Contractor requesting addt'l payment AFTER job completed?
Unless he has a change orders you signed off on he really doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on. If you have the original contract and his signing off on all the payments up to the $1,200 remaining then he is hustling you. THAT BEING SAID. He could put a lien on the property and that will be hell down the road. Try to meet with him and reveiw what was done and agree to have him collect the remaining that is owed per the contract and he should show up with his signed change orders. If he is full of bull then be sure to have another letter that he signs agreeing that the $1200 is the full and final payment. If you can have a notary on hand to sign off on 2 originals then do so. Be sure to put in wording that stresses the final payment is made after you reveiw to make sure he has removed any liens he placed on the property.
utoeid
in General Discussion 8 years and 4 months ago
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empathie00 | 8 years and 5 months ago
Hi all – our cornice job FINALLY finished up on Monday, 9 months behind schedule. We have a contract with the roofer that was created when the job was initiated; it includes total cost, scope of work, payment schedule, etc. We’ve paid him all but $1200 of this contract and had him sign off on each of the payments.
Today – after job completed; scaffold down, etc. – he sent us a “revised estimate” via email that includes a long list of additional work that he claims he did that was outside the scope of the original contract. He claims he did all this work and therefore we must pay him. He never discussed this additional work with us prior to doing it; never sent a revised proposal while the job was still ongoing; we never approved the “additional” work, etc.
It’s more than $10K that he’s claiming we owe him now so we cannot just pay him off to get rid of him. Does he have any sort of a case here? How can he be asking for more money now for work already completed t hat he never even told us about?? We never even had the opportunity to decide if we even wanted this “additional” work to be done! Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before?
Help 🙁 Thanks!
e
daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 5 months ago
First, were permits involved and if so, have they been signed off on?
NeoGrec | 8 years and 5 months ago
If he didn’t discuss the extra work with you while he was doing it, it’s doubtful he has a leg to stand on. On the other hand, we had a similar situation and ending up splitting the difference because our GC made a compelling case about the problems he ran into that he couldn’t have anticipated. Also, we had a lot more work still to do and we wanted to retain him.
empathie00 | 8 years and 5 months ago
Thanks, both.
Hi Dave – no permits involved.
Hi Neo Grec – I guess I’m not even necessarily saying that the job didn’t end up being more than the contractor originally anticipated. In fact, he found structural issues right after starting, told us about it, suggested a plan to address it and the cost of the additional work, and we added an annex to the existing contract to include this additional work. To me that’s normal and the sort of process I’ve dealt with many times in the past.
At no point in the 9+ months since then did he ever raise a point about additional work or additional cost, except when we began pushing him on the timeline and all he would say is “the job is complicated, I’m a perfectionist, that’s why it’s taking so long.” But he had every opportunity at any point over those 9+ months to say “oh by the way, there is actually $12,000 worth of additional work I need to do and this is what it entails – shall I go ahead?” Rather, he just went ahead and did it (or so he claims) and is now attempting to bill us after the fact for work he didn’t discuss wi th us and we didn’t approve him to do. …but of course my concern is that he doesn’t see it this way and will put a lien on our house and before you know it we’re out a 100K in legal fees and months of court dates 🙁 ….just trying to figure out if there is any way we can avoid that that doesn’t boil down to “suck it up and just pay him.”
Anyway, thanks for the insights! I am just so, so tired of this.
lgwlcvqt | 8 years and 5 months ago
Negotiate with him or talk to DCA
slopefarm | 8 years and 5 months ago
The problem is that change orders ought to be brought up before committing to the work. it allows you to ask questions, consider options, etc. Presenting you with a fait accompli deprives you of the ability to make an informed choice. You are probably within your rights just to say no, but there may be reasons it is worth compromising. Not worth paying the whole amount, though. Does your contract say anything about how change orders are to be handled?
empathie00 | 8 years and 5 months ago
HI slopefarm – no, there’s nothing at all in the contract about change orders. He never even told us he was doing this “additional” work and honestly, if he had, we might not have done it ($12K is a LOT!! – represents more than 50% of the total project cost) – at the very least, we feel he should have told us about it and asked before just going ahead and doing it – and then waiting until AFTER job is finished to say anything at all. He has now sent us receipts for materials he bought in July and is demanding payment (materials are included in the original contract but he is saying these are “extra”).
My suspicion is that since the relationship soured after we called him on his timeline (10+months in total to finish a job he said would be 4 weeks), he’s now making stuff up to try to get back at us. One of our neighbors apparently had a similar experience a few years ago and calls him “vindictive”. Wish we had known this before 🙁
To me there is no reason to compromise as I feel this is extortion – but I fear he may try to put a lien on the house…so am trying to figu re out if he has any actual claim that a court could possibly find in his favor. To me it seems not – how can you add >50% to an contract without even mentioning it to the client?? – but, knowing the way the legal system works…I am afraid.
lgwlcvqt | 8 years and 5 months ago
What contract did you use?
empathie00 | 8 years and 5 months ago
Hi Mozee – just a very basic one; something the contractor put together, a 2-page word doc that outlines scope of work, total cost, total price and payment schedule – I added in a table to keep track of payments (and ensure he signed for each payment received and balance thereafter). But it’s not from a formal template or anything.
robyim1 | 8 years and 5 months ago
When I had change orders they listed additional work w/ the price on them and then the change order was amended on the contract listed as Change order no. 1, 2, 3 etc. Since you have the original contract w/ scope of work and total cost I don’t see how he can just add stuff. It’s sounds like a big headache but maybe you have the law on your side. Besides you’d think you would be able to tell if someone was doing 12K worth of extra work.
robyim1 | 8 years and 5 months ago
I had to sign off on the change order also.
empathie00 | 8 years and 5 months ago
Hi Go Bed Stuy – what you outline is pretty much in line with all other contractors I’ve dealt with; this is a first for us so just trying to get a read on if the law is indeed on our side (if we refuse to pay and the contractor files a lien and/or takes us to court over this surprise addition post-completion).
robyim1 | 8 years and 5 months ago
Maybe you can bait him into a conversation and record him or something. That might be enough to get rid of him because it sounds like BS to me.
tle | 8 years and 5 months ago
Is he a NYC licensed contractor with a current home improvement and salesperson license? If not he can’t enforce his contract with you and you don’t have to pay him a penny for any of the work he has done. The courts don’t care if you knew he wasn’t licensed, he has no standing. Basically you can get all the work done for free.
ihpyvbptlk | 8 years and 5 months ago
Although I hate to jump to conclusions without having all of the information, this appears to be a classic example of a Contractor trying to take advantage of a client who may not be as knowledgeable in construction. I say this because of the fact that the change orders were brought up at the end of the project when everything was completed, and this puts the Owner in a difficult position.
Change orders should always be transparent, the scope of which should be abrought to the attention of the owner as soon as the “change” or deviating condition presents itself. There is no reason not to do this. Can we verify if the additional work he supposedly performed was actually done or is the work now concealed or covered? Were construction drawings, which could be used as an additional basis of scope, ever drawn up/filed with DOB? You can also put the honus on the Contractor to prove/justify his costs associated with the extra work by requesting material receipts, labor sign in sheets, etc.