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Understanding
and Negotiating
Construction
Contracts
Understanding
and Negotiating
Construction
Contracts AandContractor’s
Subcontractor’s
Guide to
Protecting
Company Assets
Second Edition

Kit Werremeyer
This book is printed on acid-­free paper.

Copyright © 2023 by RSMeans. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
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except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without
either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the
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Library of Congress Cataloging-­in-­Publication Data Applied for

Paperback ISBN: 9781394150205 [LCCN 2023011467]

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Images: Courtesy of Geometrica, Inc;
joffi/Pixabay, Personal Photo By Kit Werremeyer

Set in 12/15pt Warnock pro by Straive, Pondicherry, India

Dedicated to all those contractors and subcontractors who are
interested in learning how to negotiate more favorable commercial
terms and conditions in their construction contracts and thereby better
protect the hard-­earned assets of their companies.
 Contents

Acknowledgments xiii
About the Author xv
Preface xvii
Disclaimer xix
Introduction xxi
The Goals of This Book xxi
What Are the Benefits of This Book? xxi
Contractor & Owner Conventions xxii
Private Contracts or Government Contracts? xxii
Key Contracting Concepts xxii
Two Types of Commercial Terms & Conditions xxiii
The Most Important Commercial Terms & Conditions xxv
The Contracting Process xxv
Excuses for Not Negotiating Better Commercial
Terms & Conditions xxv
The Concept of Risk Transfer xxvi
This Is a Book Developed Just for Contractors xxvii
Three Final Suggestions xxvii
Chapter 1: Contracts: Basic Training 1
What Is a Contract? 1
The Steps to a Contract 1

vii
 Coming to the Party? 2
The Starting Point 3
“Here’s My Proposal” 4
“Consideration,” or Something of Value 5
The “Happy Test” 5
“Can That Person Sign This Contract?” 6
Call in the Enforcer to Close the Breach! 6
A Contract Example 8
Strange Words & Long Paragraphs 10
Contracting Myths 11
Contract Negotiations 12
Chapter 2: Types & Forms of Contracts 15
Fixed Price & Fixed Schedule Contracts 16
Reimbursable Type Contracts 16
Combined Fixed Price & Reimbursable Contracts 18
Cost Plus Fee Contracts 20
Guaranteed Maximum Price Contracts 21
Target Price Contracts 21
Contracts with Performance Incentives 22
Form of Contracts 23
Some Final Contract Housekeeping—­Definitions 30
Conclusion32
Chapter 3: Scope of Work 33
The Scope of Work Matrix 37
Scoping Drawings 39
Conclusion40
Chapter 4: Terms of Payment & Cash Flow 41
Cash Flow 42
Interest Rates 44
Periodic Progress & Milestone Payments 45
Conclusion59
Chapter 5: The Schedule 61
Float62
Time Is of the Essence 64
Extra Time, but No Money 66
Conclusion68
Chapter 6: Assurances of Performance 69
Guaranties & Bonds 70
What Does “Failure to Perform” Mean? 72

viii
 What Is a Bond? 72
Forms of Assurances of Performance 73
Surety Companies 78
Some Language Considerations on Guaranties & Bonds 82
Types of Performance Assurances 82
Conclusion101
Chapter 7: Insurance 103
What Is Insurance? 104
Claims Made vs. Occurrence 105
Types of Insurance 106
Important Issues Associated with Insurance 112
Additional Insured Status 120
Additional Insurance Basics 121
A Typical Insurance Clause in a Construction Contract 134
Safety140
Chapter 8: Indemnity 141
Insurance & Indemnity 142
Indemnity Definitions 142
Transferring the Owner’s Risks to Contractors 143
Fairness Is Not a Consideration 143
Is an Indemnity Required in a Construction Contract? 144
Anti-­Indemnity Legislation 144
Examples of Indemnification Clauses 150
Indemnification, Additional Insured Status, &
Contractual Liability Insurance 157
Owners Love CLAIMS! 161
Negotiating Indemnity Clauses 162
Knock-­for-­Knock Indemnities 165
Conclusion166
Chapter 9: Changes 169
Some Ground Rules 170
Protecting the Project Manager 170
Owners’ Directives 171
Constructive Changes 171
Payment for Changes 172
Sample Change Clauses 172
Major Contract Changes 178
Negotiating Change Clauses 179
Conclusion180

ix
 Chapter 10: Disputes & Their Resolution 183
What’s a Project Manager to Do? A Short Story to Start With 183
Disputes—­The Construction Contract’s Bad Actor 184
An Ounce of Prevention 186
Dispute Resolution Options 186
The Folks who Negotiate, Mediate, Arbitrate, & Litigate 188
Dispute Resolution Clauses 189
Conclusion192
Chapter 11: Damages 193
Breach of Contract/Failure to Perform 194
Contractors’ Financial Exposure 194
Actual Damages—­A Silent Risk? 194
Liquidated Damages 196
Consequential Damages 204
Conclusion206
Chapter 12: Warranties 207
A Workable Definition of Warranty 207
Warranty Issues 208
The Uniform Commercial Code 214
When Is No Warranty Appropriate? 217
Extended Duration Warranties 219
Limiting Provisions in Warranties 221
Pass-­Through Warranties 221
Latent Defects & Warranty 222
A Sample Warranty 224
Conclusion224
Chapter 13: Termination & Suspension 227
Termination for Cause 228
Termination for Convenience 229
Suspension232
Cancellation236
Conclusion236
Chapter 14: Force Majeure 239
Negotiating Clauses 239
Sample Contract Language 240
Conclusion244
Chapter 15: Other Contract Clauses 245
Site Conditions 246
Use of Completed Portions of the Work 251

