My wife and I have recently undergone construction of a new home. The
contractor we picked is held in extremely high regard from everyone we
spoke with. Up until now we have been extremely pleased with the
choice we made to use him. Two days ago (1½ weeks into the
construction) we discovered the house was positioned in the wrong
place.
Background: We have a very narrow lot - 31.75 feet. The new house is
28 feet wide. We deliberately made the house this narrow due to lower
costs (square feet) but also to ensure we had enough room down the one
side to still be able to get a truck / ride-on-mower down the side.
Proposed Location: The drawings provided to the contractor showed the
house location on the lot (5ft - from the west side property line,
allowing for around 8'9" (105") on the east side for the truck access
etc). We want to be able to take lumber into the back for building a
deck etc at a later stage.
Actual Location: The house has been positioned at least 12" further to
the East than we specified in our plans. Instead of having approx.
105" on the East side, we are stuck with a mere 88" - 91".
So Far: We initially spoke to our contractor regarding this, showing
him the drawing with the house located on the lot. He didn't seem to
recall seeing the location plan before - we know we supplied it with
the drawings as we did with all the contractors we got to quote on the
job. This surprised us, and alarm bells started ringing. We went to
the house to get some better measurements. We contacted the contractor
again today and he said to speak with the Surveyor. We phoned the
surveyor. He said the contractor told him to put the house in the
middle of the lot! The weird thing of it all is that the house is not
quite in the middle - it's further to the west like we wanted it, just
not far enough over. The surveyor is going back tomorrow to re-survey
to see exactly where the house is located.

My questions a

1. Has anyone been in this situation before? If so, how was it
resolved?
2. What are your thoughts, ideas, etc on what we should do to remedy
this problem?

Our problem is:
If we decide to get the house re-located to where it should be, we
would have the following problems:
1. The contractor may be upset with us. He's the one building the
house and may do a sub-standard job.
2. If the contractor recompensates us for some part, what's stopping
him from incorporating that cost elsewhere within the build.
3. Who would foot the bill of the re-starting from scratch.
4. All the sub-trades would have to re-schedule and may not be able to
due to other commitments.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen.

On 19 Aug 2004 11:50:38 -0700, (UnhappyCamper)
wrote:

My wife and I have recently undergone construction of a new home. The
contractor we picked is held in extremely high regard from everyone we
spoke with. Up until now we have been extremely pleased with the
choice we made to use him. Two days ago (1½ weeks into the
construction) we discovered the house was positioned in the wrong
place.
Background: We have a very narrow lot - 31.75 feet. The new house is
28 feet wide. We deliberately made the house this narrow due to lower
costs (square feet) but also to ensure we had enough room down the one
side to still be able to get a truck / ride-on-mower down the side.
Proposed Location: The drawings provided to the contractor showed the
house location on the lot (5ft - from the west side property line,
allowing for around 8'9" (105") on the east side for the truck access
etc). We want to be able to take lumber into the back for building a
deck etc at a later stage.
Actual Location: The house has been positioned at least 12" further to
the East than we specified in our plans. Instead of having approx.
105" on the East side, we are stuck with a mere 88" - 91".
So Far: We initially spoke to our contractor regarding this, showing
him the drawing with the house located on the lot. He didn't seem to
recall seeing the location plan before - we know we supplied it with
the drawings as we did with all the contractors we got to quote on the
job. This surprised us, and alarm bells started ringing. We went to
the house to get some better measurements. We contacted the contractor
again today and he said to speak with the Surveyor. We phoned the
surveyor. He said the contractor told him to put the house in the
middle of the lot! The weird thing of it all is that the house is not
quite in the middle - it's further to the west like we wanted it, just
not far enough over. The surveyor is going back tomorrow to re-survey
to see exactly where the house is located.

My questions a

1. Has anyone been in this situation before? If so, how was it
resolved?
2. What are your thoughts, ideas, etc on what we should do to remedy
this problem?

Our problem is:
If we decide to get the house re-located to where it should be, we
would have the following problems:
1. The contractor may be upset with us. He's the one building the
house and may do a sub-standard job.
2. If the contractor recompensates us for some part, what's stopping
him from incorporating that cost elsewhere within the build.
3. Who would foot the bill of the re-starting from scratch.
4. All the sub-trades would have to re-schedule and may not be able to
due to other commitments.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen.


