Hi all,

I was just curious if anyone had an issue like this. My contract with my contractor had a 4 month completion date from the start date. It is almost 9 months later and I am still asking him to complete a few issues. (Smaller but still important items). Our contract states that the remaining 10 percent is paid when all punch list items are complete. Because it is so far past the date, what obligation do I have to pay? 9 months for a 1 bedroom apartment seems insane to me.

Thanks in advance

give him a reasonable deadline to complete the punch list and inform him that if not completed, contractor will be hired to do the work and the sum will be deducted from the last 10%.

Zerocool, 9 months is indeed insane. I agree with ab. We have a similar contractor issue and would love some feedback. Our job was completed at the end of 2011, but we still have a couple of small fixes which we can't seem to get our contractor to repair. After repeated promises to make the repairs up to a month ago, he's on radio silence at another site. Emails and phone messages have not been returned. We signed a contract guaranteeing his work for 15 years. I'm thinking now is when we should be starting a paper trail of letters to him, reminding him of his obligation to us. Should we be consulting an attorney?

It would be great to hear who these contractors are that can't complete a punch list many months after a job is supposed to be done. I understand reluctance, but revealing this type of info is what makes this forum helpful.

Zerocool,

What exactly is left on the punch list? Is this his first punchlist or do things keep popping up?

Ab makes a very good point, email and call him and tell him that you will hire someone else and pay them with the last 10% remaining

Rimnyc,

I would have run when I heard the contractor would give you a 15 year warranty. He must have needed the work very badly. I do not think that consulting an attorney will help you. It probably would cost less to hire someone else if they are minor things.

Primer, why would you have run from a signed contract guaranteeing a contractor's work? This was precisely what we wanted: a legally enforceable document. Without this, we'd have no recourse.

how do you expect a contractor to guarantee their work for 15 yrs is beyond me. i am renting in a 1995 house and i see at least $30K of work that needs to be done if i were to own it. i know they have done some work as well.

this is one of the few times that i'll agree with Primer. my friend bought a new construction home in NJ for about $1M and he only got 3 yrs home warranty.

If our contractor felt that 15 years' guarantee was unreasonable, I expect he wouldn't have signed the contract. In fact, he did a lovely job in the vast majority of the apartment and has worked on a number of apartments in our building. From what I understand, many people have a hard time getting their contractors to return after the job is done and paid for. We feel pretty lucky to have gotten a good job at a reasonable price, despite some SE naysayers saying it was impossible. For those who have the money to hire the caliber of Primer, that's great. For those of us on a more limited budget, we don't have that luxury if we want to renovate. As we're unlikely to sue, yes, we probably will hire someone else to do the small fixes if necessary and then send the bill to our contractor. We just don't want to escalate if at all possible until it's warranted.

rlm, i'm on your budget. since you paid your contractor already, you can see what your 15 yr warrantee will buy. you were lucky to get a good price with good work.

i can't imagine the contractor will give you a cent even if a bill is sent to him. if i was him, i would've purchased a home warrantee for a few yrs so as not to have to deal with this kind of stuff.

Rimnyc,

My point is I have never heard of a 15 year guarantee on really anything, no less on workmanship. What does it include? I think many people have an opinion that I am expensive. I have worked with many first time home buyers that are on a budget. For what I do I believe I am very reasonable. When people come on this board and ask prices for things I try to give them a general price of what things cost but each project is different.

Aboutready,

Roofs are guaranteed by the manufacturer not the contractor. Unless the roof was installed exactly how the manufacturer specs it out they will void the guarantee

if a deadline is important to you, and I also learned this the hard way, you have to create a contract for work that penalizes the contractor 100/day or something if they go beyond the date without clearing any delays with you first.

if the contractor will not agree to this, then well, they do not plan on getting done on time and could be bidding your job knowing they cannot get it done on time, or your timeframe is not reasonable - either way, you will have the discussion.

You are right about a penalty. As soon as I signed the contract I realized this. Primer, the list has been pretty standard but some things are pretty important.

He broke my vanity when installed and then made me a new custom one that really is not the same finish/style that I picked.

The guy he used to install the cover over my heating/radiator made the panel permanent so I cannot access the heat at all.

Then small things such as grouting issues, touch ups. Not only that but I was 3 months late to move in because of them ordering the wrong amount of tiles and other nonsense.

It was supposed to be 3-4 months and it ended up 9, going on 10 for a one bedroom gut. Its out of control.

Meant to stay the list has stayed the same, not standard.