All projects begin on an optimistic note.
At the ground-breaking stage, everyone naturally hopes and believes that the job will be profitable and completed without any major problems. Few projects, however, go off without any glitches, and occasionally significant problems, such as a default by the general contractor, do occur. This article is a reminder of some of the measures that those in the construction industry can take to help avoid major contractual problems before they occur and to minimize their impact when they do occur. Although most of these measures are fairly obvious and probably are generally followed by ACI members already, they can be easily overlooked in the rush to get the project completed, especially when the confusion of a default is present. Although the primary focus of this article is from the perspective of suppliers and subcontractors, some of the following comments relate to sureties and the other parties involved in a construction project.