I guess you meant 41.75 ft wide. We build 20 ft wide homes on 28 ft
wide lots so I don't call 41'-9" "very narrow" and you have plenty
of room for a riding mower down one side. You don't really need to
get a truck down the side, do you? Carrying the lumber for a deck a
few yards once in a lifetime is no great deal.

My advice would be to forget it and not upset the apple cart.
Someone has to swallow the loss and it will be mainly you in the
long run. Have you checked that there were not other reasons why
the foundations were moved? Does a local bylaw require more than
you allowed on the narrow side? Is there, perhaps, a right of way
for a gas line or whatever? Look at it this way, you are further
from the neighbours.

I would say document concern (probably already done) then be happy and live
with it. Make nice with neighbors so you could drive over a foot or so of
their lot when need be.

"UnhappyCamper" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I have recently undergone construction of a new home. The
contractor we picked is held in extremely high regard from everyone we
spoke with. Up until now we have been extremely pleased with the
choice we made to use him. Two days ago (1½ weeks into the
construction) we discovered the house was positioned in the wrong
place.
Background: We have a very narrow lot - 31.75 feet. The new house is
28 feet wide. We deliberately made the house this narrow due to lower
costs (square feet) but also to ensure we had enough room down the one
side to still be able to get a truck / ride-on-mower down the side.
Proposed Location: The drawings provided to the contractor showed the
house location on the lot (5ft - from the west side property line,
allowing for around 8'9" (105") on the east side for the truck access
etc). We want to be able to take lumber into the back for building a
deck etc at a later stage.
Actual Location: The house has been positioned at least 12" further to
the East than we specified in our plans. Instead of having approx.
105" on the East side, we are stuck with a mere 88" - 91".
So Far: We initially spoke to our contractor regarding this, showing
him the drawing with the house located on the lot. He didn't seem to
recall seeing the location plan before - we know we supplied it with
the drawings as we did with all the contractors we got to quote on the
job. This surprised us, and alarm bells started ringing. We went to
the house to get some better measurements. We contacted the contractor
again today and he said to speak with the Surveyor. We phoned the
surveyor. He said the contractor told him to put the house in the
middle of the lot! The weird thing of it all is that the house is not
quite in the middle - it's further to the west like we wanted it, just
not far enough over. The surveyor is going back tomorrow to re-survey
to see exactly where the house is located.

My questions a

1. Has anyone been in this situation before? If so, how was it
resolved?
2. What are your thoughts, ideas, etc on what we should do to remedy
this problem?

Our problem is:
If we decide to get the house re-located to where it should be, we
would have the following problems:
1. The contractor may be upset with us. He's the one building the
house and may do a sub-standard job.
2. If the contractor recompensates us for some part, what's stopping
him from incorporating that cost elsewhere within the build.
3. Who would foot the bill of the re-starting from scratch.
4. All the sub-trades would have to re-schedule and may not be able to
due to other commitments.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen.

If the permit set clearly shows the dimension, then I would insist on having
it corrected, either the surveyor or g.c. screwed up.

"UnhappyCamper" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I have recently undergone construction of a new home. The
contractor we picked is held in extremely high regard from everyone we
spoke with. Up until now we have been extremely pleased with the
choice we made to use him. Two days ago (1½ weeks into the
construction) we discovered the house was positioned in the wrong
place.
Background: We have a very narrow lot - 31.75 feet. The new house is
28 feet wide. We deliberately made the house this narrow due to lower
costs (square feet) but also to ensure we had enough room down the one
side to still be able to get a truck / ride-on-mower down the side.
Proposed Location: The drawings provided to the contractor showed the
house location on the lot (5ft - from the west side property line,
allowing for around 8'9" (105") on the east side for the truck access
etc). We want to be able to take lumber into the back for building a
deck etc at a later stage.
Actual Location: The house has been positioned at least 12" further to
the East than we specified in our plans. Instead of having approx.
105" on the East side, we are stuck with a mere 88" - 91".
So Far: We initially spoke to our contractor regarding this, showing
him the drawing with the house located on the lot. He didn't seem to
recall seeing the location plan before - we know we supplied it with
the drawings as we did with all the contractors we got to quote on the
job. This surprised us, and alarm bells started ringing. We went to
the house to get some better measurements. We contacted the contractor
again today and he said to speak with the Surveyor. We phoned the
surveyor. He said the contractor told him to put the house in the
middle of the lot! The weird thing of it all is that the house is not
quite in the middle - it's further to the west like we wanted it, just
not far enough over. The surveyor is going back tomorrow to re-survey
to see exactly where the house is located.

