Commercial Construction Contract: Who Pays When Work Stops

The pricing structure of a commercial construction contract determines which party absorbs cost increases when materials, labor, or site conditions turn out to cost more than anticipated, and the choice of contract type is one of the most consequential decisions made before a project begins.

A lump sum or stipulated sum contract fixes the contractor's price for the defined scope of work. The contractor bears all cost risk: if materials cost more than estimated, if labor productivity is lower than anticipated, or if a condition not addressed in the contract increases the work required, the contractor absorbs the additional cost unless a compensable change order is approved. Owners prefer lump sum contracts for well-defined scopes because they provide cost certainty.

A cost-plus contract pays the contractor its actual costs plus a fee for overhead and profit. The owner bears all cost risk and gains unlimited visibility into project costs but no certainty about the final price. A guaranteed maximum price contract, or GMP, adds a ceiling to a cost-plus arrangement: the contractor bears costs above the GMP, but any savings below it may be shared with the owner under a shared savings clause. An attorney who handles construction contracts and commercial project negotiations can evaluate which contract type fits the project's scope definition, the owner's risk tolerance, and the contractor's capacity to absorb cost volatility.

Pay-if-paid clauses in subcontracts attempt to make the general contractor's obligation to pay the subcontractor contingent on the general contractor receiving payment from the owner, effectively shifting the owner's non-payment risk down the contract chain to the subcontractor.

Courts have split significantly on whether pay-if-paid clauses are enforceable. States that enforce them treat the clause as a valid allocation of risk that the subcontractor agreed to by signing the contract. States that refuse to enforce them hold that a subcontractor cannot waive the statutory right to mechanic's lien protection by contract, and that pay-if-paid clauses that eliminate the subcontractor's right to payment for completed work violate public policy. California is among the states that have limited the enforceability of pay-if-paid clauses in construction contracts.

Pay-when-paid clauses are less aggressive. They condition the timing of the general contractor's payment obligation on the general contractor receiving payment, but they do not eliminate the obligation entirely if the owner fails to pay. Courts generally enforce pay-when-paid clauses as reasonable timing provisions rather than conditions precedent to payment. The distinction between the two types of clauses is often a single phrase, and a subcontractor who does not understand which type of clause their contract contains cannot accurately assess the payment risk they have accepted. An attorney who handles subcontracts and commercial construction disputes can analyze the payment clause language and advise on whether the clause is enforceable as written in the applicable jurisdiction.

Payment delays on commercial construction projects compound through the subcontract chain faster than most owners anticipate. A general contractor who holds payment from subcontractors while awaiting owner payment creates a liquidity crisis for trades whose profit margins cannot sustain 90-day payment cycles. The lien filing deadlines that protect unpaid contractors run from dates tied to last work performed or materials furnished, not from the date payment was demanded. Those deadlines pass while payment disputes are unresolved.

A mechanic's lien is a statutory security interest that attaches to real property when contractors, subcontractors, or material suppliers who contributed to the improvement of that property are not paid for their work.

The mechanic's lien statutes of each state create a process through which an unpaid party can record a claim against the property and, if the claim is not paid, enforce it through a foreclosure action that forces the sale of the property to satisfy the lien. This lien right is powerful because it encumbers the owner's most valuable asset and creates a title defect that prevents the owner from refinancing or selling the property until the lien is released or bonded over.

Mechanic's lien rights are subject to strict procedural requirements that vary significantly by state. Preliminary notice requirements, which in many states must be served on the owner and general contractor within a specified period after first furnishing labor or materials, are a prerequisite to lien rights in most states. Missing a preliminary notice deadline eliminates lien rights regardless of the merits of the underlying payment claim. Lien recording deadlines, dispute periods, and foreclosure filing deadlines are all statutory and jurisdictional in nature. An attorney who handles mechanics liens and construction litigation matters can determine the applicable notice and recording deadlines for each project and advise on compliance before any deadline becomes imminent.

Delay claims are the most complex category of commercial construction contract disputes because they require proof of which party caused the delay, what the impact of that delay was on the project schedule, and which contract provisions limit or eliminate recovery for the delay.