x
 Patent Indemnity 252
Secrecy & Confidentiality Clauses & Agreements 253
Owner’s Right to Inspect 254
Independent Contractors 257
Assignment258
Acceptance & the Punch List 260
Advance & Partial Waiver of Liens 262
Final Waiver of Liens 265
Audit Rights 268
Severability or Validity Clauses 269
Venue & Applicable Law 269
Florida Civil Code Chapter 47 Venue 270
Texas Business & Commercial Code
Annotated §272.001 271
Venue and Choice of Law State Statutes 271
Contractual Rendition? 271
Changes in the Law 272
Some Interesting Clauses to Close 273
Chapter 16: A Construction Contractor’s
Contract Checklist 275
Chapter 17: International Contracting 283
International Contracts 284
The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 285
Letters of Credit 286
Split Contracts: Onshore & Offshore Contracts 288
Political, Religious, & Economic Risks 289
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) 290
Legal Systems in Foreign Countries 290
Local Employees, Partners, & Agents 291
Offshore Companies 292
Currency Risks 293
Applicable Law 297
Joint Ventures 299
Joint Operations 299
Import & Export Considerations 300
Understanding INCOTERMS 302
The Export‐­Import Bank of the United States 305
Where to Get Some Help—­Ask the U.S. Government 306
Lastly, Use the Right Paper Size! 307
Conclusion307

xi
 Chapter 18: What’s It Take to Do Business
in Southeast Asia? 309
Patience Is Golden 310
Walk the Talk 310
Time and Money 311
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 312
Center for Strategic and International Studies 313
Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) 314
Backdoor to China and India 314
SPECIAL SECTION—­The Socialist Republic
of Vietnam (Vietnam) 316
Resources for Business in Southeast Asia 317
Chapter 19: Some Final Thoughts on Negotiating Contracts 319
Why Negotiate? 320
The Concept of Standard Terms & Conditions 320
Risk Transfer Item 1: Get Rid of the Indemnity Clause! 322
Risk Transfer Item 2: Don’t Provide Additional
Insured Status 323
Risk Transfer Clauses, Insurance, & Safety 323
How to Say No without Aggravating the Owner 324
The Worst Contracting Word: “Reasonable” 324
The Best Contracting Word: “Notwith- standing” 325
Win-­Win & Lose-­Lose in Contract
Negotiations—­Fairy Tales? 326
Is There a Price for Bad Commercial Terms & Conditions? 327
Terms of Payment 327
Some Tips on Successful Negotiating 328
Three First (and Final) Suggestions 328
Resources 329
Glossary 333
Index 349

xii
 Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the following people who, by sharing their long-­term

experience in working with construction contracts, added
significantly to this book.
John T. (J.T.) Wodarski and Joseph J. Newman Jr., each of whom has
over 30 years of valuable experience in negotiating commercial terms
and conditions of engineering and construction contracts, provided
many suggestions for improvements in how the issues were covered
in this book. Neither of these two friends (and tough negotiators)
hesitated to challenge me to clarify or expand on some of the
contracting and negotiating guidance I drafted. The results were
significant improvements to the content of the book.
Robert W. Wolfe Esq. has negotiated and reviewed many large and
small domestic and international engineering and construction
contracts from a legal standpoint for more than 25 years. He kept me
straight on the many legal fine points associated with the riskiest
commercial terms and conditions found in contracts. He is the most
practical and effective lawyer I have ever had the opportunity to deal
with in the engineering and construction business.
Bruce Wilkinson Esq. has been working with a wide variety of
contracts for over 35 years. He provided many insightful and useful
comments and suggestions on construction contract commercial
terms and conditions.
Gwen A. Schroder and Ed Jacobs shared their extensive knowledge of
the insurance industry to help guide me through the technical issues
associated with insurance for construction projects.

xiii
 And my wife, Marilyn, a former teacher, reviewed every word in the
book at least twice and made every effort to ensure my spelling and
grammar were generally correct. While she did an excellent job, she
told me she never again wants to read anything about indemnities.
Amen.

xiv
 About the Author

Kit Werremeyer is the owner and president of Southernstar

Consultants LLC, of Valrico, Florida, a company that provides
training in the understanding and negotiating of construction
contracts. The company also offers a broad range of other
professional services to United States and international engineering
and construction companies.
Mr. Werremeyer’s experience includes more than 30 years of sales,
contracting, claims settlement, dispute resolution, and EPC project
development, including work for a broad range of major U.S. and
international companies, such as Bechtel; Kellogg, Brown & Root
(KBR); Fluor; J.A. Jones; Black & Veatch; DuPont; Shell Oil; Caltex;
Exxon/Mobil; BP/Amoco/ARCO; Air Products and Chemicals; Koch
Industries; Florida Power and Light; Chiyoda Corporation (Japan);
Japan Gasoline Corp.; Mitsui (Japan); Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
(Japan); Petronas (Malaysia); Thai Oil Company; Pertamina
(Indonesia); SINOPEC (Peoples Republic of China); Voest-­Alpine
(Austria); Daelim (Korea); and Hyundai (Korea).
Among prior positions, Mr. Werremeyer served as vice president and
area director of sales and marketing in Asia for Chicago Bridge &
Iron Company, an international engineering and construction
company. This position included responsibility for contracting and
the general management of area subsidiaries.
He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-­Champaign,
Illinois, with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

