Bovis Lend Lease has agreed to a $5-million settlement with the city to settle a civil case contending that the firm had overcharged it on more than 100 municipal projects over the past decade, says a Jan. 5 announcement by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

According to the announcement, Bovis charged the city for overtime and extra pay to foremen on jobs “for which they had not worked.” Bloomberg and city Dept. of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said the case was based on an analysis of records “and practices” on more than 100 city-funded jobs that Bovis had managed between 1999 and 2009.

“This settlement shines a light on one such practice that drove up costs to the city,” said Hearn.

In a Jan. 6 statement on its website, Lend Lease, the Australian-based parent of Bovis, confirms the settlement, but says there is no admission of liability. While the city says the settlement “resolves” the civil case, Lend Lease also confirmed that investigations by the federal prosecutor’s office in Brooklyn, N.Y. and by the New York County District Attorney's office are ongoing.

A spokesman for Brooklyn prosecutor Loretta E. Lynch would not comment, but ther office’s probe is focusing on similar overcharging by Bovis on its federal, state and other municipal projects, according to published reports. However, a city construction association official says the probe is not focused on other contractors.

Neither the city nor Bovis would release the agreement or provide details or a list of the projects investigated. A Bovis spokeswoman says the non-release is governed by a confidentiality clause in the settlement that the contractor and city officials agreed to.

According to a data compiled by McGraw-Hill Construction, the parent unit of ENR, Bovis’ recent work for New York City includes both highway and building projects.

This article was originally published at ENR.com on January 6, 2011.