Construction Law Toolbox : Mississippi Construction Lawyer & Attorney : Robinson Biggs Ingram Solop & Farris Law Firm : MS & Southeast Construction Law Toolbox

During the last several decades arbitration has become a valuable method for resolving disputes between parties in the construction setting. A simple arbitration provision might read as follows:

Claims and disputes not resolved shall be decided by arbitration which shall be in accordance with the Construction Industry Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association currently in effect.  The locale of any arbitration shall be Jackson, Mississippi.

Simple and straightforward, but is it enough? It depends on what your expectations are for arbitration. An arbitrator is bound by the requirements of the arbitration clause. Therefore, if you are drafting an arbitration clause, you might want to consider including certain "bells and whistles" that will get you to the finish line faster. Here are some items you might want to consider including in an arbitration clause. 

• Location of the arbitration proceeding;
• Number of arbitrators and experience requirements;
• Limitations on discovery;
• Specific rules governing admissibility of evidence at hearing, i.e. state or federal rules of evidence verses the liberal rules for admissibility of the AAA;
• Time within which arbitration hearing must be conducted; and
• Payment of fees and costs.

Remember, it is your arbitration clause so draft it to suit your business objectives.

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A basic tenet of law is that when one party is injured by another party the innocent party is entitled to be "made whole." This concept in its simplest terms means that the innocent party should be awarded damages sufficient to put the innocent party back in the position it was in before the injury occurred. Often, the innocent party has insurance which will provide compensation to the innocent party until a recovery from the wrongful party can be obtained. The insurance company holds what is called a "right of subrogation" to any funds the innocent party receives from the wrongful party—a concept entitled to prevent the innocent party from double recovery (i.e., recovery from both the insurance company and the wrongful party).

In the case of Armstrong and Hill v. Miss. Farm Bureau Ins. Co., Armstrong and Hill were both injured in an automobile accident. Farm Bureau made payments to Armstrong and Hill under an insurance policy. Armstrong and Hill sued the negligent party and obtained a judgment which they collected from the negligent party. Farm Bureau took the position that it was entitled to receive the funds the negligent party had paid pursuant to Farm Bureau’s right of subrogation. Conversely, Armstrong and Hill took the position that Farm Bureau was not entitled to the money because their damages were higher than what they had been awarded by the jury in the trial and, therefore, they were not "made whole."

In a case of first impression, the Mississippi Supreme Court decided what "made whole" means in a factual setting of this kind. The Court ruled that the jury had decided what dollar amount of damages were necessary to make Armstrong and Hill "whole" when the verdict was rendered. Since it was a jury verdict, Armstrong and Hill could not contend that their damages were higher and re-litigate the issue with Farm Bureau. Thus, since Farm Bureau had already paid Armstrong and Hill, Farm Bureau was entitled to the funds paid by the negligent party.

This decision still leaves unanswered what would happen if the insurance company pays more than the jury awards. We’ll have to await that answer for another Court ruling.

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On January 3, 2011, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that any company identifying itself as small or veteran-owned and desiring to do business with the VA must provide documentation to prove its status. For companies that are currently listed on the VA’s Vendor Information Pages but have not previous been verified as small or veteran-owned, the documentation must be provided within 90 days of receiving a request for it from the VA. Companies that desire to be listed on the VA’s Vendor Information Pages must substantiate their status as small or veteran-owned prior to being listed. These expanded verification requirements are part of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2010, which was signed President Obama on October 13, 2010.  Click here for a copy of the announcement.

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Where in the Mississippi Procurement Statutes does it require subcontractors to be listed with a bid?  The correct answer is NO WHERE!!  So why use it to decide whether to award the contract to a prime contractor who is the low bidder with a valid certificate of responsibility from the Mississippi State Board of Contractors?

Rule 12 of the Mississippi State Board of Contractor’s Rules and Regulations states:

… the Prime Contractor on or before the date of being awarded the prime Contract, shall submit to the awarding agency a list of all subcontracts, exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) with respect to public projects…

(Emphasis added.)

The Department of Finance and Administration’s Procurement Manual provides as follows concerning the requirement for the listing of subcontractors:

600.55

SUBCONTRACTOR’S LIST

The Contractor will submit to the Bureau a list of all Subcontractors to be used on the Project within seven (7) days after written notice of contract award. Any Subcontractor listed must be acceptable to the Bureau. [Miss Code 1972, Annotated, Sections 31-3-1 through 31-3-23.]

(Emphasis added.)

And, when the City of Vicksburg questioned whether it could award the contract to the apparent low bidder that had not listed its subcontractors as required on the Bid Form, the Attorney General opined as follows:

In response to your first inquiry, previous opinions have stated that a waiver of an irregularity in a bid received would not be improper in cases where (1) the irregularity does not destroy the competitive character of the bid by affecting the amount of the bid thereby giving the bidder an advantage or benefit over other bidders and (2) the irregularity does not involve noncompliance with a statutory or regulatory requirement. See MS AG Op., Dees (June 7, 1995) and MS Ag Op., Kilpatrick, December 19, 1997). See also Parker Construction Company v. Board of Aldermen of the City of Natchez, 721 So.2d 671 (Miss. App. 1998). In your first inquiry, the irregularity was the failure to list the names of subcontractors on the bid form. We have previously opined that there is no statutory or regulatory requirement that a contractor submit a list of subcontractors upon the submission of his or her bid.  MS AG Op., Dees (June 7, 1995).  In fact, as you have stated, the Rules and Regulations of the State Board of Contractors, Rule 12, specifies that "the Prime Contractor, on or before the date of being awarded the prime contract, shall submit to the awarding agency a list of all sub-contracts, exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) with respect to public projects…" It is the responsibility of the awarding authority, however, to make a final determination whether an irregularity in a bid may be waived.

(Emphasis added). Mississippi Attorney General Opinion, dated September 22, 2000, addressed to Nancy D. Thomas. See also, Mississippi Attorney General Opinion, date June 7, 1995, addressed to A.J. "Buddy" Dees, Jr. (public agency permitted to award contract where prime contractor’s bid document listed subcontractor did not have a certificate of responsibility but prime contractor substituted licensed subcontractor prior to award).

Nonetheless, the design professionals for most public projects require the listing of subcontractors. Then, when a prime contractor fails to list its subcontractors or makes an error in listing its subcontractor, the design professional and/or public agency decide whether to reject the bid or waive the "irregularity". What are the criteria for deciding which of the two options will be exercised? You tell me.

If the public agency requires the listing of subcontractors it should state in the Instructions to Bidders that the bid will be rejected if subcontractors are not listed properly. It is just that simple. In addition, public agencies should change their rules and regulations to state listing of subcontractors must be submitted with the bid to be considered for award. This would mean that everyone would know the rules for listing of subcontractors. Will this happen? It is doubtful. It appears design professionals and public agencies prefer the flexibility afforded by such an ambiguity in the bidding process rather than the objectivity associated with clear Instructions to Bidders.

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