Resolving disputes with a general contractor
Its an old story–we hired a gc to do quite a bit of work on our house that included total rewiring and plumbing. We are getting near completion and the GC has requested an additional $5000 for some “extra” electrical work. In our case, the extra work was extending electrical service to the roof for HVAC units. The contractor is now saying that the wiring for the units are not considered electrical but part of HVAC and is therefore extra. I pointed out that our contract includes this language for complete electric rewiring: “Labor only. Includes fixture install (Does not include fixture costs) wiring for HVAC components at terminal points. Includes General Wiring Permit.” They now claim that they can not be penalized for something that is obviously not electrical but part of the HVAC system. It is clear to me that they have no legal leg to stand on but from what I have learned since moving to brooklyn, the law is besides the point. Most people’s advice is pay to get rid of the problem. I want to know if someone has used an arbitration system or another creative solution to resolve these sort of disputes. By the way, the “extra work” took 1 day.
misconformist
in General Contractors 10 years and 6 months ago
9
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9 replies
concord | 10 years and 5 months ago
Who installed the HVAC units and what does that contract say regarding the wiring? If there is a continuing dispute, and the scope of the HvAc does not inlude the wiring up to it (external) then it will make sense that the intent was to have the GC do the electrical work…arguably even if it is in both scopes there would be a ‘credit’ by one but is is cleaner if the scope is only in one trade… When you say ‘GC’ I imagine it is not a true GC because in that case the GC hires the subs to do other work (hvac, plumbing, electrical, etc.) and it would be his problem whether the scope was included in the lectrician or hvac’ scope. The diagrams,as part of the scope, will be helpful for your ‘case’…
misconformist | 10 years and 6 months ago
To clarify a couple of points. I included electrical diagrams for the whole house that included wiring for the condensers. The contract states that wiring is based on diagrams submitted. Also, I paid for the materials as that was part of the agreement. I do not think it is possible to claim it is a change order as it was always part of the conversation. The gc claims it is obvious that electrical for hvac is not electrical but should be considered hvac.
concord | 10 years and 6 months ago
Simple; at this point it depends on ‘leverage’…that is, if you need the contactor to compkete the work (overall) then he has more leverage…otherwise, if the work is complete then you have more leverage…to compromise on a reasonable amount. By the way, the fact that the contactor claims it was not part of the contract…therefore no contract for it…then if it only took a day to do the work then you have an advantage as his recovery is for the ‘reasonable cost’ of the work…he must prove it (and if it took a day that is proof)…if you had agreed to a price it matters not whether it took him a minute or a century the agreed price controls. If the claim is that there is no agreement then the ‘recovery’ (if he is right) is under a different theory…
zagor | 10 years and 6 months ago
We don’t know what was contemplated, anticipated or maybe verbally agreed upon. Based on the contract paragraph in the OP, there’s no mention of providing power for HVAC, for that matter there is no mention of running new wires or “complete electric rewiring” at all. Only installing some fixtures and wiring at (not to) HVAC terminals (condenser and air handler). Probably OP hired the HVAC guy and then hired the electricity and plumbing guy but there was no coordination by architect or GC responsible for comprehensive scope. Speculating about the cost is moot. You don’t know the distances or if they had to break walls again, roof penetrations, water proofing, so on and so forth.
slopefarm | 10 years and 6 months ago
I’d want to hear the reason this cost was left out of the original bid. If it could not have been anticipated, then fine. A legitimate surprise is what change orders are for. But the GC is supposed to bid on the whole scope of work. If the GC erred and didn’t correctly account for HVAC work inherent in the original scope, then he should eat this. But kicking in $1-2k to grease the wheels for finish is probably worth it.
Augustiner | 10 years and 6 months ago
I think Zagor is right – if it comes down to legal terms a condenser is probably not a terminal point. 5000 is over the top, 1000-2000 is realistic because the big wire is also not cheap.
slopefarm | 10 years and 6 months ago
I disagree with zagor. HVAC is contemplated in the contract so the work should be anticipated in the bid. GC is treating it like a change order. OTOH, you want GC to finish and finish well, so compromise may be worth it. Are you working with an architect? Run this by the architect, who is in a more authoritative position to say what is in the contract vs surprise additional work meriting a change order. Architect is in better position than you to get GC to back down or compromise.
zagor | 10 years and 6 months ago
The contract language as you have written it in your post doesn’t say anything about providing power for the HVAC components. It only states that they will make the terminal connections. Also you can’t understand the cost of a service only by how long it took to be performed.
eman134 | 10 years and 6 months ago
try honesty…works for me…tell him that the number sounds large and is a surprise to you and can you meet him halfway on it