Vermont Statutes Title 9 Sec. 4007
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 9 Sec. 4007
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Contractor: means a person or entity that contracts with an owner to perform work, or provide materials or machinery necessary to perform work on real property. See
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
- Owner: includes successors in interest of the owner and agents of the owner acting within their authority. See
- Subcontractor: means any person or entity that has contracted to perform work, or provide materials or machinery necessary to perform work for a contractor or another subcontractor in connection with a construction contract. See
- Work: means to build, alter, repair, or demolish any improvement on, connected with, or on or beneath the surface of any real property, or to excavate, clear, grade, fill, or landscape any real property or to construct driveways, private roadways, highways and bridges, drilled wells, septic, sewage systems, utilities, including trees and shrubbery, or to furnish materials, for any of such purposes, or to perform any labor upon real property. See
§ 4007. Disputes; penalties; attorney’s fees
(a) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent an owner, contractor, or subcontractor from withholding payment in whole or in part under a construction contract in an amount equalling the value of any good faith claims against an invoicing contractor or subcontractor, including claims arising from unsatisfactory job progress, defective construction, disputed work, or third-party claims.
(b) If arbitration or litigation is commenced to recover payment due under the terms of this chapter and it is determined that an owner, contractor, or subcontractor has failed to comply with the payment terms of this chapter, the arbitrator or court shall award, in addition to all other damages due and as a penalty, an amount equal to one percent per month of all sums as to which payment has wrongfully been withheld. An amount shall not be deemed to have been wrongfully withheld to the extent it bears a reasonable relation to the value of any claim held in good faith by the owner, contractor, or subcontractor against which an invoicing contractor, or subcontractor is seeking to recover payment.
(c) Notwithstanding any contrary agreement, the substantially prevailing party in any proceeding to recover any payment within the scope of this chapter shall be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees in an amount to be determined by the court or arbitrator, together with expenses. (Added 1991, No. 74, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1992.)