{"id":898042,"date":"2020-10-06T13:58:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T19:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=898042"},"modified":"2020-10-06T13:58:04","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T19:58:04","slug":"mechanics-lien-virginia-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/mechanics-lien-virginia-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Changes to Va. Code Section 43-13: Another Arrow in a Subcontractor\u2019s Quiver"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Christopher G. Hill | <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/constructionlawva.com\/changes-to-va-code-section-43-13-another-arrow-in-a-subcontractors-quiver\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ConstructionLawMusings-RichmondVa+%28Construction+Law+Musings-+Richmond%2C+VA%29\" target=\"_blank\">Construction Law Musings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As is always the case here in Virginia, our General Assembly has made\u00a0some legislative changes\u00a0that affect construction contracting.\u00a0 One of these changes is an amendment to\u00a0Va. Code 43-13\u00a0found in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/lien-filing-update-virginia-mechanics-liens-get-even-harder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mechanic\u2019s lien<\/a>\u00a0section of the Virginia Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This section of the code has always required that any money paid to a contractor must first go toward paying its subcontractors, suppliers and laborers prior to being used for any other purpose.&nbsp; Prior to 2020, the only remedy for violaiton of Va. Code 43-13 was to go to the local Commonwealth\u2019s Attorney and request a prosecution of the wrongdoer.&nbsp; For various reasons, including that such action did not get the subcontractor or supplier that remained unpaid under this section paid, this remedy was not often pursued except in the most egrigious cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A key change in the statute occurred during the 2020 legislative session states as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>Any breach or violation of this section may give rise to a civil cause of action for a party in contract with the general contractor or subcontractor, as appropriate; however, this right does not affect a contractor\u2019s or subcontractor\u2019s right to withhold payment for failure to properly perform labor or furnish materials on the project. Any contract or subcontract provision that allows a contracting party to withhold funds due under one contract or subcontract for alleged claims or damages due on another contract or subcontract is void as against public policy.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>What does this mean? Firstly, it means that there is now a civil cause of action directly under this statutory provision for any subcontractor or supplier that is not paid in violation of this statute.&nbsp; Secondly, it outlaws cross project withholding of funds as against public policy.&nbsp; This last makes provisions of construction contracts that allow withholding of funds on one project for alleged breaches or damages on another project void.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These two additions should be helpful to subcontractors and suppliers that face non-payment if the circumstances are right.\u00a0 As always, I recommend the advice of an\u00a0experienced Virginia construction attorney\u00a0when faced with a potential violation of Va. Code 43-13.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christopher G. Hill | Construction Law Musings As is always the case here in Virginia, our General Assembly has made\u00a0some legislative changes\u00a0that affect construction contracting.\u00a0 One of these changes is an amendment to\u00a0Va. Code 43-13\u00a0found in the\u00a0mechanic\u2019s lien\u00a0section of the Virginia Code. This section of the code has always required that any money paid to&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/mechanics-lien-virginia-code\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Changes to Va. Code Section 43-13: Another Arrow in a Subcontractor\u2019s Quiver<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10772],"tags":[9895,184,357,11313],"class_list":["post-898042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mechanics-lien-law","tag-advise-consult","tag-mechanics-lien-law","tag-virginia","tag-virginia-code-41-13","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Changes to Va. 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