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Case Study : Southern Builders Inc. Vs. Shaw Development Llc

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Case 1: “Southern Builders Inc. vs. Shaw Development LLC, Case No. 19-C-07-011405 (Md. Cir. Ct. 2007)”. Facts and Issues. This is one of the first lawsuits related to green construction in the United States. In this case, Shaw Development as the owner, appointed Southern Builders Inc. as the contractor, to construct a $7.5 million, 23-unit condominium and restaurant project, known as Captain’s Galley, in Somerset County, Maryland along with obtaining the LEED-Silver certification. The thing was Southern Builders, in January 2007, filed a $54,000 mechanic’s lien in the Circuit Court against the owner. On the other hand, Shaw Development, subsequently filed a counterclaim alleging breach of contract, argued that it had lost $635,000 of the state green-building tax credits (8%) because of the lateness in the contractor’s performance.
The issue was that the contract failed to spell out the tax credit secured provisions which relied on the environmental design of the project; additionally, specifically determining roles and duties for each project team member in the project contracts is extremely necessary to successful green-building-project delivery. If there are ambiguities as for varied services or work, problems will instantaneously occur. Indeed, the owner and the prime contractor have signed the contract according to the AIA standard form (A101‑1997) which did not clearly specify the responsibilities associated with the tax credits or specifically determine any green

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