Construction Law
 
     Many of the largest builders in the Georgian Bay and Muskoka area are our clients.  That can be attributed in part to the fact that Howard Oldham is actively involved in the business of construction in conjunction with his legal practice.  This provides our clients with a practical background along with sound legal advice.
 
     Due to the prevalence of financial failures in the construction business, there is legislation specifically designed to protect those supplying goods and services.  The Construction Lien Act imposes strict timelines in regards to the registration of liens and initiation of a lien action.  Generally, a contractor and/or subcontractor has 45 days from substantial completion to register a lien (known as "preserving the lien").  The contractor and/or subcontractor then has another 45 days to initiate a lien action (known as "perfecting the lien").  If these timelines are not met, liening the property may be impossible.  Our law firm is able to respond quickly in order to provide advice and meet these strict timelines.
 
     There are certain advantages and disadvantages of the Construction Lien Act verses a typical lawsuit.  The most obvious advantage is that a lien on the property will hinder a sale, financing or refinancing of the property until the lien issue is resolved.  A lien is also possible for a subcontractor (to the extent of the holdback) who otherwise could not directly sue the owner since the subcontractor was not party to the agreement between the owner and the general contractor.  A lien will obviously also provide security for a future court judgment should the contractor and/or subcontractor succeed in their claim.
 
     One of the chief objectives of the Construction Lien Act is also to protect the flow of money from the owner to the contractor and subcontractors.  This is done in two ways.  Firstly, the various parties in the chain are obligated to holdback monies until the time period for filing a lien has expired.  Secondly, all funds received by a party in the payment chain are held in  trust for the next person in the chain and cannot by seized by outside creditors.  For this reason, contractors and subcontractors should not intermingle funds from a project with other funds - however, in the "real world" this is often the case.  Directors and Officers of a contractor or subcontractor should be aware that they expose themselves to personal liability when such funds are intermingled.
 
     The owner of the project is also obligated to holdback at least 10% of monies advanced to the general contractor until the expiry of any lien rights by subcontractors.  This holdback is for the protection of subcontractors.  Once the general contractor is paid, it will in turn pay the subcontractors while retaining a similar holdback