Bill Text: NY A04167 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to payment and retainage in construction contracts; authorizes contractors to invoice owners upon substantial completion of a project.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-06-09 - substituted by s3539 [A04167 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A04167-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4167

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 10, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. HUNTER, ZINERMAN, DAVILA, JACKSON, STIRPE -- read
          once and referred to the Committee on Economic Development

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the general business law, in relation to payment and
          retainage in construction contracts

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. The opening paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of
     2  section 756-a of the general business law, as amended by chapter 417  of
     3  the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
     4    A  contractor  shall  be  entitled  to  invoice  the owner for interim
     5  payments at the end of the billing cycle. A contractor shall be entitled
     6  to submit a final invoice for payment in full [upon the  performance  of
     7  all  the  contractor's  obligation  under  the  contract]  upon reaching
     8  substantial completion, as such term is defined in the contract or as it
     9  is contemplated by the terms of the contract.
    10    § 2. Section 756-c of the general business law, as  added  by  chapter
    11  127 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
    12    §  756-c.  Retention.  By  mutual agreement of the relevant parties an
    13  owner may retain [a reasonable amount] no more than five per  centum  of
    14  the  contract  sum  as retainage. A contractor or subcontractor may also
    15  retain [a reasonable amount] no more than five per centum for  retainage
    16  [so  long  as the amount does not] and in no case shall retainage exceed
    17  the actual percentage retained by the owner. Retainage shall be released
    18  by the owner to the contractor no later than thirty days after the final
    19  approval of the work under a construction contract. In the event that an
    20  owner fails to release retainage as required by  this  article,  or  the
    21  contractor  or  subcontractor fails to release a proportionate amount of
    22  retainage to the relevant parties after receipt of  retainage  from  the
    23  owner,  the  owner,  contractor,  or  subcontractor, as the case may be,
    24  shall be subject to the payment of interest at the rate of  one  percent
    25  per month on the date retention was due and owing.
    26    §  3.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately  and shall apply to
    27  contracts entered into on or after such effective date.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07647-01-3