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Contractor Explained

Contractor Explained

What is a Contractor?
A contractor is an individual or company who is responsible for the day-to-day operations and oversight of a construction site. In addition to these functions a contractor will also manage the transactions involved in the site, primarily trades and deals with vendors.
A contractor is also responsible for keeping touch with the general contractor and the involved parties involved throughout the course of the project. 

Price Evaluation Process:
Before starting a construction project, a contractor must visit and assess the construction site. Upon evaluating the piece of property, the contractor will formulate a price, referred to as an estimate. The contractors will then evaluate the cost of all materials, equipment, as well as the cost of labor. After analyzing the expected cost of the project, the contractor will provide the owner of the building with an approximate price for the construction process. 
Following the delivery of the expected price for the project, the contractor will draw up contracts. These contracts will elaborate on the budget and the conditions revolving around the plans and specifications of the project. The contractor will utilize a design professional, such as an architect, to better evaluate the necessities of the project. That being said, in the majority of construction sites, the contractor will also act as the project engineer or the project manager. 

What is a Contractor Responsible for?
A contractor is responsible for providing the construction companies and the individual workers with all material, including labor, equipment and those services necessary for the construction of the project. In order to accomplish these tasks, the contractor will incorporate specialized subcontractors to perform specialized tasks or portions of the construction process. 
The responsibilities of the contractor will vary depending on the size and complexity of the construction project. In general; however, a contractor will be responsible for providing or accomplishing the following tasks: filing for building permits, securing the property, managing the workers on site, providing temporary materials and utilities on site, providing engineering functions and surveying for the site, disposing of wastes left over by the construction process, monitoring the schedules of workers, balancing the costs of the project and maintain accurate records regarding the finances and the construction process as a whole.


Example of a Contractor’s work:
An owner of a building or a real estate developer will develop a program based on their needs and subsequently choose a site. An architect will then assemble a design team of engineers and other experts to design the building and pinpoint specifications needed for construction. During this phase, the contractor will frequently participate in the design efforts by providing services where they will aid in providing price estimations and information revolving around scheduling. 
The owner, contractor and architect will then work closely together to meet the deadline and budget of the project. The contractor will work with subcontractors to ensure that all quality standards have been met, in addition to the budget and timeline.  

Contract In Depth

Contract In Depth

A contract is a legal document which may be enforceable by legal action or by binding arbitration. In order for this to be true, however, the contract agreement must meet several important requirements. 
There must be a compensatory remedy for the contract under which the party which defaults is required to pay monetary compensation that would have otherwise been provided had the contract agreement been upheld, or an equitable remedy, which can also be called Specific Performance. The equitable remedy, or specific performance, compels an individual who enters into a contract agreement to carry out the action against which they have attempted to renege on their obligation. 
In order for a contract to be valid, the contract must involve unqualified, or “mirror”, acceptance. In order for a contract agreement to be valid, all parties must have the capacity to contract, and the terms of the contract cannot be trifling, indeterminate, or impossible. In the eyes of the law, a contract cannot be entered into to compel illegal action.
Although a contract is usually written in order to compel action, a contract agreement can also be created which will prevent a person from performing an act which they have the legal capacity to perform.
If a contract agreement is breached, legal remedies may be provided to address that breach.
Contract law, the legal field that specializes in the legal disposition of contracts and contract agreements, generally adheres to the Latin motto “pacta sunt servana,” meaning “pacts [agreements] must be kept.”

What You Need to Know About Contract Templates

What You Need to Know About Contract Templates

Contract templates are used by many companies so that the company only has to have a contract drafted and examined by a lawyer or legal professional a single time. If the contract template is examined and declared to be legally valid and capable of standing up to close inspection or in a court of law, the contract template may then be used to create future contracts in as effective and efficient manner as possible in terms of both the time and money that is required to create a contract between different and additional groups. 
However, since a contract template may make use of boilerplate language, there is a danger that if the contract templates do not make the contract template’s terms easily accessible and comprehensible, the contract template may not be considered valid and might result in a party that disputes a contract that develops from the contract template. 
Contract templates are available for almost any conceivable contractual situation. A contract template may be produced by specific corporate contract software programs, or a contract template may also be used to create contracts from other templates in other, commonly available software programs and products.

