If the work was to stop now, with him leaving and you paying no more, who would come out ahead? If you, then I'd say just nix it. Get a tape recorder, bring him in and say you're fired. Document the issues like you are. Photos, photos, photos. Review your contract. Make sure 5-ply is stated. Bring your friend by, see if he could pick it up where it is, or if he insists on being buttoned up, finish the foundation and roof as you don't have a choice.

Wood spliting is acceptable.
Lawn is debatable.
Measuring errors are unacceptable.
5/3 ply is unacceptable.
Not securing the house, he should be fired.
Refusing to take your calls or acknowledge your concerns, he should have to wear a flag on his head saying not to ever use him again.

Forget the lawn - least of your worries. Yes pretty much a given it'll get messed up. I suppose it's one more annoyance though. Securing the house? Yeah grounds for dismissal I suppose, but it happens.

Check contract. Talk to lawyer. Not sure how easy it will be to fire him at convenient point - it may never be ideal. Talk to lawyer.

Ideally, what I think you should do, is a lockout, with papers ready - in other words, get your facts, docs and photos straight, get lawyer to prepare this and you. Are there lots of tools around? Get lawyer to advise you on this, you obviously want to keep contractor out once you fire him, but have to give him access to remove tools etc. there could be legal repercussions if you move them.

Get lawyer. ask lawyer about moving tools.

What's the building code re the ply on roof? If you or architect specd 5 ply, it should be grounds for dismissal anyway, but you should have said something straight away. If architect is also engaged to supervise, he/she should be doing their job, too, and you shouldn't have to be dealing with a lot of this.

Change locks. Make sure you do that. Have friend or relative keep eye on place for the next while. Going dancing? What a smartarse.

Get lawyer.

Thanks for the replies. I went by the house today--again unlocked, so that makes three times. About the plywood, as soon as we noticed it, my DH sent him an email asking him what he used, he replied 5-ply, then later said it was 3-ply for some reason. What were we supposed to do when most of the roofing was already complete, nailing and tar paper on? Ask him to tear it off and start over? And risk opening up the house in rainy season. We should've asked for a discount at least--and now I am kicking myself we paid too much (80%) as it is not near done and cannot be completed until framing is done. And no lein release or signature on the permit (though he told us it was done, later find out is was just checked).

If we were to fire him now, won't we still have to pay for work done? We paid extra for roof and 1/2 of foundation, nothing for plumbing or framing and about $10K of startup.

We do have some AIA contract (architect's contract) we signed with him--something like cause for termination, repeated infractions. I guess failing to secure the house on three occasions is my strongest case? What would we be obligated to pay? How could I then get lein releases? Then his subs could all come to us for payment right?

Seems to me it could get messy and best chance is to agree mutually to end the relationship as I know he thinks we are a PITA.

BTW, he did agree to resod our backyard (it was only one year old).

About the 2-1/2" he swears me DH did not inform him, my DH is equally adament that he did. We discuss how to process changes--if he doesn't have time to read his email, gets too many phone calls, etc. He said we need to tell him to stop work immediately and he needs to come down to discuss.

Unfortunately, we did not contract with our architect to surpervise, though he is available to answer questions. I thought it was the GC's job to supervise.
Our friend/GC said our roof as is won't hold up in a strong rain and forcast is for rain.

Without actually being able to review your contract, there is frankly nothing anyone can do for you.

Your contractor may have material substitution clauses (common) that allows him to replace materials without your consent provided they meet code and contract intent without your permission.

Likewise, the contract may specify that the contractor gets to make all architectural decisions normally reserved for design professionals.

What you offer is tantalizingly little and actually too much of nothing to make any real comment upon.

From here, it sounds like you are trolling for excuses to fire your contractor just because you want to...

And from here, if I were your contractor, I'd actually be looking for ways to fire YOU as a customer.

That said, stop now and get together with the bloke and work out a deal whereby you simply go your separate ways since neither of you appears happy with the other.

No offense meant, implied or intended.

Sometimes the contractor/customer mix just ends up being a divorce pre-made to happen...and you simply have to bail at the best and quickest opportunity for all party's sake...

Best of Luck and may you be Granted Wisdom

manhatten42: I do appreciate the advice, but please, "trolling for excuses".... Actually, our contract is specific in regards to use of plywood, etc. I have 6" chips out of my foundation and 3 times this week, my house has been left unlocked. Our neighbor's told us there was a car breakin one blook away and we communicated this to him and our concerned, yet again the house is left unlocked. If this is normal, accepted quality for remodeling standards, then I'd like to hear it as I do not consider myself an unreasonable person. When we are paying the equaivalent of over $1,000/sq ft. aren't I entitled to be picky? I would love to come to terms in some mature way and agree mutually to terminate; however, give his attitude, I really don't know how he will react and so we need to be prepared for any contingency. Meanwhile our house is exposed to the elements and it is raining. All this needs to be thought about carefully how to proceed. If there are not enough details for you to comment on, then I hope others who've been through the situation may help give me some perspective in a constructive manner.

