Just as your client should be very careful to distinguish between employees and contractors, so should you.

The inquiry has centered on the relationships between military contractors and their consultants.

The law requires them to pass a 20-part test for distinguishing between employees and independent contractors.

The plan also aims to create partnerships between the Pentagon and private contractors to stimulate the construction of housing.

The official said he understood the inquiry concerned contacts between military contractors and the staff of the former lawmaker, who died in 1986.

The future owner-operator had no opportunity to enforce competition between contractors at the bidding stage.

"When problems occur, it's usually in the interface" between architects, engineers and contractors, he said.

That prevents potential conflicts between competing contractors working alongside each other.

The Council was created in 1990 as a joint effort between building trades unions and contractors to promote a better construction industry.

Another is that the department will intervene in disputes between customers and licensed contractors.