xv
 Preface

In 1977, I entered a year-­long sales training course presented by my

company, Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CBI), an international
engineering, procurement, and construction contractor founded in
1889. CBI believed that all of its salespeople must have a strong
foundation in understanding, evaluating, and negotiating the
commercial terms and conditions typically found in engineering and
construction contracts. Specifically, the course was to prepare its
future salespeople to provide clients with “one-­stop shopping.” This
meant being able to work out all the technical and constructability
details of the contract with the client, and then negotiating
appropriate commercial terms and conditions without necessarily
having to go back to CBI’s legal department for advice.
This extra capability—­evaluating and negotiating commercial terms
and conditions for construction contracts—­was designed to give us a
clear edge over our competitors. We could work closely with the
client on all aspects of the project—­both technical and commercial—­
and then close the deal commercially without ever leaving his side or
making an outside telephone call.
The sales training program included a lot of classroom time on such
seemingly routine contractual considerations as terms of payment,
scope of work, schedule, claims and disputes, termination and
suspension, and warranties.
It also introduced us neophyte contractors to such new and
mysterious contractual terms as indemnity, additional insured status,
force majeure, advance waivers of rights, specialty insurance

xvii
 coverage, and assurances of performance. The instructors told us
horror stories about the financial consequences that arose out of
accepting a client’s risky commercial terms and conditions for
engineering and construction contracts.
This training course set the path of my career as, for the next
25 years, I worked in several different sales offices located on the
East Coast and the Midwest of the U.S. and for 13 of those 25 years,
in Southeast Asia. I participated in and/or managed the negotiations
of the commercial terms and conditions for hundreds of engineering
and construction contracts ranging in value from small $50,000
repair projects, to major engineering, procurement, and construction
(EPC) projects worth over $100 million. Clients ranged from small
owners to major international oil, gas, chemical, and petrochemical
clients, and major domestic and international EPC contractors from
the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
There were a huge variety and complexity of commercial terms and
conditions in all these contracts over those 25 years. Every owner or
EPC contractor had their own favorite idea of what constituted
acceptable commercial terms and conditions. Negotiating acceptable
terms and conditions for CBI projects was always a challenge;
nothing ever was the same. On a few occasions, the client’s
commercial terms and conditions were so one-­sided and
unacceptable, and the client was so reluctant to change them, that the
only thing left to do was close the file and walk out the door. It was
time to let some other poor contractor suffer with those lousy
commercial terms and associated risks.
When I retired in 2001 after 32 years with CBI to form my own
company, I looked back at all the diverse practical negotiating
experience I had with engineering and construction contracts in the
U.S. and internationally and felt it was important to write a practical,
user-­friendly, and non-­legalistic book about this subject. It is my hope
that my own experience will help contractors, regardless of the size or
sophistication of their companies, to negotiate better and less risky
commercial terms and conditions for construction contracts—­and
thereby better protect their assets.
I hope that contractors can learn something from this book and use it
as a practical desk reference. If by reading this book, they learn
nothing more than to be able to better identify, understand, and
evaluate risky commercial terms and conditions, and then negotiate
or otherwise seek help to resolve them, I have succeeded.

xviii
 Disclaimer

During the course of writing this book, I was reminded on several

occasions by my good friends and excellent reviewers that I needed to
include a written disclaimer regarding the reader’s use of the
contracting and negotiating guidance provided—­as it is impossible to
anticipate all the circumstances that may arise in a construction
contract. I have tried my best to provide what, in my experience and
opinion, is practical information gained from my over 30 years in the
engineering and construction business. My hope is that this book will
help contractors and subcontractors understand, evaluate, and
favorably negotiate construction and construction-­related contracts
and thereby help protect their assets.
I do not provide any express or implied warranty on the use of any of
the information contained in this book as it may be applied to
understanding, evaluating, and negotiating construction contracts.
Readers should consult, as needed, with professionals on their
particular contracts and circumstances.

– Kit Werremeyer

xix
 Introduction

There is no price for bad terms.

~ Construction contractor from Toledo, Ohio

The Goals This book was written with three important goals in mind:

of This Book 1. Assisting contractors in improving their abilities to identify,

understand, and evaluate certain high-­risk commercial terms
and conditions typically found in all construction contracts.
2. Providing contractors with negotiating suggestions on how to
lower or eliminate the risk associated with commercial terms
and conditions.
3. Providing straightforward information in as uncomplicated and
non-­legalistic a manner as possible.
The book will help contractors in their effort to negotiate favorable
commercial terms and conditions for their construction contracts. By
doing so, this will help lower their commercial risk; assist in
improving their terms of payment; and reduce their exposure to
claims, disputes, and unnecessary or inappropriate risk transfer and
its associated potential financial liability.

