Contractor question...

[Blondy876]

We had a contractor come in about a month ago to give us an estimate on some work. We decided to go ahead with this guy and hire him. He sent us a copy of his contract and his license number. We sent the contract back with a couple of changes and requests before we would sign. We asked that the work be done in a timely fashion, with in a month. What we are having done is a 1 day project. We also asked what warranties come with the product and with his work. Then we requested his insurance number. We never heard back from him.

We have called him several times and emailed him several times in the last few weeks. We finally get a email from him last night saying that he couldn't believe that we would counter his contract. That "in all his years" no one has requested the things we did. He says that he is no longer comfortable doing the work for us.

So my question is this. Are the things we requested so absurd? I mean we are trying to protect our investment (our house) plus cover ourselves in case he were to be injured in our home. I didn't think these were weird requests but maybe they were. This is our first experience working with a contractor.

 

[clh2]

I know Froggyinarc (the resident contractor on the DIS boards ) is busy moving and hasn't posted much lately. Froggy may have a nice perspective on things from the contractors point of view.


I work with contracts for a living - no I am not a lawyer - if I have something I can't resolve, I send it up to our attorney.

Keep in mind...contracts generally protect the person who wrote them - not the person they are given too.

A contract should have in it, anything that makes you feel comfortable. When we sign a contract at home, specifically for a home improvement project, we consider several things...down payment required, approximate start and end dates of project, who is going to do the final clean-up of the project, who is going to do the prep work (i.e. remove carpet before new carpet installation), will they be allowed to sub out a portion of the work (i.e. electrical or plumbing) , what things may influence the labor cost etc. If a building permit is required - who is going to apply and pay for it. In addition, if a building permit is required, we make final payment contigent on passing the final inspections.

We have never had a contractor turn down our requests for contract language changes. In addition, if we are purchasing something...like an air conditioner...we request a lien waiver, which protects us in the event that the contractor did not pay their supplier and prevents the contractor's supplier from "repossessing" the air conditioner that I paid for already.

It is more work for the contractor if you don't accept his/her general terms and conditions. He may not totally understand the changes, and may want to take them to his attorney (which will cost him money) before he agrees to them. It just sounds like he/she doesn't want to do this.

Good Luck!

 

[lazarru]

We're also having the contractor battle but in a somewhat different way. We've got a contract on our house, buyers came back with things they want done and left in our hands to find a contractor that will do what they want. Mind you they haven't clearly stated what it is they want so we've had 4 different contractors in to look and give an estimate, and all 4 had wide differences in what should be done and the cost.

From your description on of the problems is it's only a days work. You'd think a days work would be a days work, but most every contractor told us out job was a small job and it's 5-7 days. I think when you deal with just a days work it's not worth the setup, breakdown etc that is necessary to do the job, ie they'd prefer a month or more job where they have more wiggle room on getting it done, after all if it takes 35 days instead of 30 it's not going to be a big deal. if it takes 2 days instead of 1 that's going to be either money out of their pocket, or having to deal with a customer saying why is your estimate off 100%.

The only advice I have is keep trying, we think we've found a good one now, jumped on our stuff right away and is squeezing us in starting Monday, taking some guys off another project becuase he knows we're under the gun and need to get it done.

 

[Disney Doll]

What you are requesting doesn't sound way out to me, but apparently he has taken some issue with it.

I'd tell him thank you for his time and move on to another contractor.

 

[tar heel]

Well, this must have looked pretty stupid. I meant to start a new thread. Just one of those days . . . .

 

[salmoneous]

Rant alert...

In parts of this country - including much of NJ - the demand for contractors has vastly outstripped the supply. These guys are pretty much kings. Even the most basic requests - answering phone calls, finishing jobs before starting 3 others or taking 2-week vacations in Europe - are too much trouble. If you don't like it - they don't care as they have 5 other people waiting in line to hire them.

I tell every parent I know to stop raising their kids to be doctors, lawyers and scientists. Raise them to get into a home improvement trade and they will be set for life.