Contractor abandoned the job, my permits are about to expire. What can I do?

Hi! My contractor abandoned the job after doubling the budget. We ended up paying him two times more than we agreed on. He said he will need 5 week more and he would be done but rather than completing the job he started to drag his feet, and basically every week he was not ‘done’ he turned this into a weekly payment until he is done with the job. After couple months of lack of work but still asking for money we stopped paying him, first he said he will complete and then he ended up asking for more money and we didn’t pay him this time and he abandoned the job. Most of the work was done before he left and the documented the condition of the house after he left. There are only little cosmetic work left which are moldings etc.

This is an ALT 2 renovation and during the renovation we did some changes in the design (approved by an expeditor that the changes were up to the code) but it still need amendments to be filed for us to be able to sign off. We were supposed to apply for the amendments (you need to apply 3 months prior to your permits expire) but because of COVID ou r architect was not working and DOB was closed so our renovation was on hang for the last 4 months.

And now our ALT 2 permit is expiring on July 11th. We want to apply for extensions on our permit but the contractor who abandoned the job won’t extend the permit he pulled or supersed the permits to our new contractor. We need to extend the permit so we can apply for amendments otherwise we can’t sign off and the permits will just go expire without closing.

In this case what we can do? Since the previous contractor won’t cooperate it seems like we don’t have much to do.
-Can we let the permits expire and pull out new ones with our changed design with same architect?
-Is it a way me as the owner can change the licensed contractor without the previous contractors cooperation and let the new contractor supersed the job?
-What would happen if i would let the permits expire and later pull them again?

It has been a muddy situation, please help 🙁

I don’t think you need the previous contractors cooperation to pull a new permit. Have you spoken to the architect and new contractor? I think this is pretty common now sadly as least from old postings on brownstoner/forum so your architect and new contractor should be able to confirm.

Time wise I think better to have the new contractor pull the permit asap before the old expires in case there are more questions / delays. Did you send a letter firing the old contractor? Did you have plumbing, electrical and DOB inspections requirements? Are they done? Is it safe to test plumbing, etc work old contractor did? There is a possibility it was not done or done right. Good luck.

Hi! Thank you for your response! Yes I personally have documented just incase, every open walls so I would have proof of anything/ shoddy work / but my architect himself did inspections and he said everything looked fine. the plumbers permit expired and seems like he didn’t sign off. Everything is done up to code no cutting corners. My concern right now that my architect seems like he doesn’t know much because when I told him about this situation he said I am supposed to get the previous contractor to cooperate otherwise he can’t do anything about extending the permits himself. And my new contractor trying to push his own architect to take the job over and his architect actually says that he can extend the permits while he is not the one who applied for the job. This whole business seems like a headache….

I keep reading about the same stories on this forum. I wish we can post these bad contractors name & company.  I thought architects that have been down this road many many times and are suppose know. Also be homeowners advocate, raise red flags, advise so this does not happen. Did the architect recommend the old contractor?

I don’t think it is a good idea to switch architect you will be starting all over. Is the current architect under a fixed rate contract to complete the job? If yes don’t let them off the hook.  

Did you pay for ALL the plumbing work if it was not signed off?  Send the architect and email asking for all the receipt the contractor provided before he released payments. The plumbing sign off maybe a big issue and additional cost. Do you have access to the plumber? You should be able to find them on the receipts or look them up on the DOB website.

Sorry to hear about your problems. As the owner I would think you would be able to send a letter to DOB closing the previous contractors permits and having your new contractor pull his. You should speak to an expeditor. We have taken over jobs before and it has never been an issue.
It seems there is more to this story with your architect, he may be in over his head. Your architect should be filing the PAA and signing off.
Cosmetic and trimwork do not require a permit and the job should be considered completed even if it is not cosmetically.
I don’t see an issue with the permits expiring as long as you pull new permits within a year, the job is still filed.

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/buildings/business/filing-post-approval-amendments.page

Bigger issue is if the plumbing rough in was inspected/signed off by DOB before the walls were closed up?

