June, 2020 | The Law Offices of Gregory D. Jordan

Texas Court Rules in Subcontractor’s Favor in Prompt Payment Act Claim

The Prompt Payment Act is a federal law that was passed to ensure the timely payment to all tiers of contractors who work on federally funded construction projects. The Act accomplishes this by providing a timeline of when payments will be released to the prime contractor, subcontractors, and suppliers. The State of Texas has its own version of the Prompt Payment Act that applies to state-funded construction projects.

Recently a state appellate court issued an opinion in a Texas construction payment dispute case under the Prompt Payment Act. The lawsuit arose when a window company, a subcontractor, installed windows on a hotel construction project at the request of the general contractor. The two companies entered into an agreement outlining the terms of the project, as well as how payment would be made.

As the project got underway, the owner of the hotel contacted the general contractor, concerned that the construction was not going according to schedule. As a result, the owner of the hotel began to withhold payment to the general contractor. Eventually, the general contractor submitted a bill to the hotel owner, including an amount for the windows that were installed by the subcontractor. However, while the hotel owner paid most of the amount due, it withheld a certain sum that was designated for the general contractor’s “overhead and profit.” Rather than take the potential loss itself, the general contractor kept the money and only paid select subcontractors. The window company was not paid by the general contractor. Eventually, after finding out what the general contractor had done, the hotel owner terminated the general contractor for cause.

The hotel owner then sued the general contractor, and the window company intervened in that lawsuit, claiming breach of contract, violation of the Prompt Payment Act, quantum meruit, breach of fiduciary duty, violation of the Construction Trust Fund Act, and unjust enrichment. The general contractor responded by explaining that the hotel owner did not pay the general contractor, and that it was permissible to pass this loss on to the subcontractor.

The trial court heard and granted the subcontractor’s motion for summary judgment, and awarded the subcontractor the amount it was due.

The Court’s Analysis

The court began its analysis by citing the language from the Prompt Payment Act, which provides:

A contractor who receives a payment from the owner . . . in connection with a contract to improve real property shall pay each of its subcontractors the portion of the owner’s payment, including interest, if any, that is attributable to work properly performed or materials suitably stored or specially fabricated as provided under the contract by that subcontractor, to the extent of that subcontractor’s interest in the owner’s payment. The payment . . . must be made not later than the seventh day after the date the contractor receives the owner’s payment.

The court went on to explain that the only exception to this requirement arises when there is a “good faith dispute concerning the obligation to pay or the amount of payment.”

The court then noted that, to prove its claim under the Prompt Payment Act, the subcontractor needed to show that the general contractor received payment from the hotel owner that was attributable to the work performed by the subcontractor. The general contractor argued that, because some of the windows were installed after the hotel owner started to withhold payment to the general contractor, the hotel owner was responsible for paying the subcontractor. However, as the court pointed out, the agreement between the general contractor and subcontractor provided that the general contractor would pay the subcontractor, not the owner of the hotel.

Ultimately, the court agreed that the subcontractor was entitled to payment from the general contractor, pursuant to their agreement. In so holding the court rejected the general contractor’s argument under the Construction Trust Fund Act. The Construction Trust Fund Act provides that:

It is an affirmative defense to prosecution or other action brought under section 162.031(a) that the trust funds not paid to the beneficiaries of the trust were used by the trustee to pay the trustee’s actual expenses directly related to the construction or repair of the improvement or have been retained by the trustee, after notice to the beneficiary who has made a request for payment, as a result of the trustee’s reasonable belief that the beneficiary is not entitled to such funds or have been retained as authorized or required by statute.

In reaching this conclusion, the court noted that the subcontractor was not a beneficiary to the Construction Trust, and that the Act did not apply.

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