In fact, when we spoke to our other contractor we were upfront with the problems and I asked him straight out if our expectations were unreasonsable and he say no, that we are the customer and we want what we want. Why is all about the contract and not about good communication and making customer's happy?

"Unfortunately, we did not contract with our architect to surpervise, though he is available to answer questions. I thought it was the GC's job to supervise."

BUZZ!! Wrong answer- thanks for playing. Not much point in having someone supervise themselves. No doubt Architect offered to supervise, no doubt you decided to save the money. That's what you get. Better check code regarding the roof - architect ought to know this and have spec'd it.

I think Manhatten is being a bit harsh and I don't know what 2/12 inches you're talking about, but you'd better act, one way or another.

Wow, what a mess. My heart really goes out to you.
We recently fired a general contractor who didn't even start yet!! He became so arrogant during a conversation just before demo began, so I showed him to the door and said goodbye. As it turns out, it was the best decision we ever made. We were set to begin a month ago. Our plans are ready and approved, permits paid and a construction loan is ticking down.
With that being said, we instantly received a letter from his lawyer for "damages" to him since he had given up other jobs to do ours, etc, etc. He has turned out to be a sheep in wolf's clothing. I know our story is a little bit different than yours since you are well into the construciton, I just wanted to let you know what you may expect if you fire him now, or try to work with him from this point on. we did the following:

1. Hired a lawyer, pronto. A lawyer familiar with construction and/or contract law is good.
2. Reviewed our contract and compared it against the California State licensing Board contract requirements.As it turns out, he was in direct violation of the board in numerous occasions with his contract. I am sure whichever state you are in, you have access to the licensing board. Call them and explain to them your situation. Get a copy of your rights and what you can do.
3. We documented all conversations with the GC and reported them in the Cal. State licensing board complaint form.
4. We have spent almost 1,000 trying to get this guy off our back, he is demanding 75K in damages. I am hoping our threat to report him to the licensing board will do the trick.

My advice to you.
1. Get a lawyer. Review your contract. Review the state licensing contract laws and your rights as a consumer. In most cases, they will call you and the GC in for a mediation board. If this doesn't work, then it goes to court, you against him. Continue to document everything you say and/or do with this person. Try to mediate with him if he is willing to talk to you face to face about the issues, have a lawyer present, document all preceedings. Get your other friend up to speed with what needs to be done so he can begin as soon as you can get the other GC out of the way if it comes to that. Make sure you have a good contract with your friend, follow the guidelines in the state licensing board contract requirements.
If I think of more, I'll post them.
Best of luck.

valinsv, I have been though your problem before. While it sounds like things may have probably gone too far, you should hire your freind as a construction consultant and give him powers to manage contractor. Typically consultants are paid anywhere from $50 to $75/hr and only need to spend about 1/10th the time that the contractor does on the job.

A long time ago I hired a contractor to do an addition. I had problems right from the start. He took advantage that I knew little of the construction trades and always had a good excuse why he couldn't follow the plans. He even once told me that no-one follows literally what the Architects put in the plans and schedules. I believed him until a very nice building inspector who was in the process of red-tagging the rough electrical inspection showed me all kinds of poor choices the builder was making. Well, that's when I had enough and I hired this retired contractor to supervise the contractor. My contractor was pissed at first but there was little he could do. Even though consultant cost me another $2400, it was well worth it. The BS stopped and it was amazing how all of a sudden the plans were actually be followed.

Learn from this experience and from this point forward do not accept inferior workmanship. Become the biggest PIA as this actually works well with the construction trades. The quite nice customers are the ones they take advantage of. Also, if what they tell you sounds wrong, it probably is.

If you are having a bad relationship with your contractor you need to let him know that it is not working out. He may be willing to work out a final billing for work that he has done and move on. I think you should ask for copies of all the billings that the GC has gotten from subs and pay them for what they have done plus his profit & overhead. I understand some of the mistakes..the yard for example. That happens and I would say if he is a good GC he will make sure your yard is looking as good as is was when they started.

They should never leave your doors unlocked. If it happened by mistake the first time..(we all make mistakes)warning. If it happened a second time...last warning. Happened a third time after warnings. Let him go.

As far as changing your shower at the last minute, these are the things that homeowners think are no big deal, but they become a big deal for the GC that has gotten bids on a plan and changes can make a big difference in price,locations of plumbing etc... If you had made your request 2 weeks before it was suppose to be done, that would be a different story he would be able to plan for it.

If you need to fire him...communicate with him first about a final billing...if that doesn't work get a lawyer. Make sure he has paid ALL of the subs that have worked on your house or they can put a lien on it.