I am going to put in a disclaimer though that I have the appropriate people who are well experienced handle my company’ s paperwork, as I have better (and preferable) things to do.

Allyslope, I also wish people would post the bad apples that give the rest of us who work hard and care about our clients and their homes a bad name.

Yes, we have very bad experience with different professionals so far. It seems like they know something and they do abuse their power unapologetically.

My architect is super young and it was his first brownstone renovation, he is used to doing new buildings from scratch so it was challenging for him since the beginning. The architect didn’t know the contractor so they were not in it together. We paid our architect upfront and we only have to pay him again for amendments that he supposed to apply for once we extend the permits. The plumber was paid by the contractor but during the renovation I built a relationship with the plumber and I personally had no idea that he was supposed to sign off his permits before he leaves. It’s like we pay these people because it’s their profession but you get hit by them for not knowing the laws. yourself. I have access to the plumber but i want to deal with it once I extend the general permit on the house that the contractor pulled since that is the main concern. The plumbing is already expired seems like long time ago…. also just bec ause I am not a professional the DOB website shows me limited information even as owner I can’t access the actual things i need to look at.

Currently my only issue is just because my current architect is an amateur he doesn’t know how to supersede the permit to the new contractor. The new contractors architect knows how to do it but he won’t inform me because he wants to take over the job to get paid. When I look online it seems like theres no information how to do that even on DOB it’s like some kind of secret. The new architect keeps saying it is super easy and fast to do that but i’ll do it if i take over so pretty much he won’t share the knowledge without getting paid. Super frustrated and being under pressure is not helping. I need to renewal application for the extensions only in 6 days! 🙁

I can definitely give the names in private. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I have been through and also the clients being silent about it only give them more power to abuse. I am actually in court with one of the contractor . I know that some inspections were done by third party during the reno but I am not sure what exactly those for. I was present at the construction site almost everyday for 3 months I have documented every move and work. I have photos of each wall that has plumbing or electricity. When I figured out this is vultures business I made sure I documented everything, but, if the photos wont be enough and If walls needed to be opened, we will going to have to we cant do anything about it at this point.. 🙁 the problem that my architect is ready to sign off but because of covid we were not able to apply for the amendments on time, which was supposed to be submitted 60 days prior to permit expiration. Our permit expires in 5 business days now so we are not allowed to apply without extending the permits. It seems like DOB should have automatically ex tend the permits just bc they didn’t let us work for 3 months… I called dob and asked them about it and they said I 100% need a permit extend to be able to apply for amendments so that we can go for sign off.

This site https://www.buildzoom.com/ shows you a contactor’s previous and *new* permits and job. Maybe knowing who the old contractor’s new client’s name & address will motive them to at least extend the permit. With the understanding you will have a new contractor take over later if they don’t want to finish.

Regarding the new contractor. How did you find them? How do you know they be able to finish the job? Maybe discreetly talk to a few more contractors like restorationcontractor. You may get more precetive on what work is left, pontentaial issues.

Buildzoom is a pay to play scam website. The phone number listed for the contractor is not their actual phone number. They use a phone number that that forwards to the contractor, but goes through their system. I assume it is so they can monitor or contact the caller.
When I found out my business was listed this way with a fake phone number I contacted them immediately, they refused to remove the listing. I immediately had my attorney send them a letter, their tune changed very quickly and they immediately removed the fraudulent listing of my business.

had no idea about buildzoom. if you do want to find out other projects the contractor has been involved in you can do a search on the DOB website using their GC license info.

Are you running the point on your project or is your contractor? Whoever your new Contractor is should have all these answers before he even steps in if he is the one doing so; things are a bit confusing right now given the circumstances but it should be straight forward to take over your project regardless if they know how to navigate it.

most contractors don’t know that stuff, neither is this your architect’s business. look for an expediter-it’s a relatively easy procedure and painless if your contractor is electronically registered (insurance, bond etc…) with DoB-I believe it costs $100 (unless they changed it)