Dan Leduc
Canada, Ottawa
Dan Leduc is a construction lawyer providing advice to the construction industry across Canada. Opinions my own. Residing in the New Tornado Alley.
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Dan Leduc
Contracts 101: An Overview of Common Agreements and Pitfalls
Contracts 101: An Overview of Common Agreements and Pitfalls Presented by Dan Leduc, Soloway Wright LLP Join construction lawyer Dan Leduc of Soloway Wright LLP for an engaging and practical session that demystifies the key elements of construction contracts. Designed for executives, senior management, and leaders who regularly handle contractual matters, this webinar offers a clear overview of essential contract types, processes, and common pitfalls to avoid.
Didn't We Just Do This? More Changes Coming To The Ontario Construction Act
As we know, 2019 brought about significant changes to the Construction Act with the introduction of adjudication for payment disputes and a prompt payment regime along with others changes to mandatory release of holdbacks, leasehold interest and liens and so on. After five years, it was time for some tweaking of the Act.
Understanding The Impacts Of Tariffs On Ottawa's Construction Industry
SW Soloway Wright More For over 75 years, Soloway Wright has been one of the most successful and respected law firms in the national capital region and eastern Ontario. Our team offers high-quality legal expertise in a warm and collegial environment. We create innovative legal solutions while remaining practical and committed to cost-efficient service.
Tariffs: Same issues in a different guise - Electrical Business
February 3, 2025 – For fans of The Simpsons: “Hi, I’m Troy McClure! You may remember me from such articles as ‘Covid-19 impacts: scary but true’ and ‘Supply chain meltdown’ and ‘Hyperinflation: not your friend’. We find ourselves back to the same issues, only dressed up in a different guise. With Trump implementing a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods, and our government’s retaliatory steps, where does that leave Canada’s construction industry?
Written contracts and the Statute of Frauds – Legal Desk, September 2024 - Electrical Business
October 4, 2024 – My column “Does my contract need to be in writing, and signed?” (EBMag October 2021) explains the basics of contract formation in Canadian common law jurisdictions, and the test for determining whether a contract—written, verbal, or otherwise—is legally enforceable (i.e. offer, acceptance, consideration). One legal doctrine that complicates this matter is the Statute of Frauds which, despite its name, has little to do with actual fraud.
Focus on value in change order negotiations – Legal Desk, April 2024 - Electrical Business
May 6, 2024 – In the dynamic landscape of change order negotiations, it is not uncommon to encounter objections based solely on a perceived high price, leading to a defensive stance from contractors. However, when you shift the conversation from price to value, you have a greater chance at a better outcome. Here is a common scenario: an owner or consultant expresses discontent with a quoted price. “You are charging two times what others charge for that same change,” they might say.
Scissor lifts and wooden ladders – Legal Desk, December 2023 - Electrical Business
January 2, 2024 – The construction sector is among the slowest-paid industries which, over the last 30 years, has fostered the mindset that it is somehow shameful to ask for an overdue payment. Prompt payment regimes that have been introduced as law mandate specific dates for payment. When those dates are breached, recourse is to be initiated by you—the party who has not been paid in a timely manner (or at all).
Retro is not cool... when it comes to prompt payment – Legal Desk, Summer 2023 - Electrical Business
August 22, 2023 – I am seeing a disturbing cash flow trend (in Ontario, at least) that, left unchecked, will take us back in time, not forward. Notwithstanding the changes made to the Ontario Construction Act in 2018 and 2019—and especially those surrounding prompt payment—in the last month alone, I have seen in construction documents: 1. Contract terms designating payment to be 45 days from receipt of an invoice. 2.
Subcontracts that come after close of tender – Legal Desk, April 2023 - Electrical Business
April 7, 2023 – Since at least 1980, the process of tendering in Canada has been premised in contract law. Typically, an owner’s invitation to tender is treated as an offer, and your compliant bid submission is considered acceptance. That offer and acceptance forms what the Supreme Court of Canada considers Contract A. (Acceptance must match the offer. Qualifying your bid submission is not acceptance, but rather a counter-offer.
Indemnity provisions: more trick than treat – Legal Desk, December 2022 - Electrical Business
December 6, 2022 – It seems appropriate that I penned this column on Hallowe’en. I am often asked to review contracts and, predominately, subcontracts, and the one item that keeps rearing its ugly head—that no one can identify as an inappropriate allocation risk—is indemnities. The extent of the indemnities to which you are agreeing will be found in the particular contract clause providing for them.
Miscommunication... a construction lawyer’s best friend – Legal Desk, May 2022 - Electrical Business
May 26, 2022 – Something’s been gnawing at me, and I need to get it off my chest. My standing mandate with this excellent magazine is to write informative columns related to the legal aspects of construction and, in particular, electrical contracting. My personal opinions are perhaps best set aside. That said… I’ve been practising construction law for 30 years and—at the risk of oversimplifying things—I have been essentially making my living off of miscommunication.
Price volatility, inflation, and the false hope of force majeure – Legal Desk, February 2022 - Electrical Business
February 24, 2022 – You are living it daily: price volatility, inflation, supply chain… all immeasurable impacts on your ability to perform your electrical subcontract. And, to top it off, this is likely your first pandemic, so you have no previous experience upon which to draw. What do you do? Well, here are some things to consider. First, take inventory of your risk profile.
Does my contract need to be in writing, and signed? – Legal Desk, October 2021 - Electrical Business
October 22, 2021 – The pandemic has accelerated our move to a fully electronic commercial system, which raises the question: Do I need a signed, hard copy contract to have a contract? While the typically legal response would be “It depends”, we have some guidance from a recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in the case of Ruparell v. J.H. Cochrane Investments Inc. et al.