My questions a

1. Has anyone been in this situation before? If so, how was it
resolved?
2. What are your thoughts, ideas, etc on what we should do to remedy
this problem?

Our problem is:
If we decide to get the house re-located to where it should be, we
would have the following problems:
1. The contractor may be upset with us. He's the one building the
house and may do a sub-standard job.
2. If the contractor recompensates us for some part, what's stopping
him from incorporating that cost elsewhere within the build.
3. Who would foot the bill of the re-starting from scratch.
4. All the sub-trades would have to re-schedule and may not be able to
due to other commitments.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen.

"P.Fritz" wrote in message
...
If the permit set clearly shows the dimension, then I would insist on
having
it corrected, either the surveyor or g.c. screwed up.

How much has been built? Perhaps the trench foundations are wide enough that
you can partially correct the error (eg move it 6") or are the walls already
up?

The builder/surveyor should have insurance to cover this sort of error.

In the UK the local council planning dept could make you knock the house
down and start again!

On 19 Aug 2004 11:50:38 -0700, someone wrote:

Any help would be appreciated.

You are entitled to have it the way it was contracted. (BTW - Do you
have a fixed price or a cost plus contract?) But you can't have it
both ways. You cannot have what you wanted AND have everybody 'happy'
with you AND have no delays. You need to put your foot down
immediately and **** everybody off, or else you have "ratified" what
they did and you are now stuck with it.

If you cannot stomach delays then you have boxed yourself into a
corner and they can hold the job hostage by saying anything you want
different will cause a delay.

If you cannot stomach ****ing people off then you are a wimp and might
as well throw in the towel now. I repeat, the sooner this is
recitified the better it is, if that is what you insist on.

I was originally an architect and then a commercial sub on
multi-million dollar high quality institutional and commercial jobs
(think college building or corporate HQ). It amazes me the way
homeowners, who are the one paying the bill, get walked on by their
contractors. But then again it amazes me that home contractor can put
up with the ignorant hysteria and nickel dime cheapness of homeowners.
Commercial/institutional jobs, the ownesr knows what they want and are
willing to pay the price to get it, but it damn well better be per the
plans and specs or its coming out.

Mr. Homeowner, what are you willing to do?

"UnhappyCamper" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I have recently undergone construction of a new home. The
contractor we picked is held in extremely high regard from everyone we
spoke with. Up until now we have been extremely pleased with the
choice we made to use him. Two days ago (1½ weeks into the
construction) we discovered the house was positioned in the wrong
place.
Background: We have a very narrow lot - 31.75 feet. The new house is
28 feet wide. We deliberately made the house this narrow due to lower
costs (square feet) but also to ensure we had enough room down the one
side to still be able to get a truck / ride-on-mower down the side.
Proposed Location: The drawings provided to the contractor showed the
house location on the lot (5ft - from the west side property line,
allowing for around 8'9" (105") on the east side for the truck access
etc). We want to be able to take lumber into the back for building a
deck etc at a later stage.
Actual Location: The house has been positioned at least 12" further to
the East than we specified in our plans. Instead of having approx.
105" on the East side, we are stuck with a mere 88" - 91".
So Far: We initially spoke to our contractor regarding this, showing
him the drawing with the house located on the lot. He didn't seem to
recall seeing the location plan before - we know we supplied it with
the drawings as we did with all the contractors we got to quote on the
job. This surprised us, and alarm bells started ringing. We went to
the house to get some better measurements. We contacted the contractor
again today and he said to speak with the Surveyor. We phoned the
surveyor. He said the contractor told him to put the house in the
middle of the lot! The weird thing of it all is that the house is not
quite in the middle - it's further to the west like we wanted it, just
not far enough over. The surveyor is going back tomorrow to re-survey
to see exactly where the house is located.

My questions a

1. Has anyone been in this situation before? If so, how was it
resolved?
2. What are your thoughts, ideas, etc on what we should do to remedy
this problem?

