August 2025 legal updates: The Big Beautiful Bill, insurance policies and more

By Emma Peterson. 

Keep up to date with the latest news and changes in the roofing legal landscape. 

From new products to changing standards and shifting legislation, it can be hard to keep up with everything happening in the roofing industry. Luckily, Trent Cotney of Adams and Reese is helping make that challenge a little easier by providing legal insights through his monthly Cotney Briefs. These newsletters are a great way to learn about key shifts in the industry and what contractors like you can be doing to keep up with them. In this article, we wanted to highlight four of the insights from Trent’s August 2025 brief!  

1 – The One Big Beautiful Bill 

The passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill has led to a variety of tax shifts for the construction industry. From 100% bonus depreciation, section 178 expensing increases, restoring R&D expense dedications and using EBITDA instead of EBIT for interest expenses to accelerating the cutoff for green energy credits, expanding revenue deferrals for residential projects and more, there’s a lot that’s changing.  

What this means for contractors: In general, the One Big Beautiful Bill “delivers sweeping, mostly taxpayer-friendly changes by locking in lower income tax rates, boosting standard deductions and expanding deductions for tips, overtime and auto loan interest while also raising the SALT cap and enhancing estate and business tax breaks.” The best move for contractors is to speak with their tax professional to see how these shifts affect their business. 

2 – Arbitration and delegation clauses 

In Louisiana, the 19th Judicial Court declined to “enforce arbitration and delegation provisions contained in residential sale contracts” (in the case Dixon, et al. v. D.R. Horton, Inc., et al). The origin of this case was a homeowner class action that alleged there were construction defects. The builder sought to compel arbitrations based on clauses in the “AAA Construction Industry Arbitration Rules.” 

What this means for contractors: The court’s ruling shows the importance of explicit, well-explained and even-handed transactions relating to arbitration and delegation. Contractors and builders should review their agreements and documents to make sure that dispute resolution provisions are transparent, supported, balanced and understood by all parties. 

3 – Mobilizing before and after a storm 

Storms can wreak havoc on all parts of a job, from timelines to equipment security and beyond. It’s important to acknowledge this possibility in your contracts in order to avoid financial responsibility for the costs of shutting down prior to a storm and restarting work after (demobilization and remobilization).  

What this means for contractors: Make sure to include a clause in your contract about storm-related demobilization and remobilization. This is what Trent recommends:  

“In the event that stored materials, equipment, or work in progress must be secured, relocated or otherwise protected due to a forecasted or actual storm, hurricane, tropical event, or other severe weather condition, all reasonable costs of demobilization, securing and subsequent remobilization shall be borne by Owner. Such costs shall include labor, equipment, transportation and protective measures required to safeguard materials and work. Contractor shall provide Owner with notice as soon as practicable of the anticipated work and associated costs. Payment for such costs shall be made in accordance with the payment provisions of this Agreement, and no extensions of time shall be deemed waived as a result of such storm-related work.” 

4 – Comparing claims-based and occurrence-based policies 

Insurance coverage in the roofing industry can come in two general forms – claims-based and occurrence based. These each play a different role in protecting contractors and other construction professionals from losses.  

Overall, an occurrence-based policy protects you from incidents that occur during the policy period. For example, if there is a construction defect that causes damages three years post-project, but the defect stems from work during the project, an occurrence-based policy would cover it. On the other hand, claims-based policies only provide coverage if the claim is made during the policy period. In this scenario, the error or defect must be reported during the policy’s active time period and the policy must be continually renewed to keep coverage.  

What this means for contractors: Make sure to work closely with an insurance advisor to choose the right policy for your scenario. Again, occurrence-based policies are protection “for incidents arising during the policy period, regardless of when claims are filed, while claims-made policies require continuous coverage to protect against professional liability exposures.”