[RPPTL-constructionlaw] Legislative Committee Report

[David Mankuta]

Reese

Thanks so much for your diligence on this>> certainly a  major undertaking

Regards
David

David B Mankuta, Esq.
Board Certified in Construction Law
dbm at atkinson-diner.com<mailto:dbm at atkinson-diner.com>
www.atkinson-diner.com<http://www.atkinson-diner.com/>
Atkinson, Diner, Stone, Mankuta & Ploucha, P.A.
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From: constructionlaw-bounces at lists.flabarrpptl.org [mailto:constructionlaw-bounces at lists.flabarrpptl.org] On Behalf Of Reese J. Henderson, Jr.
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2012 6:12 PM
To: constructionlaw at lists.flabarrpptl.org
Subject: [RPPTL-constructionlaw] FW: Legislative Committee Report

Re-sending as I appeared to have addressed it incorrectly in my earlier email:

Folks,

This shall serve as the report of the Legislative Subcommittee for today's call.

First, we adopt the report of the Construction Regulatino Subcommittee as it relates to the 84 (essentially 42x2) construction-related bills that have been filed for consideration during the 2012 legislative sessin that begins tomorrow.

Second, we are tracking two bills (well, 2x2 = 4) of particular interest:

HB 897 / SB 1202 - relating to construction liens and bonds (copies attached).

Summary:  Rep. Moraitis and Sen. Bogdanoff have submitted companion bills to make a numbers of changes to Chapters 255 and 713, including:  (1) requiring additional information be added to a request for sworn statement of account served by an owner to assist a lienor in identifying the account to which the request pertains; (2) providing that deadlines for serving the notice to contractor, notice of nonpayment and payment bond lawsuit run from time the lienor is "notified in writing" of the existence of the bond, in the event the bond is not recorded in the official records before commencement of construction; (3) the burden of serving a notice of contest of lien or a notice of contest of payment bond claim is shifted from the Clerk to the owner or the general contractor, respectively; (4) the class of persons protected by a payment bond and the effective duration of the payment bond may not be shortened from what is provided in the statute (and any provisions in the bond to the contrary would be unenforceable); and (5) a request for sworn statement of account could be served by a lienor whether or not the lineor has recorded a claim of lien.  Note:  CLC members have discussed with the supporters of this bill merging the CLC's lien law proposed changes approved last year with this bill, and the response was very receptive.  The Section's lobbyist is working on getting these added to the bill along with changes to the existiing bill requested by our committee.

HB 1013 / SB 1196 - relating to residential construction warranties (copies attached).

Summary:  Rep. Artiles and Sen. Bennett have filed companion bills - which are identical - which target the decision of the Fifth DCA in the Maronda Homes decision and seek to overturn it.  In Maronda Homes, the Fifth DCA held that the implied warranty of habitability extends to the construction of roads, stormwater drainage systems and retention ponds.  However, the bills, as currently drafted, go significantly further than overturning Maronda Homes by adopting a severely restrictive definition of the term "habitability" which would effectively overturn much of the existing caselaw under Gable v. Silver and its progeny.  Further, the bill would apply retroactively.  Note:  The RPPTL section's lobbyist has met with the bills' sponsors to discuss the Section's concerns with the bill and initial reports were that the sponsors were receptive to amendments.  It is not known as of this writing whether RPPTL will take a legislative position on this bill.

Finally, attached for everyone's review and consideration are the following:

HB 963 / SB 1458 - adoption of Revised Uniform Arbitration Code

This is the bill prepared and submitted on behalf of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar and contains a substantial re-write of the Florida Arbitration Code.  The changes are too voluminous to summarize here.  All persons whose practice encompasses the use of ADR are strongly encouraged to review the provisions of this bill and familiarize themselves with the very substantial changes they would bring.

Reese
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Reese J. Henderson, Jr.
Shareholder
GrayRobinson, P.A.
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Main: 904-598-9929 | Fax: 904-598-9109
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