What Are Contractors must be able to identify, understand, and evaluate all the
commercial risks that are accepted by agreeing to an owner’s
the Benefits proposed contract. They must then be able to effectively minimize
of This Book? and manage those commercial risks—­mitigating or eliminating them
through negotiations—­and thereby lessen their exposure to any
potential financial liabilities. This will ultimately protect the assets of
their companies. This is the primary benefit of this book.

xxi
 Contractor & This book refers to contractors and owners—­both in the general
sense, and capitalized in actual sample contract clauses. “The
Owner contractor” refers to you, the reader of this book—­whether general
Conventions contractor or subcontractor—­working hard in the construction
business trying to make a living. “The owner” refers to the company
that the contractor is providing construction work for, and with whom
he will sign a construction contract. (Note that throughout this
book, the masculine singular “he” is used, for simplicity only, and
to avoid the more cumbersome “he/she”/“his/her” construction.)
Also for simplicity, the book refers to the construction contract
between the owner and contractor. Often, however, the contractor
will have a contract with another construction company who works
for the owner, perhaps in the role of the owner’s project manager, or
the owner’s main contractor. In this case, the contractor would
typically be considered a subcontractor, and his construction contract
would likely be called a subcontract with the owner’s project manager
or main contractor. It doesn’t matter whether the contract is made
directly with the owner, or whether it’s a subcontract with the owner’s
PM or main contractor—­the information contained in this book
about understanding and negotiating construction contracts applies
equally to all of these contracting relationships.

Private The contracting concepts presented in this book apply to contractors

working with private U.S. owners, and not federal or state government
Contracts or owners. Construction contracts with U.S. federal, state, and local
Government governments may have different commercial contracting challenges.
Sometimes, for instance, government contracts are, by law,
Contracts? nonnegotiable with respect to the types of commercial terms and
conditions a contractor must accept. However, the concepts and
suggestions in this book can be used to help better understand and
manage similar commercial issues in government construction
contracts, and can assist the contractor, particularly in those situations
where negotiation is an acceptable part of the government’s contracting
process. In Chapter 16, “International Contracting,” the additional
concepts presented also apply to contracts between a private
contractor and a private owner. Contracting with foreign governments
and their various departments often presents exceptional contracting
challenges that are beyond the scope of this book.

Key Contracting Throughout this book, two key contracting issues with construction
contracts are discussed:
Concepts • Commercial Risk: The risk associated with the potential for the
contractor to be harmed in some way by accepting the wording

xxii
 in an owner’s construction contract’s commercial terms and
conditions.
• Potential Financial Liability: The possibility of having to pay
money, which would arise from the obligations that a contractor
agrees to accept in the owner’s construction contract’s
commercial terms and conditions, and that might arise also from
the contractor’s common law obligations. Common law is the
body of law that develops out of decisions made by courts—­
called precedence—­rather than law that is created by statute.

Examples of Commercial Risk

Commercial risk creates an exposure to the potential for financial
liability and flows directly from the commercial terms and conditions
contained in the owner’s construction contract. Commercial risk is
probably the risk a contractor finds most difficult to understand and
manage. Some typical examples of a contractor’s exposure to
commercial risk found in a construction contract’s commercial terms
and conditions are:
• Exposure to the financial liability to pay liquidated damages or
other consequences of contractor’s late performance.
• Exposure to the financial liability to pay for damages that are
caused by the owner’s negligence.
• Not being paid for legitimate changes for additional work.
• Not being able to settle legitimate disputes in favor of the
contractor.
• Exposure to an owner cashing in a contractor’s performance or
payment bond without legitimate reasons.
• Exposure to the financial consequences—­not enough cash to pay
bills—­of not being paid by the owner on time for progress
payments.
• Exposure to the financial liability that may arise out of lengthy
warranty periods or requests by an owner to perform warranty
work that is really not warranty work.
• Exposure to the financial liability that may arise out of other
risks encountered on a construction project, such as differing
site conditions and force majeure.

Two Types The commercial terms and conditions typically found in a

construction contract can be split generally into two categories:
of Commercial • Administrative terms
Terms & • Financial liability terms
Conditions
xxiii
 Administrative terms are those commercial terms and conditions
that have a low probability of creating a significant financial
liability for the contractor. Financial liability terms have a high
probability of doing so. The focus of this book is to improve the
contractor’s ability to understand and evaluate these financial
liability terms and conditions and learn ways to lower or eliminate
the commercial risk associated with them through effective
negotiations.
A typical construction contract can be divided between
administrative and financial liability terms as shown in Figure 1.
This book will discuss only those commercial terms and conditions
that tend to create a high probability of financial liability for the
contractor. This doesn’t mean, however, that other terms and
conditions should be ignored or taken lightly. It just means that if the
contractor has to focus his effort primarily on one of these sets of
commercial terms, it should be on the commercial terms that have
the greatest potential for harm.

Figure 1: Types of Contract Terms

xxiv
 The Most The three most important commercial terms and conditions
contained in all construction contracts are:
Important 1. Scope of work
Commercial 2. Pricing and terms of payment
Terms & 3. Schedule
Conditions These commercial terms are the three foundation stones of all
contracts, as shown in Figure 2.

The Contracting Here’s a bold statement: There is no difference between a

construction contract for a new one-­story office building worth
Process $500,000 and a new grassroots oil refinery worth $1 billion. Think
about this for moment. The contractor for each project must have a
written construction contract to perform the work described. Each
contract will have a scope of work section, terms of payment, and a
schedule. Further, each contract will likely have contractual
obligations for insurance, warranty, changes, dispute resolution,
termination and suspension, damages, indemnity, and assurances of
performance.
Certainly, the complexities of the two projects are significantly
different, but the contracting process of understanding and
negotiating commercial risk issues and potential financial liability
issues are the same, and must be properly dealt with by each
contractor in order to protect the assets of their companies.

