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dpb

wrote:
On Oct 12, 1:26 pm, "Art" wrote:

....posting order corrected...

wrote in message

oups.com...
I hired a contractor to put in a cathederal ceiling in my house. He
hired a structural engineer, pulled the permit, removed the old
ceiling and put the new cieling up to the ridge line of my roof After
it was done the inspector said that the LVL beam that was put up is
blocking the ridge vent now and roof venting is needed.
When I called the contractor he tells me that since my contract with
him was just for the framing he is not responsible for putting in the
new ventilation.
My question is since the venting was fine before the cathederal was
put in and he pulled the permit shouldn't he be responsible for fixing
the problem identified by the building inspector? ...

If the contract says he doens't get paid until it passes inspection
he is screwed. On the other hand, depending on how the contract is
written you may be responsible for the extra cost. Also the
engineer may have some liability. Lawyers are expensive. Sit down
with everyone and resolve the problem.

Thanks Art I thought it was something like that. If I remember
correctly the contract mentions that he will pull the permit but I
don't think there is anything about inspections. I will have to look
at it again tonight.
....

Sounds like it wasn't addressed in the design that the contractor hired
the engineer to do the structural but probably didn't provide him with
the necessary inputs to know where the venting locations were to design
around existing or account for them for the incorporation of existing
locations.

That it was in a gc's scope to ensure that would also be somewhat
dependent on how contract was done -- were you the gc subletting work or
was the contractor the actual gc? That may have bearing depending on
local rules/law...

The "sit down, work it out" advice is well given, but the details of who
actually had responsibility isn't possible to be determined from
information given here. I venture a guess (but it's purely that) that
you probably had the actual overall responsibility but the contractor
didn't really do all he should have done, either, but if he's a picky
sob may be able to shirk. If you're lucky and have good relationship,
might be able to at least get some shared responsibility. But, as
stated, that's purely a guess on the basis that to get the permit it
used the "homeowner limited project serves as own gc" clause of local
law which took the contractor off the hook as the actual gc...

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