Good afternoon, Chair. My name is Natalie Nguyen, and I am the in-house counsel for L. F. Jennings, Inc., a general contractor based in Falls Church, Northern Virginia. Last year, we performed nearly 100 projects in Virginia alone. As a trend, L. F. Jennings is seeing an uptick in late payments from owners, particularly on the last payment when retainage is being released. Though general contractors and subcontractors may have some protection under the mechanics' lien statute, passage of this bill would significantly ease the cash flow difficulties our subcontractors face, which could quickly lead to default. Shedding light from another angle, financial backlog is one of the prequalification metrics that general contractors employ to vet subcontractors. If a retainage bond allows retainage to be promptly released and accurately reflects subcontractors' financial health, it would greatly benefit general contractors in our qualification process.
Good afternoon, Chair. My name is Natalie Nguyen, and I am the in-house counsel for L. F. Jennings, Inc., a general contractor based in Falls Church, Northern Virginia. Last year, we performed nearly 100 projects in Virginia alone. As a trend, L. F. Jennings is seeing an uptick in late payments from owners, particularly on the last payment when retainage is being released. Though general contractors and subcontractors may have some protection under the mechanics' lien statute, passage of this bill would significantly ease the cash flow difficulties our subcontractors face, which could quickly lead to default. Shedding light from another angle, financial backlog is one of the prequalification metrics that general contractors employ to vet subcontractors. If a retainage bond allows retainage to be promptly released and accurately reflects subcontractors' financial health, it would greatly benefit general contractors in our qualification process.