Excuses for Not What are the typical excuses given by contractors when faced with
the prospect of having to try to negotiate better commercial terms
Negotiating and conditions in the owner’s construction contract? Some of the
Better most common:

Commercial • “It’s too hard to deal with the owner and his lawyers.”
• “The owner will disqualify me if I take exception to his terms
Terms & and conditions.”
Conditions

Figure 2: Three Foundation Stones of a Contract

xxv
 • “I don’t understand the terms and conditions well enough to
negotiate better ones, and I don’t want to hire a contracts expert
or a lawyer.”
• “The competition accepts the owner’s terms and conditions all
the time, so I don’t have much of a chance.”
• “I don’t like to negotiate. Maybe the best thing to do is just sign
the contract, put it in the bottom drawer of the desk, and hope
nothing happens.”
The last excuse basically says this: “sign, do nothing, and pray for the
best.” This strategy works fine as long as nothing goes wrong during
the execution of the contract. However, things often do go wrong
during the course of executing construction contracts!
Let’s say the owner creates lengthy delays to the construction schedule,
refuses to acknowledge his fault, then penalizes the contractor by
imposing liquidated damages for late performance. Once something
like this happens to a contractor just once in his lifetime, he will wish
he had made the effort to negotiate more favorable commercial terms
and conditions prior to signing the contract.
One good reason to negotiate changes to the owner’s commercial
terms and conditions is simply to improve the contract for the benefit
of the contractor, and to lower the contractor’s exposure to potential
financial liability at the same time.
For example, creating a detailed scope of work document that carefully
outlines what the contractor, owner, and all other parties involved in the
contract are obligated to do will always serve to minimize
misunderstandings and disputes over the scope of work. Often the
contractor has the best experience and background to assist the owner
with developing a detailed and comprehensive scope of work document.

The Concept Another contracting concept that will be discussed throughout the
book is the concept of risk transfer. Commercial terms and conditions,
of Risk Transfer such as those associated with insurance and indemnity clauses,
transfer the risk of potential financial liability for certain events from
one organization to another. Insurance transfers the risk of certain
potential financial liabilities from the contractor—­the named
insured—­to the insurance company in return for the payment of a
premium. An indemnity clause in a construction contract can transfer
to the contractor the risk of certain potential financial liabilities that
may arise due to the negligence of the owner—­in return for nothing!
Contractors must understand the consequences of accepting risk
transfer clauses in a construction contract. Negotiating changes to
risk transfer clauses can significantly lower exposure to the possibility
of unnecessary or unwarranted financial loss.

xxvi
 This Is a Book Every attempt has been made to write this book in as non-legalistic a
manner as possible. It was written for those contractors who have no
Developed Just legal training in contract law and are simply in business to engineer,
for Contractors procure, and safely build construction projects.
Anyone who is willing to take the time to understand the basic
concepts of construction contracting can become effective in
understanding, evaluating, and managing commercial risk and
Before the contractor negotiating more favorable commercial terms and conditions. Can a
signs the contract, he lawyer who specializes in construction contracting help a contractor
needs to understand understand and negotiate a construction contract? Certainly he can,
the commercial but that assistance, and cost, is not always necessary.
risks and their
The book features samples of actual contract language—both the good
possible financial and the bad, the fair and the unfair. Each chapter contains these easy-
consequences. The to-understand clauses, in boxes for quick reference, which show
contractor’s assets contractors the kind of language that should be used, as well as jargon
are at stake. and unreasonable terms that should be avoided. Having a good
working knowledge of the major commercial issues involved in
construction contracting will help a contractor understand what he is
getting into, the risks he is taking, and the risks he doesn’t want to take.
This book is not Is the contractor agreeing to a fair contract, or taking on a lot of
designed to be anti- unnecessary responsibilities and commercial risks? Will he get paid
lawyer or anti-owner. on time? These are the types of questions a contractor will be able to
It is designed to be answer and resolve after reading this book—before signing a
pro-contractor. construction contract.
It may appear when reading through this book that owners are cast in
a bad light, and that all too often they demand unacceptable
commercial terms and conditions. This is not true. Some progressive
owners have, or will negotiate, commercial terms and conditions that
are fair and balanced for both parties—the owner and the contractor.
The contractual issues covered in this book are meant to raise the
awareness of contractors to worst-case situations that can arise from
accepting certain commercial terms and conditions in a construction
contract—and how to edit and reword unfair clauses.

Three Final Finally, contractors should remember these three important things:

Suggestions 1. Read and understand everything in the construction contract.

2. Negotiate better commercial terms and conditions with the goal
of reducing commercial risk and the associated exposure to
potential financial liability.
3. Get all agreements in writing from an authorized representative
of the owner!

xxvii
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
vieja y tahur, zaragatera y triste,
esa España inferior que ora y embiste,
cuando se digna usar de la cabeza,
aun tendrá luengo parto de varones
amantes de sagradas tradiciones
y de sagradas formas y maneras;
florecerán las barbas apostólicas,
y otras calvas en otras calaveras
brillarán, venerables y católicas.
El vano ayer engendrará un mañana
vacío y ¡por ventura! pasajero,
la sombra de un lechuzo tarambana,
de un sayón con hechuras de bolero,
el vacuo ayer dará un mañana huero.
Como la náusea de un borracho ahito
de vino malo, un rojo sol corona
de heces turbias las cumbres de
granito,
hay un mañana estomagante escrito
en la tarde pragmática y dulzona.
Mas otra España nace,
la España del cincel y de la maza,
con esa eterna juventud que se hace
del pasado macizo de la raza.
Una España implacable y redentora,
España que alborea
con un hacha en la mano vengadora,
España de la rabia y de la idea.

