Chris Dinapoli, General Contractor: Think Twice Before Using

We are not pursuing any formal cases, nor have we ever considered it, because as you all have said we made the mistake of going with lowest bid, and at the end of the day you pretty much get what you pay for, within reason. The rub is that I don’t think we got reasonable quality, not even close. But no laws were broken. We just feel that the shoddy workmanship and rude treatment we got should not go without comment, regardless of what you pay for it, and we wanted to let other potential customers of this GC know what they are getting into. Thanks for the feedback, all. (And FYI, this post comes up very high on google when you query “Chris Dinapoli General Contractor” so I hope that it provides an honest warning and good info from you all for other clients considering this GC.)

OP, the mistake you made was taking the lowest bid and not understanding that when you are dealing with a small contracting firm, the 25% you mention is in fact a lot of money.  It sounds to me as if the contractor had not built money into the job to hire specialized trades where they were needed.  It is his fault and his responsibility – but as  property owner, you are not off the hook; yes, you can sue him and make his life miserable and can complain about him on here (and something tells me the people who read this forum would not hire a guy like him anyway; I have never heard of the guy), but at the end of the day, you have a property that someone (never mind him; it could have been anyone) did work on and some of that work probably should have been filed and most probably handled by licensed trades and I would bet was not; just becuase he is a GC does not mean he can perform the forementioned plumbing and any electric work he may have done;  trades should have done that work (just like the flooring guy should have done the flooring and a cabinet installer should have hung the cabinets) and while he should have told you that and shared with you what he is qualified to do, as property owners, the customers take the ultimate hit if something goes wrong years later and the contractor is out of business or sitting on the beach in Florida.

There is a way to avoid situations like the one you have been through.  I have alluded to it in my reply to mr greenmt:  get three bids from reputable firms and go with the middle bid.  Architects and building professionals come on here all the time (and I am not saying me; I am small potatos – count me out, I am repeating what others say) and repeat that very advice.  Why, becuase to do anything other means you might get someone less experienced or desparate for the job.  I will relay a true story here:  when I was working as a lower level building manager for a big company with multiple locations and layers of management in the facilities dept alone, I was given the project of sourcing a contractor to build a very nice maple built-in display case for the lobby at one of the buildings.  The quotes came in like this 42,000 and 50,000 and 56,000.  I took the quotes to my bosses and put forth the 42,000 quote (notice I am using the word quotes; to use the word bid implies that money is the basis for the selection and the lowest bidder will be chosen; money should not be the deciding factor in selecting a contractor; yes we all have budgets, but it is better to scale the project back and go for quality than take quantity over quality).   To me choosing a quote 8k under the next one was a good deal – we’d save the company 8k on a small job, right?  My bosses would hear none of it.  they made me pick the 50,000 quote on the assumption that the lower number may have trouble completing the job or may have trouble producing quality.  Now, understand something – the men who guided me through this process had been working in real estate management since about the time I was born and have most likely forgotten more than I know.   Had we chosen that lower bid and something went wrong, someone would have gotten in trouble  (and the one we chose did a superb job).

Good luck with getting this all straightened out.  I know its awful; I used to go around and fix jobs that other contractors made a mess of – particulalry with the work at the end when the money was tight and they had to skimp on the final details like the finish wood work (I am a finish carpenter so I have seen a lot of this).  I actually saw so much of this and heard so many stories from customers who selected the contractor because he was their friend’s cousin joey and he had no work or he knew so and so so he was giving them a good price that I stopped doing that kind of work.   The truth is contractors can not afford to cut prices and give people deals – we can not do it; the numbers don’t lie, we can’t.   I did work for my cousins on Long Island over the winter and the first thing I told them when I called was “I cannot give you any deals – you will pay what I would charge anyone else” – but what I did do was give them a superb job, one that I know I can look at when I am sitting a their dinner table and be happy to have done – the quality will last forever while the money they spent paying me my rate has already been forgotten.  For a contractor to cut a price or underbid a job cheats everyone involved including the customer, the customer’s family and the contractor and his family.

Good luck.

Steve

Thanks Tinkers Wagon.  As usual you are a steady hand.  I apologize to Mr Dinapoli.  He is both licensed by the DCA and the DOB, so he also has a Workers’ Comp policy.  I entered his name in the wrong search box.  I am not taking sides between Mr. Dinapoli and OP Yanivnord.  I stand by my overall point about our industry:   If “everybody is cheating” (according to my NYS DOL auditor regarding payroll tax, but even more on comp) than the cost of labor for “full fraud” (no insurance, no taxes) is about 40% lower than full compliance.  Taxes vary a little, but insurance rates are rapidly increasing. My auditor said he does not look at financial records for home improvement contractors because “everybody is cheating.”  He said he and his boss just discuss what contractors should pay for “unreported payroll.”  Contractors are free to hire off the books because (at least in my case) the phony amount of “unreported payroll” was affordably low.  Thus, the price of home improvements is low too.  In this case the OP reported low quality, but I don’t know if what they paid was enough to meet expectations, or if the workers were on the books.  Would OP please let us know if they are pursuing a case and how it turns out.

I was not able to find a license under Dinapoli or Chris Dinapoli on the city website.  As a “fairly above board” contractor myself, I can not compete with those who do not have workers’ comp or deduct taxes.  Paying in cash is a way to help your contractor commit fraud.  The industry has a lot of this.  Even cpa’s and lawyers have advised me to find ways to generate cash.  It make it harder for consumers to seek recourse when contractors are hiding from auditors and sometimes from authorities trying to collect medical expenses and even wages on behalf of workers.  Good luck.

Was he licensed by the Dept of Consumer Affairs as required by law?  Did you complain to them? If not, why not?  Or was he registered with the DOB?  Did you receive certificates of insurance?  Does he have a worker’s comp insurance policy to compensate his workers in case of injury or death as required by law?  Does he deduct taxes from his worker’s paychecks as required by law, or does he pay in cash?  Did you pay in cash?  Legal, insured labor including payroll tax cost 40% more than cash under the table.  Were you willing to pay for a contractor who does good quality work and follows the law?  If not, who did you think would pay for the bargain you were expecting?  I am sorry this occurred (again).  Most of the work I do involves removing failed work which came before.  Most of that failed work was recent.  I have a lot of experience in seeing the same sorts of problems over and over, but I don’t know what went wrong in your case.  I also know quite a bit about insurance injustice.  The rules are based on new construction, and don’t neatly fit the home improvement work you describe.  There is blame to go around, but the industry data is wrong.  Nobody even knows the extent of the problem. If you want to hear a different point of view, feel free to contact me through the Brownstoner directory.  – Green Mountain

Can you give us any insight why you chose this contractor from the get-go?  Was his estimate the lowest bid?  Did you review any of his previous projects (due diligence) prior to hiring?  Did you speak to his references?