§ 8.01-262.1.Place for bringing action under a contract related to construction.

Construction contracts often try to lock disputes into the drafter’s preferred forum, sometimes far from where the work happens. Section 8.01-262.1 pushes back on that for Virginia projects. Where a party whose principal place of business is in Virginia enters, on or after July 1, 1997, a construction-related contract, to design, manage, build, alter, repair, maintain, move, demolish, or excavate, or to supply goods, equipment, or materials for such work, on a building, structure, road, bridge, or tunnel physically located in Virginia, any resulting cause of action may be brought where the project sits, or anywhere else venue is proper under Chapter 5. A contract clause requiring suit outside Virginia is unenforceable.

Subsection B does the same for arbitration. For contracts entered on or after July 1, 1991, required arbitration must happen in Virginia, and a clause sending it elsewhere is unenforceable; if the contract does not specify a Virginia location, arbitration defaults to the county or city where the work is performed, unless the parties agree to another Virginia location. Beyond forum, everything about how enforceable the arbitration agreement is and how a forum gets selected still runs through the Code, the Federal Arbitration Act, and applicable arbitration rules.