CXXXVI
PROVERBIOS Y CANTARES
I

Nunca perseguí la gloria

ni dejar en la memoria
de los hombres mi canción;
 yo amo los mundos sutiles,
ingrávidos y gentiles
como pompas de jabón.
Me gusta verlos pintarse
de sol y grana, volar
bajo el cielo azul, temblar
súbitamente y quebrarse.

II

¿Para qué llamar caminos

a los surcos del azar?...
Todo el que camina anda,
como Jesús, sobre el mar.

III

A quien nos justifica nuestra

desconfianza
llamamos enemigo, ladrón de una
esperanza.
Jamás perdona el necio si ve la nuez
vacía
que dió a cascar al diente de la
sabiduría.

IV

Nuestras horas son minutos

cuando esperamos saber,
y siglos cuando sabemos
lo que se puede aprender.

V
 Ni vale nada el fruto
cogido sin sazón...
ni aunque te elogie un bruto
ha de tener razón.

VI

De lo que llaman los

hombres
virtud, justicia y bondad,
una mitad es envidia,
y la otra, no es caridad.

VII

Yo he visto garras fieras en las pulidas

manos;
conozco grajos mélicos y líricos marranos...
El más truhán se lleva la mano al corazón;
y el bruto más espeso se carga de razón.

VIII

En preguntar lo que sabes

el tiempo no has de perder...
y a preguntas sin respuesta
¿quién te podrá responder?

IX

El hombre, a quien el hambre de la rapiña

acucia,
de ingénita malicia y natural astucia,
formó la inteligencia y acaparó la tierra.
¡Y aún la verdad proclama! ¡Supremo ardid de
guerra!

La envidia de la virtud
hizo a Caín criminal.
¡Gloria a Caín! Hoy el vicio
es lo que se envidia más.

La mano del piadoso nos quita siempre honor;

mas nunca ofende al darnos su mano el lidiador.
Virtud es fortaleza, ser bueno es ser valiente;
escudo, espada y maza llevar bajo la frente;
porque el valor honrado de todas armas viste:
no sólo para, hiere, y más que aguarda, embiste.
Que la piqueta arruine y el látigo flagele;
la fragua ablande el hierro, la lima pula y gaste,
y que el buril burile, y que el cincel cincele,
la espada punce y hienda y el gran martillo
aplaste.

XI

¡Ojos que a la luz se

abrieron
un día para, después,
ciegos tornar a la tierra,
hartos de mirar sin ver!

XII

Es el mejor de los buenos

quien sabe que en esta vida
todo es cuestión de medida:
un poco más, algo menos...
 XIII

Virtud es la alegría que alivia el corazón

más grave y desarruga el ceño de Catón.
El bueno es el que guarda, cual venta del camino,
para el sediento, el agua, para el borracho, el
vino.

XIV

Cantad conmigo en coro: Saber, nada sabemos,

de arcano mar vinimos, a ignota mar iremos...
Y entre los dos misterios está el enigma grave;
tres arcas cierra una desconocida llave.
La luz nada ilumina y el sabio nada enseña.
¿Qué dice la palabra? ¿Qué el agua de la peña?

XV

El hombre es por natura la bestia

paradójica,
un animal absurdo que necesita lógica.
—Creó de nada un mundo y, su obra
terminada,
«Ya estoy en el secreto—se dijo—todo es
nada».

XVI

El hombre sólo es rico en hipocresía.

En sus diez mil disfraces para engañar
confía;
y con la doble llave que guarda su mansión
para la ajena hace ganzúa de ladrón.
 XVII

¡Ah, cuando yo era niño

soñaba con los héroes de la Iliada!
Ayax era más fuerte que Diomedes,
Héctor, más fuerte que Ayax,
y Aquiles el más fuerte; porque era
el más fuerte... ¡Inocencias de la
infancia!
¡Ah, cuando yo era niño
soñaba yo en los héroes de la Iliada!

XVIII

El casca-nueces-
vacías,
Colón de cien
vanidades,
vive de supercherías,
que vende como
verdades.

XIX

¡Teresa, alma de fuego,

Juan de la Cruz, espíritu de llama,
por aquí hay mucho frío, padres,
nuestros
corazoncitos de Jesús se apagan!

XX

Ayer soñé que veía

a Dios y que a Dios hablaba;
y soñé que Dios me oía...
Después soñé que soñaba.
 XXI

Cosas de hombres y
mujeres,
los amoríos de ayer,
casi los tengo olvidados,
si fueron alguna vez.

XXII

No extrañéis, dulces
amigos,
que esté mi frente arrugada.
Yo vivo en paz con los
hombres
y en guerra con mis entrañas.

XXIII

De diez cabezas, nueve

embisten y una piensa.
Nunca extrañéis que un bruto
se descuerne luchando por la
idea.

XXIV

Las abejas de las flores

sacan miel, y melodía
del amor, los ruiseñores;
Dante y yo—perdón, señores
—,
trocamos—perdón, Lucía—,
el amor en Teología.
 XXV

Poned sobre los campos

un carbonero, un sabio y un poeta.
Veréis cómo el poeta admira y calla,
el sabio mira y piensa...
Seguramente, el carbonero busca
las moras o las setas.
Llevadlos al teatro
y sólo el carbonero no bosteza.
Quien prefiere lo vivo a lo pintado
es el hombre que piensa, canta o
sueña.
El carbonero tiene
llena de fantasías la cabeza.

