Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Project state of Arizona Public Bond. Can a bond claim be submitted for financial losses incurred out of our control We will be funded 100% of awarded contract. However we incurred losses due to delays and re-designs project mis managed etc.
Project state of Arizona Public Bond. Can a bond claim be submitted for financial losses incurred out of our control We will be funded 100% of awarded contract. However we incurred losses due to delays and re-designs project mis managed etc.
This was a public work project we were a subcontractor see question for detail on a bond claim
1 reply
Aug 23, 2018
That's a good question. First, as a general matter, lien and bond claims arise as a result of work performed and unpaid - and amounts of lien claims and bond claims should typically be directly tied to work that has been performed and gone unpaid. Amounts not tied the actual work performed are typically not lien able or subject to bond claims. This is not to say that those amounts aren't owed or recoverable, though. A lawsuit for delay damages or other sums could certainly be fruitful. Anyway, under 34-222(2) of Arizona's Little Miller Act, a payment bond is secured "solely for the protection of claimants supplying labor or materials to the contractor or his subcontractors in the prosecution of the work provided for in such contract." Further, 34-223(A) goes on to state that claims may be made "...for the amount, or the balance thereof, unpaid at the time of institution of such suit and to prosecute such action to final judgment for the sum or sums justly due the claimant..." Based on the above excerpts of Arizona's Little Miller Act, and based on the general nature of lien and bond claims, making a claim for an amount unrelated to the actual work performed on a project would seem to be improper and could result in an invalid claim. Of course, validly executed change orders may likely be claimed. However, claims unrelated to actual work provided would be riskier.