MAG wrote in message iganews.com...
First, tell him that you are concerned that additional work was done
without your consent, and that you are going to have to run it by the
town board. Express to him that while you think he did a superior job as
the end result, there is a possibility it may have to be ripped out and
redone according to town specs, so you need tim to determine the next
step.

Presuming it looks as good as you say, it's really unlikely you'll need
to have it all redone. In this case, he is entitled to the top end of
the range he quoted.

If it has to be ripped out, he is probably liable for the damages you
incur. Consult a lawyer if this comes to pass.

I'm no lawyer so I can't advise you on your rights. Common sense tells
me that failing to get consent for changes in the work scope is a bad
business practice. Tell him that you might have agreed to some
additional charges had they been discussed with you in advance, so you
could plan for them, but in the end you have a written contract and no
change orders for him to use.

Marc


One can only wonder where the owner was when this was all being done.
I can see how some extra concrete pours could not be obvious, but
surely adding another step had to be.

At this point, I surely wouldn't go running to any regulatory
authority for retroactive approval of changes. Your position should
be you just did repairs, end of story. Unless it's something very
obvious and that someone would object to, it's unlikely to bring any
attention. On the other hand, if you point it out, you do run the
risk of them making you redo the whole thing. And if that happens,
it's going to be at your expense, so I don't see the advantage to
looking for trouble before it finds you.

With the contractor, a lot depends on what the quote says. If it
clearly states a max price and accurately describes what was to be
done, then I would tell the contractor that is all you think you
should pay. Since he did a great job, at that point, you could
negotiate and pay him a few hundred more perhaps, but not the full
$2K. As long as you haven't paid him, you're in a good position. The
worst he could do is sue you in small claims court.