Who is responsible for a job that was not quoted correct

9 years ago

After 10 long months of dealing with our home building, we find out that they mis-quoted us on the excavation and are telling us that it's actually double of what was quoted. Not to mention that the excavator damaged our garage foundation while filling the garage and not having any support behind it. Then when he went to support the outside, he smashed into the foundation and now we have 3 large cracks. Our builder said that he doesn't feel that it will cause a problem because it is now supported by fill. So between us taking away gravel to make it more affordable and the damage to the foundation, we don't feel that we should responsible for the full 'current' amount that is due. Not to mention that down the road I"m sure we will have problems with the foundation in the garage. This entire process has been horrible and took way to long. Things are still not finished and the builder/contractor wants to get his money. Can we also hold off on signing the final draw until all the jobs are finished? Help!?

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Comments (8)

dekeoboe
9 years ago
Is this a fixed price contract? If not, what is the structure of the contract?
redheadeddaughter
9 years ago
I can't imagine a bank releasing the final draw until all items are completed per plans and you have your move in documents. At least that is what our bank is wanting to do. (Final draw + 5%) Maybe you can use that to put pressure on the GC to complete?

The contract will determine who pays if the sub estimate is off.

But why is the excavating happening 10 months into the build? Is this just for the driveway?
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I'd write him a letter & tell him that you have always been happy with his work except on the driveway & that you would like to pay him for most of the work but are withholding $500-1000 in hopes that he will reseal it next spring & that will correct the problem at which time you will give him that amount. After all he does have to pay the men & if you only paid for materials what did men get paid with. You can mention that family or business problems can come up & are probably reason he hasn't gotten back to you but that you hope this will resolve the issue as you have been a long time customer & everything else has been very satisfactory. More than likely if they quit coming out you won't be able to get them back. He won't want a hassle. If you are somewhat letting him off the hook I think he will be much more agreeable & probably won't drop you as a customer. And being somewhat apologetic will keep him from being upset, he'll probably be relieved!
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User
9 years ago
Need a heck of a lot more information to even begin sorting this out.
PRO
Epiarch Designs
9 years ago
Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like what I am hearing is 2 things-
either A- they screwed up a few times (fixed or not) but because of it you think you should not have to pay the bid amount....

or

B- they quoted you X dollars but are now wanting to charge XX?
User
9 years ago
Cost plus or fixed fee contract? Or a variant with a fixed fee and mini cost plusses inside it for the unknown elements?
Kippy
9 years ago
Are the overages for things they could not see when starting excavating? Like breaking rocks, etc?

Was their soils testing?

Did you pick the cheapest guy or the one that knew the area and has done this type of work?
heymikki
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you all for your responses. My boyfriend is dealing with that paperwork stuff so I'm not sure if it is a fixed contract. I guess I'm in way over my head here! I'm sorry that I don't have any/ or more info for those of you who responded. But I do appreciate you trying to help me out.

Our builder/contractor had way to much going on and our project would just get pushed to the side, so that is why it has taken so long. The final draw was taken out and now we owe x amount of money that needs to go to the excavator and a few other places. So, we are not paying him until he comes to finish his job. We were quoted 9800 for excavation and now he wants 18000 for his job. We talked to our contractor to negotiate the price because that is a big difference from the quote. We used our pond for fill but we still needed to truck some fill in. That shouldn't cost that much more. But yes, he also managed to put cracks in our foundation twice because of his carelessness.

I just can't fathom people being quoted "x" amount of money and then told that it was mis-quoted and it's "xx" amount, and they are expected to just pay it. I know we didn't go all crazy with our yard and stuff and even changed how we were going to do our driveway to lessen cost.
rwiegand
9 years ago
Read your contract, it's the only way you will find out who is responsible for what costs and under what conditions. If you didn't read and then negotiate objectionable clauses prior to signing it chances are really high that you are on the hook for the difference and have little recourse for damage, as that is where the contractor's draft would probably have started out.

Who is responsible for a job that was not quoted correct

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dekeoboe

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Who is responsible for a job that was not quoted correct

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dekeoboe

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