(a)  Any person, firm or corporation awarded the contract, subsequent to July 1, 2006, with the state of Rhode Island, acting through any of its departments, commissions or other agencies, for the design, construction, repair or alteration of any state highway or bridge, may, on behalf of a subcontractor of any tier under the contractor, bring an action against the state of Rhode Island regarding a claim arising out of or relating to labor, materials, or services provided by the subcontractor to the contractor pursuant to a contract between the subcontractor and the contractor for the same project that is the subject of the contract between the contractor and the state of Rhode Island.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 37-13.1-2

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6

(b)  In any action brought by a contractor against the state of Rhode Island under subsection (a) of this section, so long as the contractor retains liability to the subcontractor related to the subject matter of the claim, it shall not be a defense that: (i) the costs and damages at issue were incurred by a subcontractor and that subcontractor has not been paid for these costs and damages; or (ii) the contractor’s obligation to pay costs and damages to the subcontractor is conditional upon a recovery against the state of Rhode Island; or (iii) the contractor has not acknowledged or admitted the contractor’s liability to the subcontractor.

(c)  In any action brought by a contractor against the state of Rhode Island under subsection (a) of this section, the action is subject to all legal and equitable defenses of the state of Rhode Island against the contractor.

(d)  This section applies to all such actions brought in Superior Court under § 37-13.1-1 and to claims arbitrated pursuant to § 37-16-1, et seq.

History of Section.
P.L. 2006, ch. 323, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 468, § 1.