- Bring in independent inspectors – If you and the contractor can’t agree on things you should bring in an independent inspector to assess the actual job quality. Bringing in a private inspector to assess the job will give both you and the contractor unbiased opinions and figures to work with. The inspector will take note of the job quality and the remaining stuff to be done. In fairness to the contractor in case the budget given the contractor is too little to carry out the job properly the inspector should also be able to notice that. Have the inspector write out all his observations and recommendations in detail so you can discuss this at length and present the evidence to the contractor when you next meet.
- Send papers via certified mail – Even though you met face-to-face send the contractor a copy of the final contract with all the problems and solutions spelled out via certified mail. Make sure you keep the return receipt so that in case the contractor tries to weasel out of the deal again you’ll have proof that he has detailed knowledge of all the things discussed and agreed upon.
- Get legal help – If all else fails it’s time to get the help of a lawyer. Make sure you also do your homework in choosing a lawyer experience with this type of litigation. If possible though try to get the problem ironed out through settlement so that you wouldn’t need to go through all the hassle and cost of actual litigation.
On my next posts I will be focusing on more pro-active steps to ensure you don’t need to deal with the headache a bad contractor brings. After all an ounce of prevention is still better than a pound of cure!
Originally posted on May 12, 2008 @ 11:40 pm