News for Business Tips

Negotiating Material Escalation Clauses Published: July 27, 2021 I recently bought a new home. One thing I noticed during my house search: new homes are in low supply, and those coming on the market are often subject to contract provisions containing escalation clauses addressing construction material prices. At each development, I heard the same story; developers are unable to assign a price to ...read more

What Employers Need to Do Printed by Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP - July 16, 2021 In a decision anxiously awaited by employers, the California Supreme Court ruled, on July 15, 2021, that the correct rate for paying meal and rest period premiums is one additional hour of pay at an employee’s “regular rate of pay,” which is the same method used for calculating overtime wages. The ...read more

You probably know at least a few people who hired a friend or relative to do some work for them instead of hiring a licensed contractor. That might seem like an easy way for people to get what they want, but it’s full of problems. In fact, unlicensed contractors can make life a lot harder for reliable, honest contractors like the one you hope to be. Here are five reasons you’ll be glad you ...read more

Reposted from California Employers Association website Posted by: Giuliana Gabriel, J.D. on Thursday, July 15, 2021 Cal/OSHA, the state agency that oversees workplace safety and health, has increasingly enforced and levied fines with respect to COVID-19 issues in the workplace. By April 2021, those fines amounted to roughly $4.6 million for approximately 200 workplaces. You don’t want to be ...read more

JEFF QUACKENBUSH THE NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL July 7, 2021 Though the cost of materials to frame houses and build cabinets appears poised to fall considerably, longtime North Bay homebuilder Keith Christopherson has yet to see it. “Lumber mills and distributors were ordering early on and buying at higher prices, so (the decreases) have not translated down to the builder yet,” Christopherson ...read more

By WILL HOUSTON | whouston@marinij.com | PUBLISHED: June 8, 2021  After a winter of season of record-low rainfall, Corte Madera business owner Paul Burrous knew water restrictions were imminent. That’s when he decided to invest in a water truck. While it costs Burrous several thousand dollars a month to rent and insure, the 2,000-gallon truck allows his business, the Marin Wood Restoration and ...read more

Since construction is so dependent on materials, the success of your contracting business depends heavily on your supply chain. As the recent delay of shipping due to a trapped ship in the Suez Canal revealed, there are a lot of issues you might face at the moment. Here are a few ways to minimize them.Update Your Estimates Issues with the supply chain can create two different problems for your ...read more

AUTHOR Kim Slowey @kimslowey PUBLISHED Jan. 26, 2021 Certain situations like illegality or coercion can invalidate a contract in whole or in part.This feature is a part of "The Dotted Line" series, which takes an in-depth look at the complex legal landscape of the construction industry. To view the entire series, click here. Most contractors are well aware that they must abide by the ...read more

 Lower credit card processing fees with level 2 and level 3 processing The cost of accepting credit cards is one of the biggest expenses a business faces. It is an unavoidable cost of doing business in a society that rarely carries cash anymore. For any business processing more than $100,000 a month in credit card transactions, the cost to process cards can approach $4,000 in fees alone. If your ...read more