We got this same type of cr-- from our builder before we finally wound up firing him and taking over the build ourselves. There were numerous instances of unpaid subs who filed or threatened to file liens against our property. We also learned that several prior clients of our builder had gotten hit with some pretty substantial liens after closing with the builder. In every case, the previous clients decided it would be cheaper to pay off the liens themselves rather than take the builder to court. So, the lesson the builder apparently took away was "I can get away with not paying subs as long as the amount isn't too much and I can keep the homeowner from learning about it until after I close with him." As an attorney you probably already know that in most jurisdictions anyone who provides materials or labor for the improvement of real property can file a lien against that property if they are not paid. No privity of contract with the owner of the property is necesssary. The biggest differences among jurisdictions tends to be the time limits that apply regarding when the M&M liens can be filed and what proofs, if any, the lienholder has to provide regarding the alleged debt. If your builder's payment to the excavation sub is only a couple of weeks overdue, I rather doubt the time limits to file a lien will have run out in any jurisdiction. The shortest time limits I've ever heard of are something like 30 days. Most are 60 to 90 days and some jurisdictions allow subs up to a year after their bills are due (which could easily be 60 days after the work is actually done). So, even if the sub has not yet filed a lien against your property, he may yet do so. Then, if your builder doesn't pay him, you could get stuck with the bill. Without lien waivers from every sub and materialman, you have no protection. And, unless you are on site every day taking careful note of who is working on your house and what suppliers are delivering materials to your job site, you can't ever really know that you have lien releases from everyone. Still, your builder should only be paid for work that has been completed and for which he has provided you with valid lien releases from the subcontractors. Our problem was that our builder turned out to be totally dishonest and, when we demanded lien releases, he began giving us bogus ones (i.e., documents he had signed himself or had one of his non-English speaking day laborers sign!) so even tho we tried to follow the rules to protect ourselves, we got burned anyway. If you feel your builder is basically honest but just doesn't have the money to pay the subs until he gets a draw from you, consider insisting that he agree to a modification of your agreement with him whereby you effectively become his "money manager" in so far as your build is concerned. Instead of writing checks to your builder and then trusting him to pay the subs who worked on your house, modify your agreement so that your checks are made out to both the builder AND whichever sub/supplier needs to be paid so that both parties have to sign the check in order for it to be cashed. If you were financing thru a bank you would first have to get your bank to agree to an unlimited number of draws - but since you are self-financing, the number of checks you have to write shouldn't matter. You could also agree that you will then make out a check for an additional 5% to 10% to your builder to pay him a share of his profit as he goes along. I wouldn't agree to more than 10% even if your builder claims his profit margin is more than that. In fact, I wouldn't agree to pay more than about half of whatever percentage I thought his profit margin was supposed to be. At the end of the build, when the house is done and every body else is paid, whatever amount is left on the contract will be paid to the builder so he'll get the full share of his profit at that time. In the meantime, you will know that subs and materialmen on your project are being paid. There is a possiblity that your builder will balk at agreeing to such a modification because he would rather have all your money in his pocket so he can pay off older debts to subs who built the last house he finished... and he has high hopes that before the subs working on your house actually file any liens, he'll have another house in the works and can use money from that owner to pay off the subs who worked on your house. Classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Problem is, in this economy, your builder may not be able to find his next Peter and if you're the last one in line, you will wind up holding the bag. Frankly, you may be a lot better off having your contractor walk off the job and leave you with a partially finished house - but with that part paid for and no pending liens - than having him finish your house, collect his full contract amount and then find out that unpaid subs and materialmen are filing liens against your house that may easily total 50% or more of your original contract price!

I would first start with asking for recommendations from friends. Most people select their contractor solely on price, so you have to be careful. If you like the Trane and Carrier equipment, then go the web sites and search for factory authorized dealers in your area. There is no guarantee they will be good, but it helps improve the probability. Explain the situation you have and ask if they will do a thorough Manual J calculation in order to determine the size of the equipment. You also want the duct work to be inspected to make sure it is the proper size. The proposals should have a complete list of all model numbers of the equipment and details of what work will be done. The contractor should be able to discuss and propose different equipment options and their pricing. If a contractor is unwilling to do these things then keep looking. Get at least three proposals. I recommend staying with the same brand so it makes easier to make comparisons. There is nothing wrong with comparing two brands as long as you understand the details of the equipment.

jkom51-- To tell you the truth, If I were interested, I could very easily put together a crew of about 10 people (5 teams) and keep them busy full time with all the work I've been offered all over the country, just from this forum. Some of it has been truly tempting, too, starting with igloochik's home in Alaska, as well as the one she's starting work on in the PNW. Even pcjs's post is tempting! There are several problems, there, though. First, alot of my credibility in the forums comes from the fact that I'm not asking for anything in return for the information I give out here. There are no ulterior motives. I'm here because I want to help people. Secondly, I would most likely run into problems from iVillage, being that then I'd be here for profit. Lastly, and this one would be important to all of you, and that's the fact that in addition to the normal costs of doing the work, there would also be travel expenses, as well as lodging and per diem costs, making it really kind of impractical for me to go around doing the work. Unfortunately. I say unfortunately because right now, the housing market has made work just as scarce here as it is in many other parts of the country, and I'm doing commercial work now, just to stay busy. It IS custom work to be sure (period specific work for the Maine Historical Society in Portland), but none the less commercial work, and I'm not very happy about it. But you do what you have to do. :-)

Good luck finding a reputable contractor. We've lived in the same house for 26 years and in that time we've done many projects - new roof, new siding, a 1000 sq. addition, finished the basement, remodeled 3 bathrooms, added a screened in porch,installed a mahogany deck, a swimming pool, replaced brick walk with custom cut bluestone, remodeled the kitchen twice and had major landscaping done 3 times. We probably worked with 12 different general contractors and unfortunately only 2 of them would I ever work with again or refer to others. Even though we went through all the recommended steps in selecting our contractor calamities still happened - may of them directly caused by the GC trying to save time, money or appease one of his subs or another customer. You don't need to hear my horror stories I'm sure you've heard many. If you have the knowledge, the time and the fortitude to be your own GC then go for it. Just make sure you have all the insurance you need and an attorney to review all contracts. The last contractor we worked with was highly recommended by many people that I knew personally and whose work I had inspected. But he lost his foreman to an injury one week after my kitchen was demolished and everything went downhill rapidly after that. So even if you do everything right - there's still a good chance that things will go wrong.