Who's responsible for this error?
Heather Maciaszek
6 years ago
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simstress
6 years agoacm
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Help: Tell me I am not the only one who has made a huge error
Comments (19)I think we made a huge error by building a 4 bedroom house for our family of 5, then finding out I was pregnant two weeks after we moved in. Two of the four kids share a room, and we have tried varying which two share, but it is always a sore point for whomever is sharing. Even a 3 bedroom would have been better, because then everyone would have to share. We didn't spend the extra $500 for a full egress window in the basement, because we didn't plan to ever have a bedroom down there. Maybe it will turn out to be character-building for the kids :) Oh, and we also put our fireplace on the wrong wall of our family room - wish we could change that, too! And finally, I didn't care for the paint and tile at your new house when I first looked, but I think it was because I saw the picture at the old house first. After stepping back a bit, and scrolling down so the first picture didn't show, I like it, too. I think the others are right that it is a different, but equally nice, look....See Morebuilt in fridge clearance question...who is responsible?
Comments (40)Ditto what David said. You did nothing wrong. He is totally and completely at fault, or his kitchen designer is. The whole reason you have a kitchen designer is to catch these things. They can team up all they want but that doesn't make them right :). Like I said, you would win in small claims court if you took it that far, and you don't need a lawyer to file a lawsuit. As far as appealing it, he may but my experience with builders is that they are running on a shoestring and as a person building a higher end house you are probably more likely to be able to come up with the lawyer fees to defend it than he can. Like David said, you have to figure out how important it is to you, and whether you want to fight it on the principle of the thing. His utter refusal to work with you is unacceptable. It is HIS mistake, and he is being a bully. You may need to talk to a qualified kitchen designer to see what the options are, or get a lawyer to write a letter. He obviously thinks he can push you around - and it is apparently the way he does business. The fact you can't remove the freezer drawers is an issue. What if something drips down the back wall - it has happened to me before - and it would pool under the drawers? So sorry this has happened!...See MoreDesign Error Causes $1300 mistake, Contractor is Asking Me to Pay
Comments (38)Sorry but every single one of us creating a kitchen redo tends to participate in the design process. We don't say to the designer, "surprise me". That has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote. Mostly everyone is responsible for their own negligence, that is day one of torts. This idea that you pay a contractor, so he is the person ultimately responsible is bogus. What theory of law would make a contractor ultimately responsible for a subcontractor's negligence? There isn't one. However, what typically happens in these situations is that the general contractor contracts directly with the subs. Mistakes then go through the G.C. as you have standing with the G.C. and he has standing with the subs (although realistically you could argue around standing). Essentially the subs don't work for you, they work for the G.C., thus you go through the G.C. to get to the sub. Having said that, there are times when the G.C. has sufficiently passed his duty on to someone else. One of those times would be when you met with a design professional directly. The law isn't stupid, there is not going to be an expectation that a General Contractor be better at kitchen design than a kitchen designer. So knowing that the OP met with the designer, and that a reasonable person would believe that kitchen designers know more about kitchen design than G.C.'s do, what is the GC's duty? Because without a duty, he has no liability. Is it his duty to faithfully execute the design? Is it duty to catch and correct measurement errors? Is it his duty to redesign the kitchen to be more functional? The answer to those questions are yes, maybe, and no. ----- Let me clue all the legal hobbyists here into the real world. There are no answers before a case is adjudicated. There is simply the plaintiff argues... and the defense argues... Sometimes there are strong arguments, and sometimes there are weak arguments, but they don't pick the winners and losers at the start. Here are the elements of negligence... the existence of a legal duty that the defendant owed to the plaintiff defendant's breach of that duty plaintiff's sufferance of an injury proof that defendant's breach caused the injury Were I the builder I would argue that my duty was simply to execute the design arrived at by the client and the designer, checking only reasonableness of the cabinet design. I might win, I might lose, but it is a much better case than the designer has. The designer's only defense is that knowing an oven will interfere with a drawer is not something most designers would be able to foresee. Which wouldn't fly if you bought it a first class airline seat. Since the homeowner participated with the designer, you can go directly to the designer for recompense. ETA: I agree with cpartist that for a homeowner to "participate" in the design process does NOT make them responsible for errors in construction such as posted by OP. I agree with that too, but that is not what I said, or even close to it. I am just arguing against the idea that the G.C. is always responsible for all errors just because he paid. That in no way means that the homeowner is responsible....See MoreWindow jamb extensions (who’s responsible?)
Comments (38)@User said, ”make an appointment with your construction attorney who reviewed the contract to be certain of how things are worded for changes and errors.” This doesn’t really exist. You can’t be hired to supervise construction and generally disclaim responsibility for construction supervision. Errors and omissions clauses are fairly standard but they don’t really shift responsibility for errors, rather they are an agreement that all parties will negotiate/cooperate to resolve errors. An applicable example of an E&O clause in action is allowing the builder to extend the existing jamb rather than requiring the builder to reorder the windows. @Jason - Be careful about taking advice here from anyone. Sites like this are a great place to gather information but we don’t have anything approaching enough specific information to give you advice. Your builder is likely at fault for this error but what that means really depends on you, your builder, and the relationship you currently enjoy. I would be much more concerned about the “signing off” position than I would be about this amount. I would probably send an email like this: I am sorry for the confusion about signing off. Please understand that I am not qualified to evaluate the technical specifications of items you order. I am happy to sign off on style choices, but will not be able to check orders for sufficiency or accuracy. However, that is my response assuming a lot of things about your relationship with the builder that may not be accurate. ETA: just to be clear… I am sure some contractor somewhere has put in some clause that attempts to charge the owner for their negligence. When I say these clauses don’t really exist, I mean that they don’t really exist in the law and are likely unenforceable....See Moreilikefriday
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Heather MaciaszekOriginal Author