Construction Transactions

Most brick and mortar businesses are likely to be involved in a construction project during the course of their operations. Expansions, reconfigurations, retrofitting and systems upgrades all require contracting for construction services. Such projects can be subject to delays, cost overruns and unnecessary risk if not properly coordinated from the very beginning.

Holland & Knight's Construction Industry Practice Group includes a team of attorneys who concentrate their practice on construction transactions. Our Construction Transactions Team has the experience to guide you through the procurement and construction process with an aim toward simplifying the process and minimizing your risks.

We regularly represent clients in many different industries, including real estate development and management, commercial, institutional, manufacturing, healthcare and life sciences, energy, power distribution, transportation and government contracts.

Thorough Knowledge to Protect Your Interests

Members of our team  can take you through the construction process step-by-step. We understand the key risk variables that shape construction contracts and can assist you in crafting solutions to bridge construction risks. We also know where construction delays are likely to occur and can help you avoid them to keep your project on track. 

Experienced Advice to Accelerate Your Project

Our team strives to ensure the efficient completion of your construction project, and when you engage our team early in the procurement process, the benefits of our advice and services are maximized. We understand how coordination and management of the OEM's work with the construction work can be critical to avoiding schedule and cost impacts. For clients engaging in multiple projects, we also understand the efficiency of using master contract forms with project-specific work orders in order to standardize terms and achieve efficiencies across projects.

We regularly work with all forms of agreement within the construction industry, including owner-contractor agreements of all types, owner-designer agreements and specialty delivery methods such as turnkey, design-build, EPC and public-private partnerships.

Members of our team use the major published sets of construction contract forms such as AIA, ConsensusDOCS, DBIA, FIDIC, EJCDC and others on a daily basis and, in some cases, help to draft them for the sponsoring organization. We also create and adapt custom documents for specific clients in an efficient manner that avoids reinventing the wheel. 

Knowing the Industry Inside and Out

Because we concentrate our practice on construction transactions, we are intimately knowledgeable about how the construction industry operates. We speak the same language used by construction managers, project managers and facilities directors and, for clients undertaking their first project, we fully explain construction terms and practices in language you understand and provide context for the business decisions you will face.

We frequently provide clients with guidance regarding statutory restrictions on negotiated contract terms under the laws of specific states and have at the ready state-specific riders for many states.

Recent Experience

Members of our team have drafted and negotiated the following contracts for project owners in the last three years:

• owner-design-builder, owner-project manager, owner-engineer and owner-broadband network operator agreements for an 1100-mile broadband installation in Massachusetts
• owner-construction manager agreements for multiple neighborhood healthcare centers in Massachusetts
• owner-construction manager and owner-architect agreements for major, phased hospital expansion and renovation in Massachusetts
• owner-owner's project manager, owner-architect and owner-construction manager  agreements for a $200 million new medical office building and related facilities in downtown Chicago
• joint venture agreement for a municipal water conduit rehabilitation project in Illinois
• owner-design-builder agreement for demolition, renovation and reconstruction of privatized military housing in Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee
• owner-design-builder agreements for a consumer project distribution center building and material handling system in Pennsylvania
• owner-architect  and owner-construction manager agreements for a national defense contractor research facility in Massachusetts
• owner-contractor agreement and bid documents for a post office and below-ground train shed in New York
• owner-design/build/operate agreements and bid documents for tramway improvements in New York
• owner-engineer agreements for an equestrian facility in Connecticut
• owner-architect and owner-contractor agreements for multifamily residential and condominium projects in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland
• owner-architect and owner-contractor agreements for commercial office and retail interior build-outs from Massachusetts to Florida
• owner-construction manager agreements for fiber optic relocation projects in Texas and Hawaii
• owner-architect and owner-contractor agreements for large, urban and suburban office buildings in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Florida and Massachusetts
• owner-architect and owner-contractor agreements for suburban shopping centers in Maryland, Virginia and Massachusetts