firing a contractor
A contractor I hired deliberately breached our contract agreement, so I need to sever ties. The job is not complete, but they’ve done enough that the next contractor will need to undo and redo. Anyhoo, other than saying “don’t come back”, any other steps that should be taken? I do intend to seek $$ for…
A contractor I hired deliberately breached our contract agreement, so I need to
sever ties. The job is not complete, but they’ve done enough that the next
contractor will need to undo and redo. Anyhoo, other than saying “don’t come
back”, any other steps that should be taken? I do intend to seek $$ for wasted
material, and wondering what the best way is to do so. DCA allows people to file
online complaints, but one question they ask is whether the contractor has tried
to fix the problem. It’s so bad at this point, I don’t trust them in my home to
come back and do additional work/remedy.
Any btdt comments appreciated.
keywords: fire terminate
This all depends on your contract w/ the G.C.
Done ‘properly’, you haven’t paid for any work not yet completed, and have been withholding 10% of what was completed as retainage, so that you have the upper hand. Your contract should also stipulate that if the contractor is fired for cause, you’re allowed to deduct the cost of undoing any of his mistakes.
Since you’re asking on this forum, I’m guessing you don’t have a comprehensive agreement, so you’re working w/out a roadmap. If that’s the case, it’s almost certain that you and your contractor will see things quite differently, and he’ll likely file a lien. If you’re in the unfortunate position of having paid him more than the value of what he’s done on site, you’ll have to spend time and money to try to recover those funds.
In either case, write him a letter spelling out why you’re terminating his services, and how you’ll account for any outstanding $ owed him. Your lawyer should sign off on, or ghost write, this. If things haven’t soured too much, review it in person or on the phone w/ him. Sometimes this more informal approach can be more productive.
I tell you this in the utmost confidentiality… (on an online forum.) My friend (lets call him Joe) went through this same scenario recently and there were some reprocussions. The contractor thought he was owed for the total contract amount of the job, even though he only completed 25% of it, and put a mechanics lean on the property, thereby involving the bank. Long story short- “Joe” became his own GC. If you would like his contact info, follow the link. He would be more than happy to advise you of how to terminate a contract properly, and not personally experience the hell he has been through.