BUSINESS TIP ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– In response to ceramic contrac- tors’ needs for time-saving products, MAPEI added Ultraflex™ LFT Rapid mortar to its line of fast-setting tile and stone instal- lation systems. This mortar sets quickly, allowing grouting in three to four hours. Ultraflex LFT Rapid has a high content of a unique dry polymer, resulting in excellent adhesion to the substrate and tile. Its non-sag medium-bed and thin-set mortar characteristics are ideal for installing large-format tile and stone on interior and exte- rior floors, walls and countertops. Ultraflex LFT Rapid directly answers the need for quick-turnaround on installation of larger-format tile resi- dentially and commercially in a variety of environments. Gray mortars account for 70% of the volume used by installers, and MAPEI has now added Ultraflex LFT Rapid in the gray color into its product line to meet installers’ pref- erences. www.mapei.com whether the subcontract required the General Contractor to pay the Subcontractor’s invoices even though it was undisputed that the Owner had not yet paid the General Contractor. The relevant portions of payment clause in the subcontract provided that: The Contractor will make partial payments to the Subcontractor in an amount equal to 90 percent of the estimated value of work and materials incorporated in the con- struction and an amount equal to 90 percent of the materials deliv- ered to and suitably and prop- erly stored by the Subcontractor at the Project site, to the extent of Subcontractor’s interest in the amounts allowed thereon and paid to Contractor by the Owner, less the aggregate of previous payments, within five (5) days of receipt thereof from the Owner. The trial court reviewed this pay- ment clause and ruled that payment by the Owner was a condition prec- edent to the General Contractor’s obligation to pay its Subcontractor: [T]he provisions outlined in the subcontract at issue clearly make the receipt of payment from the Owner to [the General Contractor] the condition precedent to the [Subcontractor’s] payment. The condition precedent has not been satisfied as [the General Contractor] has not received pay- ment from Owner. Therefore, because the Owner had not paid the General Contractor, 30 TileLetter | December 2017