XXVI

¿Dónde está la
utilidad
de nuestras utilidades?
Volvamos a la verdad:
vanidad de vanidades.

XXVII

Todo hombre tiene

dos
batallas que pelear.
En sueños lucha con
Dios;
y despierto, con el mar.

XXVIII
 Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino, y nada más;
caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino,
sino estelas en la mar.

XXIX

El que espera desespera,

dice la voz popular.
¡Qué verdad tan verdadera!

La verdad es lo que es,

y sigue siendo verdad
aunque se piense al revés.

XXX

Corazón, ayer sonoro,

¿ya no suena
tu monedilla de oro?
Tu alcancía,
antes que el tiempo la rompa,
¿se irá quedando vacía?
Confiemos
en que no será verdad
nada de lo que sabemos.

XXXI
 ¡Oh fe del meditabundo!
¡Oh fe después del pensar!
Sólo si viene un corazón al mundo
rebosa el vaso humano y se hincha el
mar.

XXXII

Soñé a Dios como una

fragua
de fuego, que ablanda el
hierro,
como un forjador de espadas,
como un bruñidor de aceros
que iba firmando en las hojas
de luz: Libertad.—Imperio.

XXXIII

Yo amo a Jesús que nos

dijo:
Cielo y tierra pasarán.
Cuando cielo y tierra pasen
mi palabra quedará.
¿Cuál fué, Jesús, tu palabra?
¿Amor? ¿Perdón? ¿Caridad?
Todas tus palabras fueron
una palabra: Velad.
Como no sabéis la hora
en que os han de despertar,
os despertarán dormidos,
si no veláis: despertad.

XXXIV
 Hay dos modos de
conciencia:
una es luz, y otra, paciencia.
Una estriba en alumbrar
un poquito el hondo mar;
otra, en hacer penitencia
con caña o red, y esperar
el pez, como pescador.
Dime tú: ¿Cuál es mejor?
¿Conciencia de visionario
que mira en el hondo acuario
peces vivos
fugitivos
que no se pueden pescar,
o esta maldita faena
de ir arrojando a la arena,
muertos, los peces del mar?

XXXV

Fe empirista. Ni somos ni seremos.

Todo nuestro vivir es emprestado.
Nada trajimos; nada llevaremos.

XXXVI

¿Dices que nada se crea?

No te importe, con el barro
de la tierra, haz una copa
para que beba tu hermano.

XXXVII

¿Dices que nada se crea?

Alfarero, a tus cacharros.
 Haz tu copa y no te importe
si no puedes hacer barro.

XXXVIII

Dicen que el ave

divina
trocada en pobre
gallina,
por obra de las tijeras
de aquel sabio profesor
(fué Kant un esquilador
de las aves altaneras;
toda su filosofía,
un sport de cetrería)
dicen que quiere saltar
las tapias del corralón,
y volar
otra vez, hacia Platón.
¡Hurra! ¡Sea!
¡Feliz será quien lo vea!

XXXIX

Sí, cada uno y todos sobre la tierra iguales:

el ómnibus que arrastran dos pencos matalones,
por el camino, a tumbos, hacia las estaciones,
el ómnibus completo de viajeros banales,
y en medio un hombre mudo, hipocondríaco,
austero,
a quien se cuentan cosas y a quien se ofrece
vino...
Y allá, cuando se llegue ¿descenderá un viajero
no más? ¿O habránse todos quedado en el
camino?
 XL

Bueno es saber que los

vasos
nos sirven para beber;
lo malo es que no sabemos
para qué sirve la sed.

XLI

¿Dices que nada se

pierde?
Si esta copa de cristal
se me rompe, nunca en ella
beberé, nunca jamás.

XLII

Dices que nada se pierde,

y acaso dices verdad;
pero todo lo perdemos
y todo nos perderá.
XLIII

Todo pasa y todo queda;

pero lo nuestro es pasar,
pasar haciendo caminos,
caminos sobre la mar.

XLIV

Morir... ¿Caer como gota

de mar en el mar inmenso?
¿O ser lo que nunca he sido:
uno, sin sombra y sin sueño,
 un solitario que avanza
sin camino y sin espejo?

XLV

Anoche soñé que oía

a Dios, gritándome: ¡Alerta!
Luego era Dios quien dormía,
y yo gritaba: ¡Despierta!

XLVI

Cuatro cosas tiene el

hombre
que no sirven en la mar:
ancla, gobernalle y remos,
y miedo de naufragar.

XLVII

Mirando mi calavera
un nuevo Hamlet dirá:
He aquí un lindo fósil de una
careta de carnaval.

XLVIII

Ya noto, al paso que me torno

viejo,
que en el inmenso espejo,
donde orgulloso me miraba un día,
era el azogue lo que yo ponía.
Al espejo del fondo de mi casa
una mano fatal
va rayendo el azogue, y todo pasa
por él como la luz por el cristal.

XLIX

—Nuestro español bosteza.

¿Es hambre? ¿Sueño? ¿Hastío?
Doctor, ¿tendrá el estómago vacío?
—El vacío es más bien en la
cabeza.

Luz del alma, luz divina,

faro, antorcha, estrella, sol...
Un hombre a tientas camina;
lleva a la espalda un farol.