Definition of Designation

Definition of Designation

Designation is the term used to describe ownership one has over something. Designation is used commonly with wills and trusts. Designation of record is what the writer of the will or trust creates to submit to the court so that the court knows and understands who is in full control of the contract and the individual’s estates and assets after they have passed.
Designation of Record must be completed with the creator of the contract, the individual who will hold designation, and a lawyer. After the creator and the designator have settled on an agreement, the Designation of Record will then be signed off on and delivered to the court. Finally, the court will approve of the documents and the contract will be put into place. Generally, the contract will go into immediate effect at this point.

Understanding Promissory Estoppel

Understanding Promissory Estoppel

  
Promissory estoppel is one of the broad categories of reliance-based estoppels. Promissory estoppel is differentiated from the other two forms of reliance-based estoppel, estoppel by representation of fact and proprietary estoppel, in that promissory estoppel applies where one person makes a promise to another person, but there is no contract that can be enforced to make the person carry out the promised action.


In order for promissory estoppel to apply, the party that has been victimized must prove in court that there was both an inducement and a detrimental reliance. In other words, there has to be evidence that one party intended for the victim to act on the promise or representation, or the victim must satisfy the court that their actions were a reasonable response to the relevant promise or representation. 


The victim must also show that the actions that the victim engaged in were either reasonable or were the intended response to the representation made, and that the victim would suffer a loss or detriment at the current moment  in the event the other party were permitted to be released from the assumed obligation. For the courts to find that promissory estoppel applies it must be shown that it would be unconscionable to allow the party to benefit from their actions.


Promissory estoppel and estoppel by representation of fact are mutually exclusive concepts. Estoppel by representation of fact is based on a representation of some mixture of law and fact, while promissory estoppel is based on a promise to fail to exercise a previously existing right.

What Can A Contract Software Do For You

What Can A Contract Software Do For You

Contract software can provide
free contract templates for individuals to use when, in the course of their
business or personal dealings, they encounter the need to form contracts. In
addition to purchasing contract software for the express purpose of creating
contracts, in many cases companies are able to obtain free contract templates
online in order to accomplish their contract creation needs. The contract software
that is used may be customized for use by a company, or the contract software
may simply be used as they are originally obtained.

Free contract templates may be
used to create a standard form contract, which are also known as a boilerplate
contract or an adhesion contract. Whether paid or free, contract templates can
save an individual or enterprise substantial amounts of time, cost, and effort
that would otherwise be associated with the creation of a contract.

Contract software can be
drafted using free contract templates to help facilitate the use of contracts
and services. Contract software which an individual or enterprise obtains can
make use of free contract templates in order to allow the party that is
drafting the contract and then offering the contract to the other party, a
resource which can help them to make the contract more likely to stand up to
scrutiny in a court of law, as well as making sure that the free contract
templates which they use will provide for their particular needs.

What You Must Know About Withholding Employee Wages

What You Must Know About Withholding Employee Wages

Employers are
legally allowed to withhold employee wages when state, local, or Federal law
requires them to do so. The Federal law of the United States actually requires
employers to withhold wages to satisfy payroll tax requirements administered
through the Internal Revenue Service.

The payroll
tax requirements are used to fund Federal income tax, Medicare tax, and Social
Security tax. If an employer did not withhold employee wages, there would be no
way to fund such programs or levies. In addition, if local law requires it, the
employer is also required to withhold wages for state taxation. 

As a result of the tax responsibilities, all
employers withhold a certain percentage of an employee’s wages. That being
said, employers are not allowed to withhold wages for any circumstance that is
not aligned with taxation or funding company programs or benefits. Withholding
wages without reason is illegal under United States employment law.

