MT General Contractor flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Sole Proprietorship Liability

A business owned by one person with no separate legal identity; the owner reports business income on a personal tax return and is personally liable for all business debts and judgments.

Qualifying Party Requirement

The individual who passed the contractor licensing exam and is actively engaged in the business; if that person leaves, the firm must designate a replacement within the state's deadline or the license lapses.

Limited Liability Company

An entity whose members generally are not personally liable for business debts beyond their investment; commingling funds or ignoring formalities can allow creditors to pierce that protection.

Contract Formation Elements

An enforceable contract requires an offer, acceptance, consideration, and legal purpose, plus mutual intent to be bound rather than a mere agreement to agree in the future.

Contract Document Priority

The order of precedence among contract documents; typically the agreement controls, specifications control over drawings for quality, and drawings control for quantity and location.

Differing Site Conditions

Type I is a condition materially different from the contract documents; Type II is an unknown physical condition of unusual nature. Both usually require written notice before the work is disturbed.

Pay-If-Paid Clause

A subcontract clause making owner payment a condition precedent to the contractor's duty to pay the subcontractor; many states void or restrict it, unlike the pay-when-paid timing clause.

Notice and Claim Deadlines

Contract clauses requiring written notice of a claim within a short period, often 7 to 21 days after the event, with a detailed claim to follow; missing the deadline usually waives the claim.

Contingency in Estimates

A percentage added to the base estimate for unknowns; commonly 5 to 10 percent for well-defined design-bid-build work and 10 to 20 percent at schematic design.

Unbalanced Bid

A bid that prices some unit items above and others below actual cost, often front-loading early work or inflating quantities likely to increase; may be rejected as materially unbalanced.

Bid Responsiveness Versus Responsibility

Responsiveness is whether the bid conforms to the invitation, including forms, bonds, and addenda; responsibility is the bidder's capacity, experience, and financial fitness to perform.

Addendum Acknowledgment

Each addendum issued during bidding becomes part of the contract documents; the bidder must acknowledge every addendum on the bid form or the bid may be rejected as nonresponsive.

Critical Path Definition

The longest path through the schedule network, having zero total float; any delay to an activity on this path delays project completion by the same amount.

Total Float Formula

Total float equals late start minus early start, or late finish minus early finish; free float is the time an activity can slip without delaying any successor's early start.

Schedule Compression Methods

Crashing adds resources to critical activities at higher cost; fast-tracking overlaps activities that were sequential, saving time but increasing coordination and rework risk.

Earned Value Indexes

CPI equals earned value divided by actual cost; SPI equals earned value divided by planned value. Values below 1.0 indicate cost overrun or schedule slippage respectively.

Excusable Versus Compensable Delay

Excusable delay is owner-caused or force majeure and justifies time only; compensable delay is owner-caused and justifies time and money; contractor-caused delay justifies neither.

Fall Protection Threshold

In construction, employees exposed to falls of 6 feet or more must be protected by guardrails, safety nets, personal fall arrest, or an approved fall protection plan where permitted.

Competent Person Definition

A person capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards and authorized to take prompt corrective action; required for trench inspections, scaffold erection, and similar high-hazard tasks.

Trench Protective System Depth

A competent person must inspect excavations daily and after rain; protective systems such as sloping, shoring, or shielding are required at 5 feet deep and at any depth where a hazard exists.

OSHA Fatality Reporting

Work-related fatalities must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours; in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye must be reported within 24 hours.

Water-Cementitious Ratio

The ratio of water to cementitious material in a concrete mix; lowering it increases compressive strength and reduces permeability, while raising it improves workability but weakens the concrete.

Concrete Slump Test

A measure of fresh concrete workability; structural concrete commonly falls in a 4 to 6 inch range, and admixtures such as superplasticizers can increase slump without adding water.

High-Strength Bolted Connections

Structural steel connections using A325 or A490 bolts tensioned to a specified pretension; installation is verified by turn-of-nut, calibrated wrench, or direct tension indicator methods.

Soil Swell and Shrinkage

Excavated bank soil expands when loosened, called swell, and compacted fill occupies less than its original bank volume, called shrinkage; both factors convert volumes for haul and pricing.

OSHA Excavation Slope Ratios

Maximum allowable slopes in the OSHA tables are 3/4:1 horizontal to vertical for Type A soil, 1:1 for Type B, and 1 1/2:1 for Type C; spoil and equipment stay 2 feet back.

Concrete Free-Fall Limit

Concrete should not be dropped freely more than about 3 to 4 feet; greater drops cause segregation of aggregates, so use a tremie or drop chute for deeper placements.

Mechanics Lien Right

A statutory claim against improved real property by a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who furnished labor or materials; the claimant must record the lien within the state's deadline after last furnishing.

Preliminary Lien Notice

A pre-lien notice sent to the owner and lender within a set period after first furnishing labor or materials; failing to send it can forfeit the claimant's lien rights in many states.

Surety Bond Types

A bid bond guarantees the bidder will sign the contract; a performance bond guarantees completion; a payment bond guarantees subcontractors and suppliers are paid on the project.

NPDES Construction Permit

Required for construction disturbing 1 acre or more, or less than 1 acre as part of a larger common plan; the permit requires a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and best management practices.

SPCC Plan Threshold

A Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure plan is generally required for facilities storing more than 1,320 gallons of oil aboveground, subject to aggregation rules, with secondary containment and inspections.