Delaware Corp of Florida

One of the first questions we get when talking to clients about a new custom home or remodel is, “How much will it cost?” This is usually quickly followed by the second question, “How long will it take?” The answer to both is, “It depends.” While we don’t want to be evasive, there are many variables that have to be factored in before we can adequately assess the time and cost of a project. One thing that most homeowners don’t see initially is that for a properly planned and designed project, the design and construction phases can last roughly the same amount of time. As I’ve written about previously, the design process can take up to six to eight months for a new custom build (including determining the client’s needs, designing to those needs and deciding how to best to build the project). And it could take longer if there are complications such as other approvals or if someone objects to your project. This time is not spent just daydreaming and staring out the window — your team is working to understand the design and construction to smooth out potential issues in your timeline.

Be realistic. It’s often difficult for homeowners to know what’s realistic for each phase of the construction process.  For instance, one week to construct a kitchen is not realistic due to the number of services and trades involved — installers, plumbers, tile contractors. It would be foolhardy to think that everything could be done to satisfaction in such a short time. What’s also confusing is that timelines for suburban developments can be wildly different from a single luxury custom home. We have had clients ask us why a custom home costs more per square foot and takes longer that a tract home. The reason is that developers have crews that move from house to house and are dedicated to that development. This means that for all intents and purposes, they finish their work on one house and move on to the next. On a custom house, your framers might be a week late showing up (because their last job ran late), and then the next trade in line is thrown off as well. You can see how this can cause a domino effect on your project. Most contractors can’t wait around until the exact time they are needed on a site — they have to keep their crews busy, or they don’t get paid. So they tend to overbook rather than underbook to make sure they have enough work to keep them busy.

Exterior painting will be completed today and priming inside will begin tomorrow throughout the week.

Sheetrock should be completed today with some miscellaneous clean up and touch-ups.

 posted on:                      Friday, June 12, 2015                    

According to an Article in Law360, on June 5, 2015, David Weil, Administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, stated that his Office is preparing to release guidance addressing how to assess whether a worker is properly classified as an independent contractor.  Weil made the announcement at New York University’s 68th Annual Conference on Labor, stating that an “administrator interpretation” was imminent.  Although he declined to give a specific time frame for the issuance of the guidance, he indicated it would be issued early this summer.

Misclassification of employees as independent contractors has been a primary concern for the DOL for several years, as companies are not required to pay unemployment insurance taxes, workers’ compensation premiums, or the employer’s portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes for such workers.  In addition, independent contractors are not protected by most employment laws – such as Title VII and the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  Hence, these workers are not eligible for overtime wages and protections from unlawful discrimination.

Companies are subjected to a patchwork of different tests for determining whether their workers are employees or independent contractors.  The test for federal employment discrimination laws differs from that for the FLSA.  Moreover, states have their own versions of these tests, which can differ (even within the same state) depending on whether they are being used to determine worker classification for purposes of workers’ compensation, wage statutes, unemployment insurance, or other laws.  Typical factors include, among other things, the degree of control exercised by the company over the worker, the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss and investment in his or her business, and the extent to which the work performed by the worker is integral to the employer’s business.

Weil indicated that the WHD’s forthcoming guidance will build off these tests and provide a specific set of criteria for analysis.  For purposes of the FLSA, courts have applied the “economic realities” test, which is designed to determine the economic dependence of the worker on the putative employer.  The test examines the “totality of circumstances” of the work relationship and no one factor in the six-factor test is dispositive.  It appears that the DOL is seeking to amend that standard, while still applying a non-mechanical, “holistic process of assessment.” It is unclear whether the standard will make the analysis any more certain for businesses that engage the services of independent contractors.  Companies that utilize independent contractors need to be aware that the proposed guidance will, at most, address the test as used for FLSA purposes (and perhaps for purposes of other federal laws). Irrespective of what the DOL issues, companies will still be subjected to different employment classification tests for other state (and perhaps federal) statutes.

The DOL’s practice of issuing “administrative interpretation” began in March 2010, with the issuance of Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2010-1, which concluded that employees who perform the “typical” duties of a mortgage loan officer employee do not satisfy the duties requirements of the FLSA’s administrative exemption. The Interpretation was significant not only because it withdrew a 2006 opinion letter that reached the opposite conclusion—that certain mortgage loan officer employees qualified for the administrative exemption—but also because it established a new procedure for the DOL to provide broad interpretive guidance. The DOL’s current procedure is a significant departure from its practice prior to 2010, under which it issued guidance in the form of rules and opinion letters limited to the specific facts presented to it in each request. On March 9, 2015, the Supreme Court issued a decision that such government agency “interpretive rules” are not subject to notice-and-comment rulemaking, but cautioned that those same rules do not carry the “force and effect of law.”

Cottages at Old Corkscrew Golf Club - framing inspection is set for today which will allow us to install house wrap on the second story exterior walls.