UPDATE: This seminar occurred in the past, and the seminar materials are now available.
• LESA Library subscribers can already access course materials through the LESA Library.
• Alternatively you can purchase course materials a la carte (search builders’ liens).
• You can also view the list of upcoming seminars to discover live programs that are available now.
Did you know that the first builders’ lien act came from Maryland in 1791 and was invented by Thomas Jefferson?
That’s one interesting fact Bob Schuett, a LESA seminar chair, discovered while preparing for the upcoming Builders’ Liens seminar.
If you practice in the area of real estate or want to learn more about this area, LESA’s Builders’ Liens seminar could be just the professional development opportunity you’ve been looking for. This seminar is targeted to all levels of practitioners and runs in Edmonton (March 5) and Calgary (March 12).
With its references to recent case law, checklists, and precedents, this seminar has plenty to offer. By attending, you’ll gain information and practice pointers about practical issues related to interpreting and applying sections of the Builders’ Lien Act: including filing a builders’ lien, limitation dates after a lien, and the process of removing a lien.
Find out more about this upcoming program from seminar chair Bob Schuett and faculty member Adrianna Worman.
Why will the Builders’ Liens seminar be valuable to practitioners? What will they gain?
Bob:
The Builders’ Lien Act applies to every improvement made on any property in the province. As a result, it requires, let’s say, no positive steps by an individual to create the lien in the first place. Simply working to do the improvement creates a right in the property. Now making use of that right does require other steps, which are outlined in the Builders’ Lien Act. So a practitioner representing a person doing an improvement would have to understand it. If, for example, a client came to you and said, “Well I did the work but I want to protect my interest. How do I go about that?” the way you do it, or at least one of the ways, is through the Builders’ Lien Act. There are a bunch of things that have to take place to make sure that your client’s rights are protected. It’s not just registering a builder’s lien. It’s the follow up, and there are a number of steps that must be taken, or your lien will be removed by action of the statute. So it’s important for the practitioner acting for a person doing an improvement—and notice that I did not use the word contractor, because it may be one of several people—to understand the working of the Act.
So this seminar applies to a wide range of lawyers then? A lot of practitioners would potentially use this Act at some point?
Bob:
If your clients are people doing improvements, yes you must have knowledge of it. On the flip side of that, if you are a person hiring someone to do improvements, you have obligations under the Act, holdback, for example, which if you don’t take increases your financial liability. What are you going to do as a property owner when a lien is placed on your property? How do you remove it? And what are the actions you must take? Most lawyers act for property owners at some point and time.
Adrianna:
Additionally, [this seminar] will be useful to anyone advising owners in condominium properties, because, if the condo board undertakes work for the benefit of the common property, there can be a lien registered against your individual unit. So condo lawyers should be aware of the work the condo board may be doing and how that relates to their owners in respect of the Builders’ Lien Act.
What will be the main takeaways for participants?
Bob:
First, we’ll give them a broad overview of the intent of the Act. Lawyers who work with it understand it, but practitioners who only deal with it occasionally may not understand what the point of the Act is, what it’s all about. They’ll come away with that broad understanding. In addition, we’ll give them a little history of the Act and of builders’ lien acts generally.
Second, they’ll get an idea of the complexity of the Act. … It’s one thing to put a lien on for somebody; that’s actually pretty simple. It’s so simple most people could do it themselves. Once you start into the follow up from that, which means bits and pieces of applications to the court and so on, you really have to understand that whole process. We’ll provide a bit of a roadmap through there, so that practitioners can make the decision about whether they really want to get into it. We’ll also give them some precedents for use in doing some of the most common functions, like removing a lien by placing money in court. That is actually a fairly trivial thing. It’s a couple of lines in the Act. But as it turns out, it’s not quite so simple. … We keep our precedents here up to date, so we’ll provide the attendees with a copy of the precedents that we have in use.
Can you share a sneak preview of your particular presentation topics?
Bob:
I’m doing the overview and … [covering] prevenient arrangements. …. [These aren’t] even in the Act, but case law has defined this thing called prevenient arrangements, and it’s kind of a wrinkle. The importance in Alberta is that most of the work that’s done up in the oil sands is based on forms of agreement that set up these prevenient arrangements.
Adrianna:
I have a couple of case study examples to discuss some of the complexities we’ve encountered. One specifically is the payment of funds in court, and how that impacts the interplay of the Rules of Court with the Builders Lien Act, and what happens when the deadlines in the Act aren’t met. What remedies do you have? … [I’ll also discuss] how bankruptcy of either the owner or the general contractor affects the lien claim and security”
Is there anything else you’d like to add about the seminar?
Bob:
A lawyer who doesn’t deal with the Act [very often] should come out of this seminar with an understanding of how the Act functions and where the bear traps are. In my view, they should come away saying, “Okay, when I get this far, I better toss it off to lawyer who deals with this a lot.”
For the experienced litigator who deals with builder’s liens items, it will be an update of some recent things that have happened to us [on the panel]. That’s how we’re planning to cover both ends [and provide useful information to all practitioners].
If you’d benefit from this seminar, why not register online now to take advantage of the early bird deadline that ends next week on February 3. Register here for Edmonton or Calgary.
Did you know that LESA also produces an Alberta Real Estate Practice Manual. This resource has been recently updated and includes a section on Builders’ Liens. You can even purchase this practice manual online.
