I'm baffled. Are you saying that you went forward with building the home without ever forming a contract with your GC?? If that's the case then it's anyone's game at this point. You lost most of your bargaining power when you chose to go forward without a detailed agreement. In any event, you should sit down with him asap and work out those details. You should be able to pay HIM the cost of all labor/materials plus the fixed fee percentage. If you've already paid subs for labor/materials then you likely owe him whatever fee percentage you work out b/w you.

I have a written proposal that states he will not go over the amount. Nothing is signed. I agreed to pay in cash with the implication that in doing so I was getting a better price. I have numerous invoices that I paid as we went along. None show any previous balance so it is obvious I had paid them chronologically. I am not worried about going to court, I doubt very much he would go through that hassle and I can show that our arrangement was not honored on his end. The whole reason I asked for an amount the job would not go over was because I had to budget carefully. He agreed to this so he got the job. Isn't this how it is supposed to work? Contractors bid and then if they accept the job, they do it for that price. If they misjudge, they eat it, right? That is how it is done for multi-million dollar contracts, why would this be different?

A couple of things to consider.... Where does all this communication wire terminate? You will need a centralized connection center that you can patch lines in for use or remove when not in use. Especially coax and to a lesser degree data cables. Coax runs that are unused just degrade and create noise in your signal to the devices you do use. Its great to have coax to every possible location you may want to use it, unless you're going to design it that its all connected together with no access to change the termination and connections. Bring that wire into a central location, in a star pattern with the option to connect and disconnect the runs that are not in use, it is worth it. Give consideration to WiFi coverage, homes are never setup to install a wifi router in a central location for the best coverage, and most people have horrible wifi coverage in their homes due to the limited locations they can install a wifi wire to connect it with the data and coax connections needed for it and the cable modem. Imagine if the kitchen is in the center, there being a coax, several CAT connections and a 120VAC outlet above a kitchen cabinet to install all that for the best wifi coverage and its up out of the way. Another factor, would every consider installing satellite TV service in the future, or have it as a selling point for future owner of the home? If so, now is the time to setup your coax network for a Satellite install if you elect to do it. If you install the correct wire in the correct way, satellite installers will not have to crawl all over you home destroying it with their hack installation of their coax wiring, they simply have to install the antenna, connect it to the cable you have pre-installed and reconfigure the central hook up for the satellite stb's to be installed at your existing coax drops..... Most people are using the quality RG6 for CATV that meets the spec for satellite, its just good measure to assure reliable CATV and cable modem performance. But what they fail to realize is satellite requires one more thing over CATV, it needs to pass power over the coax cable to power the satellite dish. Currently most DIY'er and Contractors and Retailers are using Copper Clad (coated) steel core (central wire) in their RG6 coax cable. The signal mostly travel overs the surface of the wire, so the copper coating offers the same performance at a much lower cost, than a solid copper core. The solid copper core does offer the tiniest bit less signal loss, but its so little it will never make a difference, so it doesn't justify the higher cost of a solid copper core. EXCEPT, if you using it for Satellite that almost all use power passing over the coax cable to power the satellite dish.... ....electrical power is transmitted through the entire wire not just the surface like the rf signal, and copper is lower resistance than steel, so a copper clad steel core will have a much bigger voltage drop at the end of the coax cable to the Satellite dish and it will perform poorly. So if you want to build in the option for possible satellite, make sure that all the coax is satellite rated (3GHZ swept) and the coax runs to the satellite dish and to the main stb in the places you're likely to install it are solid copper core coax for the power passing. Some satellite systems inject the power at the main splitter/switch for system, which the perfect location for that would be at that central location for all the wiring I spoke of earlier....

Thanks live_wire_oak. I will definitely educate myself about industry standards before signing anything for our next project. This job was supposed to be a real no-brainer, and not particularly expensive, so I wasn't as careful as I would have been/will be with, say, our big downstairs project. I regret that, obviously. Still, would things like even grout color need to be stipulated? Aren't there things that are taken for granted? I mean, if we didn't have "grout color shall be uniform" written down, it couldn't be called a mistake? And what if correcting a mistake would be a huge deal, like ripping out the tub and redoing all the tile? I can see the logic of why that's the only recourse a client has (assuming, it seems, we had language in the contract that could prove installing the tub on an imperceptible to the eye but very perceptible to the water slant is a mistake), but, still, it sucks when you just want the thing finished - and, most importantly, have lost confidence in the builder. I mean, at this point, I don't want him - or his subs - to do any more work on the thing.* Lol - kind of. *I'm now working independently with the cabinetmaker who's going to do some of the final stuff the contractor was supposed to do, so that's nice:)