Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2241 – Written contract and bond
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2241
- contract: means any contract awarded by any public entity for the making of any public works or for the purchase of any materials or supplies. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Contractor: means any person or other legal entity who enters into a public contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Emergency: means an unforeseen mischance bringing with it destruction or injury of life or property or the imminent threat of such destruction or injury or as the result of an order from any judicial body to take any immediate action which requires construction or repairs absent compliance with the formalities of this Part, where the mischance or court order will not admit of the delay incident to advertising as provided in this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
- Public entity: means and includes the state of Louisiana, or any agency, board, commission, department, or public corporation of the state, created by the constitution or statute or pursuant thereto, or any political subdivision of the state, including but not limited to any political subdivision as defined in Article VI Section 44 of the Constitution of Louisiana, and any public housing authority, public school board, or any public officer whether or not an officer of a public corporation or political subdivision. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
- Public work: means the erection, construction, alteration, improvement, or repair of any public facility or immovable property owned, used, or leased by a public entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
A.(1) Whenever a public entity enters into a contract in excess of five thousand dollars for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public works, the official representative of the public entity shall reduce the contract to writing and have it signed by the parties. When an emergency as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 38:2212(D) is deemed to exist for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public works and the contract for such emergency work is less than fifty thousand dollars, there shall be no requirement to reduce the contract to writing.
(2) For each contract in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars per project, the public entity shall require of the contractor a bond with good, solvent, and sufficient surety in a sum of not less than fifty percent of the contract price for the payment by the contractor or subcontractor to claimants as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 38:2242. The bond furnished shall be a statutory bond and no modification, omissions, additions in or to the terms of the contract, in the plans or specifications, or in the manner and mode of payment shall in any manner diminish, enlarge, or otherwise modify the obligations of the bond. The bond shall be executed by the contractor with surety or sureties approved by the public entity and shall be recorded with the contract in the office of the recorder of mortgages in the parish where the work is to be done not later than thirty days after the work has begun.
B. All requirements and obligations of this Section, except the requirement to furnish a bond, shall be applicable to any contractor or subcontractor for whom bond requirements are waived under the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 38:2216(C) or (D).
C. The payment provisions of all bonds furnished for public work contracts described in this Part, regardless of form or content, shall be construed as and deemed statutory bond provisions. Any such bond which fails to contain any of the requirements set forth in this Part shall be deemed to incorporate all of the requirements set forth in this Section. Language in any such bond containing any obligations beyond the requirements set forth in this Part shall be deemed surplusage and read out of such bond. Sureties and contractors executing payment bonds for public works contracts under this Part shall be immune from liability for or payment of any claims not required by this Part.
D. A bond issued pursuant to this Section shall not create, nor shall such bond be construed to create, any cause of action in favor of the public entity, or any third party, for personal injury or property damages sustained by any third party during the effective period of the bond. Nothing contained herein shall in any way limit the liability on the bond for the performance of the work pursuant to the contract in question; however, to the extent that the public contract in question should contain any provisions for a hold harmless or indemnity agreement, or both, by the contractor, in favor of the public entity, for personal injury or property damages sustained by third parties, the hold harmless or indemnity agreement, or both, shall not be deemed or construed to be secured by the bond, conditioned upon the concurrence of the contractor and the surety.
E. Any provisions of a bond issued pursuant to this Section which are contrary to Subsection D hereof are hereby declared to be contrary to the public policy of the state of Louisiana and are null and void.
F. The provisions of this Section shall not be subject to waiver by contract.
Amended by Acts 1975, No. 344, §1; Acts 1979, No. 389, §1; Acts 1980, No. 615, §1; Acts 1985, No. 244, §1; Acts 1986, No. 248, §1; Acts 1986, No. 888, §1; Acts 1991, No. 749, §1, eff. July 18, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 540, §1; Acts 1997, No. 119, §1; Acts 1999, No. 673, §1.