Quick and Easy Contract Law Cases

Quick and Easy Contract Law Cases

 

 
Contract law cases can be classified under the general law of obligations. The general category of the Law of Obligations includes Torts Law, Unjust Enrichment Law, and Restitution Law, besides Contracts Law.
 
 
One of the most famous contract law cases is the case of Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company. Although this case of contracts law is included in English contract law cases, the relevant principles of contracts law in the English system were adapted to the American courts.
 
 
Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company is one of the most famous contract law cases since it involved a manufacturer who offered a flu remedy called a “carbolic smoke ball.” The makers of the smoke ball, the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company, advertised in a newspaper that buyers who developed the flu despite using the smoke ball properly would be given 100 Pounds as a refund. 
 
 
The Company claimed that the advertisement was not a serious offer, but the judges in the case ruled that because there was a statement from the company that they had deposited money in an account so that they would be able to make the payments if there were any claims, a reasonable person had cause to believe that there was a sincere offer, thus meeting the requirement that there be an offer and acceptance to form a contract.

 

Deed Poll

Deed Poll

A deed poll is a type of legal document that only involves a single person or party, and which states a particular intention that such a person is bound to by the document itself. A deed poll itself is not a contract due to the fact that only one party is affected by such a legal document and it states only an intention, rather than a guarantee or promise. This kind of document is oftentimes referred to as a deed poll name change because it is very commonly used in order to enact a name change for an individual. 
Change name by deed poll is most commonly used in Europe, particularly in England, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. Other nations such as Hong Kong and New Zealand also use the deed poll name change.
Typically speaking, to change name by deed poll will require that a person complete a form, which must be signed by a witness. The form is then filed with the appropriate court. In many jurisdictions, deed poll name change may be considered as a legal name change, though change name by deed poll may not necessarily change a person’s name on the birth certificate. 
Therefore, in the case that a passport is to be obtained, for instance, both the birth certificate and the change name by deed poll document will need to be furnished in order to complete the passport requirements.

Read This Before Entering Into A Quasi Contract

Read This Before Entering Into A Quasi Contract

What is a Quasi Contract?
A quasi-contract is a fictional contract that was created by courts to promote equitable treatment. As a result of this definition, a quasi-contract is not an actual, legally-binding document, but instead a legal substitute for a contract that is formed to impose equity between two distinct parties. 
The basic concept of a quasi-contract is that a contractual agreement should have been formed in situations where such an agreement was not realized. The quasi-contract is thus used when a court system feels as though it is appropriate to create an obligation to avoid an injustice and to promote equality between two parties. 
In most cases, the actual existence of a real contract is required for a defendant to be held liable for services rendered; however, in many jurisdictions throughout the United States, under certain circumstances, a plaintiff may be entitled to seek restitution under a quasi-contract.
Basic Elements of a Quasi Contract:
The basic elements of a quasi-contract require three fundamental principles. The first element is that the plaintiff furnished valuable goods or required specific services to be rendered with a reasonable expectation of being compensated if the defendant breached or failed to meet these expectations. Secondly, the defendant must knowingly have accepted the aforementioned goods and obtained a direct benefit through this acceptance. 
And lastly, the defendant must receive benefits by the goods or services that are regarded as unfair in situations where the plaintiff received no compensation.
In a standard, legally-binding contract, both parties agree to the stipulations of the deal and the surrounding subject matter, to affirm the agreement and to make the contract binding, the parties enter into an oral or written agreement prior to exchange of goods or services. 
In a quasi-contract; however, one of the parties does not intend to enter the contract. Even though mutual assent is not achieved, the court can decide to create a contract to promote fairness between the two parties. 
In most instances, a quasi-contract is created when disputes over payments of goods or services arise between two parties. When these situations arise, the remedy for a quasi-contract is typically limited to whatever is necessary to prevent the presence of unjust enrichment obtained by one of the parties. 
This typically means, in regards to the creation of a quasi-contract, that damages are restricted to the cost of the plaintiff’s materials and labor. In these situations, profits are excluded on the grounds that it is unfair for a party who did not want to enter a contract to pay the profits to the other party. 
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