Delays are classified as excusable when caused by events beyond either party's control, such as unusually severe weather, acts of God, or government-ordered shutdowns, and compensable when caused by the owner's actions or failures, such as late design decisions, differing site conditions, or owner-directed changes. Excusable delays entitle the contractor to a time extension but not additional compensation. Compensable delays entitle the contractor to both a time extension and additional compensation for the extended general conditions costs, escalation, and lost productivity caused by the delay.

No-damage-for-delay clauses, found in many owner-drafted commercial construction contracts, purport to limit the contractor's recovery for owner-caused delays to a time extension only, eliminating the right to additional compensation regardless of the owner's fault. Courts in most states enforce these clauses with limited exceptions, including fraud, active interference by the owner, delays of such unreasonable duration as to amount to abandonment, and delays not contemplated by the parties at the time of contracting. An attorney who handles construction dispute and delay claim matters can evaluate whether a specific delay falls within one of the recognized exceptions to no-damage-for-delay enforcement and structure the claim accordingly.

Delay claims on commercial construction projects are document-intensive. The contemporaneous daily logs, weather records, correspondence, schedule updates, and owner response records created during the delay period are the evidentiary foundation of any claim. A contractor who fails to document the delay's causes and impacts as they occur, or who fails to provide timely notice of delay as the contract requires, may have valid delay damages that are procedurally barred by the time the claim is presented. The notice requirement runs from the date the delay begins, not from the date the project is complete.

A commercial construction contract is a legally binding agreement between an owner and a contractor, or between a general contractor and subcontractors, that defines the scope of work, the contract price, the schedule, the payment terms, the allocation of risks including delays and cost overruns, the warranty obligations, and the dispute resolution procedures for a commercial construction project. It governs every aspect of the project relationship from mobilization through final payment and post-completion warranty obligations.

A lump sum contract fixes the contractor's price for the defined scope of work, and the contractor bears all cost overruns above that price. A cost-plus contract pays the contractor its actual costs plus a fee, with the owner bearing all cost risk and having no certainty about the final price. A guaranteed maximum price contract combines elements of both, setting a ceiling on the cost-plus arrangement so that costs above the GMP fall on the contractor while savings below it may be shared with the owner.

? A mechanic's lien is a statutory security interest that attaches to real property when a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier is not paid for work or materials that improved the property. To preserve lien rights, the claimant must typically serve preliminary notices on the owner and general contractor shortly after first furnishing labor or materials, record the lien with the county recorder within a defined period after completing work, and file a foreclosure action to enforce the lien within the statute's enforcement deadline. Each state's requirements differ, and missing any deadline permanently eliminates lien rights for that project.

The Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. § 3131, requires that any general contractor on a federal construction project valued above $150,000 obtain both a payment bond and a performance bond before beginning work. The payment bond guarantees that subcontractors and material suppliers will be paid even if the general contractor fails to pay them. The performance bond guarantees that the project will be completed according to the contract if the general contractor defaults. Subcontractors who are not paid on federal projects can bring a claim directly against the payment bond without needing to file a mechanic's lien, because federal property is not subject to mechanics liens.

A no-damage-for-delay clause limits a contractor's recovery for owner-caused delays to a time extension only, eliminating the right to additional compensation for extended general conditions, escalation, and lost productivity regardless of who caused the delay. Most states enforce these clauses with limited exceptions, including delays caused by the owner's active interference, fraud, delays not contemplated by the parties when the contract was signed, and delays so unreasonably long as to constitute abandonment. An attorney who handles construction defect litigation and construction contract disputes can evaluate whether a specific delay falls within one of these exceptions.

An unpaid subcontractor has several remedies depending on the contract terms and the applicable state law. Mechanic's lien rights against the property are available on private projects if the required notices and deadlines are met. Payment bond claims are available on public projects where a payment bond was required. Direct claims against the owner under trust fund statutes, available in some states, allow the subcontractor to recover construction funds that the owner paid to the general contractor but that the general contractor diverted rather than passing through to the subcontractor. An attorney who handles construction and engineering law matters can evaluate which remedy is available, whether the procedural prerequisites have been met, and which approach is most likely to result in payment.