LI

Discutiendo están dos mozos

si a la fiesta del lugar
irán por la carretera
o campo atraviesa irán.
Discutiendo y disputando
empiezan a pelear.
Ya con las trancas de pino
furiosos golpes se dan;
ya se tiran de las barbas,
que se las quieren pelar.
Ha pasado un carretero,
que va cantando un cantar:
«Romero, para ir a Roma,
lo que importa es caminar;
a Roma por todas partes,
por todas partes se va».
 LII

En esta España de los pantalones

lleva la voz el macho;
mas si un negocio importa
lo resuelven las faldas a escobazos.

LIII

Ya hay un español que quiere

vivir y a vivir empieza,
entre una España que muere
y otra España que bosteza.
Españolito que vienes
al mundo, te guarde Dios.
Una de las dos Españas
ha de helarte el corazón.

CXXXVII
PARÁBOLAS
I

Era un niño que soñaba

un caballo de cartón.
Abrió los ojos el niño
y el caballito no vió.
Con un caballito blanco
el niño volvió a soñar;
y por la crin lo cogía...
¡Ahora no te escaparás!
Apenas lo hubo cogido,
el niño se despertó.
Tenía el puño cerrado.
¡El caballito voló!
Quedóse el niño muy serio
pensando que no es verdad
 un caballito soñado.
Y ya no volvió a soñar.
Pero el niño se hizo mozo
y el mozo tuvo un amor,
y a su amada le decía:
¿Tú eres de verdad o no?
Cuando el mozo se hizo viejo
pensaba: todo es soñar,
el caballito soñado
y el caballo de verdad.
Y cuando vino la muerte,
el viejo a su corazón
preguntaba: ¿Tú eres sueño?
¡Quién sabe si despertó!

II
A Don Vicente Clurana.

Sobre la limpia arena, en el tartesio llano

por donde acaba España y sigue el mar,
hay dos hombres que apoyan la cabeza en la
mano;
uno duerme, y el otro parece meditar.
El uno, en la mañana de tibia primavera,
junto a la mar tranquila,
ha puesto entre sus ojos y el mar que reverbera,
los párpados, que borran el mar en la pupila.
Y se ha dormido, y sueña con el pastor Proteo,
que sabe los rebaños del marino guardar;
y sueña que le llaman las hijas de Nereo,
y ha oído los caballos de Poseidón hablar.
El otro mira al agua. Su pensamiento flota;
hijo del mar, navega—o se pone a volar.
Su pensamiento tiene un vuelo de gaviota,
que ha visto un pez de plata en el agua saltar.
Y piensa: «Es esta vida una ilusión marina
de un pescador que un día ya no puede pescar».
El soñador ha visto que el mar se le ilumina,
y sueña que es la muerte una ilusión del mar.

III

Érase de un marinero
que hizo un jardín junto al
mar,
y se metió a jardinero.
Estaba el jardín en flor,
y el jardinero se fué
por esos mares de Dios.

IV
CONSEJOS

Sabe esperar, aguarda que la marea fluya,

—así en la costa un barco—sin que el partir te
inquiete.
Todo el que aguarda sabe que la victoria es suya;
porque la vida es larga y el arte es un juguete.
Y si la vida es corta
y no llega la mar a tu galera,
aguarda sin partir y siempre espera,
que el arte es largo y, además, no importa.

V
PROFESIÓN DE FE

Dios no es el mar, está en el mar; riela

como luna en el agua, o aparece
como una blanca vela;
en el mar se despierta o se adormece.
Creó la mar, y nace
de la mar cual la nube y la tormenta;
es el Creador y la criatura lo hace;
su aliento es alma, y por el alma alienta.
Yo he de hacerte, mi Dios, cual tú me
hiciste,
y para darte el alma que me diste
en mí te he de crear. Que el puro río
de caridad que fluye eternamente,
fluya en mi corazón. ¡Seca, Dios mío,
de una fe sin amor la turbia fuente!

VI

El Dios que todos llevamos,

el Dios que todos hacemos,
el Dios que todos buscamos
y que nunca encontraremos.
Tres dioses o tres personas
del solo Dios verdadero.

VII

Dice la razón: Busquemos

la verdad.
Y el corazón: Vanidad.
La verdad ya la tenemos.
La razón: ¡Ay, quién alcanza
la verdad!
El corazón: Vanidad.
La verdad es la esperanza.
Dice la razón: Tú mientes.
Y contesta el corazón:
Quien miente eres tú, razón,
que dices lo que no sientes.
La razón: Jamás podremos
entendernos, corazón.
El corazón: Lo veremos.
 VIII

Cabeza meditadora,
¡qué lejos se oye el zumbido
de la abeja libadora!

Echaste un velo de sombra

sobre el bello mundo, y vas
creyendo ver, porque mides
la sombra con un compás.

Mientras la abeja fabrica,

melifica,
con jugo de campo y sol,
yo voy echando verdades
que nada son, vanidades
al fondo de mi crisol.
De la mar al percepto,
del percepto al concepto,
del concepto a la idea
—¡oh, la linda tarea!—
de la idea a la mar.
¡Y otra vez a empezar!

CXXXVIII
MI BUFÓN

El demonio de mis sueños

ríe con sus labios rojos,
sus negros y vivos ojos,
sus dientes finos, pequeños.
Y jovial y picaresco
se lanza a un baile grotesco,
luciendo el cuerpo deforme
y su enorme
joroba. Es feo y barbudo
y chiquitín y panzudo.