Price volatility, benchmarks, qualifying your bid • Legal Desk, May 2021
June 10, 2021 – As part of its post-pandemic recovery, China embarked upon a massive infrastructure program, guzzling up construction commodities and, thus, narrowing supply. So not only have prices increased on materials such as copper and steel, but there was no corresponding sense of prediction. Most electrical contractors, suppliers and distributors were forced to hedge on material pricing.
Demonstrating lost productivity with the measured mile: Legal Desk, February 2021
February 26, 2021 – Many subcontractors have experienced a variety of negative impacts arising out of the pandemic, which could lead to delay claims or lost productivity claims—the two of which are quite different from each other. Delay claims largely focus on time impact and schedule analysis, measuring cause of effect on slippages from a baseline schedule to any as-built schedule, and actual completion dates of the activities identified in the schedules.
Legal Desk, October 2020: The slow encroachment of performance-based specs
October 26, 2020 – As a general rule, our national or provincial electrical codes are prescriptive in nature and design. They are a specification of sorts, mandating how certain components are to be sized, spaced, connected and used. As such, it stands to reason that most electrical specs would be prescriptive in nature, as well.
The slow encroachment of performance-based specs – Legal Desk, October 2020 - Electrical Business
October 26, 2020 – As a general rule, our national or provincial electrical codes are prescriptive in nature and design. They are a specification of sorts, mandating how certain components are to be sized, spaced, connected and used. As such, it stands to reason that most electrical specs would be prescriptive in nature, as well.
Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders
Crisis and Change: Conversations With Leaders—Race and Diversity Today Hosted by Dan LeDuc & Eric Nee Crystal Hayling of The Libra Foundation and Sonal Shah of The Asian American Foundation discuss how their organizations are transforming the way race is discussed in America and how to improve understanding about racial concerns that will lead to a more inclusive society. Produced in partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Keeping Track Of Employees From A Distance: Monitoring Technologies And Related Legal Considerations For Teleworking
To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. Due to COVID-19, teleworking has become the new norm in Canada and many parts of the world. In the traditional physical workplace, employers are generally permitted to take certain reasonable steps to observe or supervise what employees are doing throughout the day.
Construction Force Majeure And Alternative Relief
To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. What is the most commonly used standard form construction contract used in the country? The Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) CCDC-2 form of contract. This contract is commonly used for the design-bid-build project delivery method. The contract is a stipulated price contract between an owner and a prime contractor.
Legal Desk, May 2020: “Essential” or “non-essential”, tips for getting paid
May 9, 2020 – Do not forget about your lien rights or assume no other deadlines apply. In Ontario and in some other jurisdictions, governments have suspended limitation periods and other statutory deadlines. This “tolling” of deadlines applies to lien periods in Ontario as well, effective to March 16, 2020, meaning that any lien period already beginning to run prior to March 16 will not expire, and will not continue to run until the government makes a further declaration on the issue.
Proper invoices and subcontractors • Legal Desk, February 2020
As each province moves along towards their respective prompt payment regimes with introductions to new legislation or amendments to current legislation, we thought it best to do a comparison as to whether or not a “proper invoice” would be required from a subcontractor.
The dangers of the preliminary subcontract
As part of the work I do for my clients, I get the opportunity to review a variety of contracts, along with other contractual documents. As a result, I believe I am aware of certain trends taking place. One of these current trends is to arrange a design-build joint venture contract with a subcontractor (specifically, in my experience, a mechanical or electrical subcontractor) to undertake some ‘design assist’ efforts and, further, estimate the work to be performed.
‘Pay when paid’ clauses • Legal Desk, April 2019
April 12, 2019 - Given recent changes to Ontario’s Construction Act and a series of decisions across Canada involving ‘pay when paid’ clauses, this column will try to provide a dashboard of how such clauses are being interpreted in various jurisdictions. This type of clause—sometimes characterized as a ‘paid if paid’ clause—typically manifests itself in the contract between (a) a general contractor or construction manager and (b) a subcontractor or trade contractor.
Beware of 'subcontract cancer' • Legal Desk, October 2018
November 27, 2018 - While the title of this article may seem somewhat harsh, there is a trend in subcontract language today we need to address because it could cause ‘project cancer.’ That trend involves a subcontractor’s ability to make a claim against the general contractor only to the extent that the general contractor can advance a claim against the owner and is successful in that particular claim.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction clauses • Legal Desk, June 2018
July 27, 2018 — I’ve noticed a common trait among the various members of the construction industry that I meet through my work and at conferences. Please don’t hate me for saying it, but many of you are loathe to read your construction contracts or, at the least, have someone read them for you.
Adjudication a.k.a. arbitration on steroids • Legal Desk, March 2018
April 4, 2018 — The Ontario government is due to proclaim a new Construction Act (which heavily modifies the current Construction Lien Act), and while a lot of time has been spent discussing new prompt payment provisions (justifiably so), of equal importance is a whole new section regarding Adjudication.
Schadenfreude... and you thought you had it bad!
January 22, 2018 — As a construction lawyer, a large part of my practice tends to focus on projects gone wrong. You may be thinking of some of your own projects right now, asking What the hell went wrong? Well, the Germans have a word that may help explain exactly what you may be feeling by the end of this column: schadenfreude, which is the pleasure derived from someone else’s misfortune.
Integrated Project Delivery: are you prepared? • Dan Leduc
April 10, 2017 - In April 2012, I attended the Forum on Construction Law (an annual conference presented by the American Bar Association), which was almost exclusively premised on what was then a new and emerging contractual platform called Integrated Project Delivery IPD).
Escrow Bid Documents... not new, but worth a look • Dan Leduc
January 18, 2017 - A though not new, Escrow Bid Documents are being increasingly used in tender requirements for many public agencies and, in particular, municipalities.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Dan
Contact Dan, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack