Expert: Stephen Hayes - 12/25/2010

Question
Hi,
I signed a contract to build a 2000 sq ft home and did not include a finish date. Can my contractor take as long as he wants to finish? He is on his 11 month and is threating to take 12- 14 months if I ask for a completion date again? Project from h***.
Please advise.
Thanks,
Bill

Answer
Hi Bill;Sorry to hear about your problem.  From my experience, I would urge you to do several things.  The first is not to bother your contractor any more.  The second would be to check ALL the work being done and that has to be done to be sure it is being done and has been done correctly.  Your contractor may be getting angry with you, (and that is HIS problem, not yours), and may try and do shoddy work just to get you 'off his back'.  That inspection process may include your calling in an expert to check his work when he is not around.  The third thing is you should obtain legal advice from an attorney that specializes in residential construction.  If you don't know of one, simply contact the BAR Association in your area or your State Bar Association for suggestions of attornies that can properly deal in your issues.  Let that attorney see your contract and, although I am NOT an attorney, and can not give you any legal advice, I would assume your State has (if you are not in the U.S., your local laws) definite time frame limits to deal with your situation.  Probably, the best situation may be to have your contract made legally void and get another contractor.  Thay may further delay your construction process, but may eliminate the need to correct any visible errors or latent errors (latent meaning things that have been done incorrectly that may not show up as problems for you in the near or distant future), which can become costly.

I don't know your circumstances, however if it were me, legal advice and immediately throw that contractor off the job.  DEFINITELY, I would have no further conversations with that contractor.  Verbal conversations or verbal agreements, I believe, are hearsay, and are not acceptable if the matter goes to Court.  Your attorney, if you choose to get one, should quickly look into matters such as if the contractor can be immediately taken off the job and a new contractor brought in, the cost of an inspection to see if any shoddy work has been done by your present contractor should be borne by your present contractor, and lots of other things that can help you now.  

Again, if it were my project, I would get rid of the present contractor and also notify all local consumer agencies such as the Better Business Bureau, you local TV stations, etc., of the problems you have encountered with that contractor (ask your attorney how you should proceed with those consumer agencies before you do anything), and also, if your contractor has a website, you may want to consider (after discussing with your attorney), how to post negative things about your experience on the internet by the contractor's website.  

If your problem was with a small issue, you may have been able to handle your problem by yourself, but, since there are so many things involved in construction that can negatively affect you, in my opinion you need the assistance of an attorney and a qualified building inspector now.

Cordially,

Roger Denton