Category Archives: ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Christopher Weiss Attorney at Law P.A. is proud to announce that its founder has again been awarded Martindale Hubbel’s highest AV rating for 2023!

Mr. Weiss has had the distinguished honor of being AV rated every year since 1991. This award is given to attorneys who are ranked at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal expertise, communication skills, and ethical standards by their peers. We appreciate the support of not only our peers, but all of our clients, and team members as we continue providing Construction Litigation legal services. We are honored to serve the State of Florida and help our clients get what they deserve.

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Christopher J. Weiss Selected to the 13th Edition of the Best Law Firm List

Christopher J. Weiss

The Law Office of Christopher Weiss Attorney at Law P. A. is thrilled to announce that Christopher Weiss has been selected to the 13th Edition of the Best Law Firms rankings, for Orlando under Construction Litigation.

This list has been publicly announced by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers® for their thirteenth consecutive year.

We appreciate the support of all of our clients, and team members as we continue providing Construction Litigation legal services. We are honored to serve the State of Florida and help our clients get what they deserve. Firms included in the 2023 Edition of “Best Law Firms” are recognized for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise. For more information, visit https://www.bestlawyers.com/.

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Christopher J. Weiss named one of The Best Lawyers in America for 2021

My sincere congratulations to all attorneys who have just been named as one of The Best Lawyers in America for 2021. I am particularly pleased and honored to also be listed as one of The Best Lawyers in American for 2021. I have been continually listed in the Best Lawyers in America since by first nomination in 2006. I am fortunate to work with a great group of clients, dedicated professionals, and staff at Christopher Weiss Attorney at Law P. A.

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Christopher Weiss Attorney at Law, P.A. Selected as one of the Top 19 Litigation Attorneys serving Orlando

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Honored to be recognized as one of the Top 19 Best Orlando Litigation Attorneys by Expertise.com, a research company that makes it selection based on Reputation, Credibility, Experience, Engagement, and Professionalism.  Click here to read article.

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Two new laws affecting the Florida Construction Industry include Public Projects and Amendments to the Statute of Repose

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There are two new bills that you should be aware of. The first bill is House Bill 599 which deals with Public Works Projects. The hyperlink to the bill, which was signed into law by the governor is found below:

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2017/599/BillText/er/PDF

The theory is that the amendment will provide a more competitive bid process for public construction projects where state dollars represent 50% or more of the funding. Prior to this bill, local governments could establish arbitrary pre-bid mandates on contractor’s telling them who they must hire, where they must train and what benefit packages they must offer if they want to bid the job with that entity. For many small businesses, these mandates made it unaffordable to bid on many public projects. The premise is, increasing competition will benefit Florida taxpayers.

The second piece of legislation of consequence is House Bill 377 which deals with limitations on lawsuits other than for the recovery of real property. A hyperlink to the legislation is found below:

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2017/377/BillText/er/PDF

What this bill hopes to accomplish is to clarify when and how Florida’s 10-year statute of repose begins to run on a completed project. The statute of repose defines the period in which an owner can sue for alleged construction defects. In a number of recent cases, a final payment was not made for construction costs. By making final payment late, the repose period was effectively extended beyond the 10 years envisioned by the Florida legislature.

The pertinent language now states:

Completion of the contract means the later of the date of final performance of all the contracted services or the date that final payment for such services becomes due without regard to the date final payment is made. This act applies to causes of action that accrue on or after July 1, 2017.

If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call.

Christopher Weiss Attorney at Law, P.A.
Board Certified Construction Attorney
17 N. Summerlin Avenue, Ste. 200
Orlando, FL 32801
(407) 928-6737
chris@cweisslaw.com

 

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AVVO: Q & A – Can my home be liened by a window installer if no work has been performed, permit, financing and materials not delivered?

Christopher J. Weiss

Christopher J. Weiss

QUESTION:  I gave a deposit for window install and now don’t have the money to complete. I have not signed for the permit or the notice of commencement or the financing documents and no materials have been received or work performed. Can the window company put a lien on my house?

ANSWER:  In Florida, specially fabricated materials are lienable without incorporation. The issue is are they truly specially manufactured, designed, or fabricated for a particular project and are not materials that can be universally used on all projects. Specially fabricated materials have been described as those materials “not generally suited for nor readily adaptable to use in a like improvement.” Odolite Industries, Inc. v. Millman Const. Co., Inc., 501 So.2d 655, 656 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (quotation omitted). For instance, the Florida Supreme Court in Stunkel v. Gazebo Landscaping Design, Inc., 660 So.2d 623, 625 n.2 (Fla. 1995), noted that trees the owner specifically selected for a project were not specially fabricated because they could be used on other projects; whereas, in Lehigh Structural Steel Co. v. Joseph Langer, Inc., 43 So.2d 335, 338 (Fla. 1949), the Court noted that structural steel fabricated for a specific building was specially fabricated materials. (Notably, furnishing specially fabricated materials does not include “design work, submittals, or the like preliminary to actual fabrication of the materials.” Fla. Stat. s. 713.01(13).)

I suggest you engage a board certified construction attorney to advise you. Best regards.

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AVVO: Q & A – Can a subcontractor file a lien on a property after it is sold to a new owner?

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Christopher J. Weiss

Under Fla. Stat. §713.07(2), liens under §713.05 (persons in privity) and §713.06 (persons not in privity) with the owner, attach and take priority as of the time that the Notice of Commencement is recorded. You would need to determine if the lien was recorded after a Notice of Commencement has expired. Does the Claim of Lien relate back to the Notice of Commencement, even though it was recorded after the Notice of Commencement expired (i.e. over one year after the Notice of Commencement was recorded), or does the new owner take priority over the Claim of Lien?

Unfortunately, the State of Florida law on the issue of whether a Claim of Lien relates back to a Notice of Commencement when the Notice of Commencement has expired is rather convoluted.

Under Fla. Stat. §713.07(3), such liens have priority over any conveyance, demand or encumbrance not recorded against the real property prior to the time that the lien attached, which in our example would be when the notice of commencement was recorded. Conversely, §713.07(3) further provides that any conveyance, demand, or encumbrance recorded prior to the time that the lien attaches has priority over such liens.

Fla. Stat. §713.13 governs notices of commencement. §713.13(5) states that:

Unless otherwise provided in the notice of commencement or a new or amended notice of commencement, a notice of commencement is not effectual in law or equity against a conveyance, transfer, or mortgage of or lien on the real property described in the notice, or against creditors or subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration, after 1 year after the date of recording the notice of commencement.

Sorry for the length of the response, but it is a little complicated. Good Luck.

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