House Bill 0243c1

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999              CS/HB 243

        By the Committee on Governmental Operations and
    Representatives Trovillion, Fasano, Posey, Sublette, Jones and
    Ball




  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public property and publicly

  3         owned buildings; amending s. 255.05, F.S.;

  4         specifying conditions under which suits may be

  5         brought by and against a public authority with

  6         respect to specified public works projects;

  7         providing for rights, obligations, remedies,

  8         and defenses of the public authority and the

  9         contractor; excluding specified basis of

10         liability; providing for construction of the

11         act; providing an effective date.

12

13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

14

15         Section 1.  Subsection (9) is added to section 255.05,

16  Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, to read:

17         255.05  Bond of contractor constructing public

18  buildings; form; action by materialmen.--

19         (9)  On any public works project for which the public

20  authority requires a performance and payment bond, suits at

21  law and in equity may be brought and maintained by and against

22  the public authority on any contract claim arising from breach

23  of an express provision or an implied covenant of a written

24  agreement or a written directive issued by the public

25  authority pursuant to the written agreement. In any such suit,

26  the public authority and the contractor shall have all of the

27  same rights, obligations, remedies, and defenses as a private

28  person under a like contract, except that no liability may be

29  based on an oral modification of either the written contract

30  or written directive. However, this subsection shall not be

31  construed to in any way prohibit the public authority from

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999              CS/HB 243

    688-103-99






  1  limiting its liability or damages through provisions in its

  2  contracts.

  3         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1999,

  4  and shall apply only to contracts entered into on or after

  5  that date.

  6

  7

  8

  9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

                                  2