you're protected.
This book is the next-best thing. It tells you where the pitfalls are hiding—the snakes in the swamp that'll gobble you up—and in simple English, tells you exactly how to avoid them. You won't find any legal gibberish here—just plain, step-by-step instructions on what you should and shouldn't be doing to get through the swamp of legal hazards to a safe and profitable bottom line:
- How should you set up your company?
- What should be in every contract
- Collecting what's owed you
- What if someone's injured on the job?
- Protecting yourself from dishonest customers
- What should you know about warranties?
- Protecting your assets
- When is an attorney your best option?
Whether you're an experienced contractor who's paid too much to too many lawyers, or a newcomer without the experience or financial backing to risk a legal battle, this book will guide you away from danger spots and along a safer path.
Includes a CD-ROM with blank copies of all the legal forms, notices and contracts shown in the book, plus extra blank forms, with instructions. Just load the forms off the CD and print, or fill them out right on screen.
About the Author
Quenda Behler Story is an attorney specializing in construction law. For almost 20 years, she and her husband worked in the construction field. Here she saw first hand, and through painful and expensive experience, the legal pitfalls that lie in wait for every contractor. Her interest in the legal side of the business led her to make construction law her specialty and make her career helping contractors stay out of trouble. Now, she is a consultant on legal issues that impact builders and subcontractors, and a frequent lecturer on the subject. Because of her expertise, she was chosen by the Journal of Light Construction to be their legal columnist. Since 1994, she has in her column advised on hundreds of legal problems from contractors nationwide, and has written An Ounce of Prevention, for Home Builder Press.
Table of Contents
Part One: Startup Legal Problems; Part Two: Construction Contracts; Part Three: Legal Guidelines for Running a Business; Part Four: Legal Problems on the Job Site; Part Five: Legal Issues in the Construction; Industry; Glossary; Index. |