Our problem is:
If we decide to get the house re-located to where it should be, we
would have the following problems:
1. The contractor may be upset with us. He's the one building the
house and may do a sub-standard job.
2. If the contractor recompensates us for some part, what's stopping
him from incorporating that cost elsewhere within the build.
3. Who would foot the bill of the re-starting from scratch.
4. All the sub-trades would have to re-schedule and may not be able to
due to other commitments.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen.

If the location plan was made a part of your contract then the contractor is
responsible for the error and should pay to correct it. But I am troubled by
one comment:
"we know we supplied it with the drawings as we did with all the contractors
we got to quote on the job."
This sounds like you gave the location plan to all the contractors you got
bids from. This is not the same as "making it part of the contract". Your
quotation is not normally the contract, it is the quotation. The contract
should reference the plans, all of them, that are a part of the deal. If
your location plan was not presented to the builder as part of the contract
with the instruction, either verbally or in writing, that "this is what we
want you to do" then it is possible that the plan got "lost" between
quotation and contract and the start of the work. If the plan is made a part
of the contract you signed then it is the builder's responsibility. But if
it was not, then the builder has a legitimate legal loophole to use if he
should wish.

"UnhappyCamper" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I have recently undergone construction of a new home. The
contractor we picked is held in extremely high regard from everyone we
spoke with. Up until now we have been extremely pleased with the
choice we made to use him. Two days ago (1½ weeks into the
construction) we discovered the house was positioned in the wrong
place.
Background: We have a very narrow lot - 31.75 feet. The new house is
28 feet wide. We deliberately made the house this narrow due to lower
costs (square feet) but also to ensure we had enough room down the one
side to still be able to get a truck / ride-on-mower down the side.
Proposed Location: The drawings provided to the contractor showed the
house location on the lot (5ft - from the west side property line,
allowing for around 8'9" (105") on the east side for the truck access
etc). We want to be able to take lumber into the back for building a
deck etc at a later stage.
Actual Location: The house has been positioned at least 12" further to
the East than we specified in our plans. Instead of having approx.
105" on the East side, we are stuck with a mere 88" - 91".
So Far: We initially spoke to our contractor regarding this, showing
him the drawing with the house located on the lot. He didn't seem to
recall seeing the location plan before - we know we supplied it with
the drawings as we did with all the contractors we got to quote on the
job. This surprised us, and alarm bells started ringing. We went to
the house to get some better measurements. We contacted the contractor
again today and he said to speak with the Surveyor. We phoned the
surveyor. He said the contractor told him to put the house in the
middle of the lot! The weird thing of it all is that the house is not
quite in the middle - it's further to the west like we wanted it, just
not far enough over. The surveyor is going back tomorrow to re-survey
to see exactly where the house is located.

My questions a

1. Has anyone been in this situation before? If so, how was it
resolved?
2. What are your thoughts, ideas, etc on what we should do to remedy
this problem?

Our problem is:
If we decide to get the house re-located to where it should be, we
would have the following problems:
1. The contractor may be upset with us. He's the one building the
house and may do a sub-standard job.
2. If the contractor recompensates us for some part, what's stopping
him from incorporating that cost elsewhere within the build.
3. Who would foot the bill of the re-starting from scratch.
4. All the sub-trades would have to re-schedule and may not be able to
due to other commitments.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen.


Some other people have given some good suggestions but let me ask a
question. When the permit was pulled someone (whomever pulled the permit)
submitted plans to the city. Along with those plans, (more than likely) you
would have had to include a new survey showing the house location on the
lot. Obviously, if the builder pulled the permit (most likely) then he had
the survey. Is the house located as indicated on the survey?

Michael (LS)

"Michael (LS)" wrote in message
...
Some other people have given some good suggestions but let me ask a
question. When the permit was pulled someone (whomever pulled the permit)
submitted plans to the city. Along with those plans, (more than likely)
you
would have had to include a new survey showing the house location on the
lot. Obviously, if the builder pulled the permit (most likely) then he
had
the survey. Is the house located as indicated on the survey?

In Massachusetts, when you submit the initial plans for the permit, it is
not a specification as to where to locate the structure exactly. The main
concern is to indicate proper setback requirements from lot lines, setbacks
from wells or septic systems, setbacks to wetland boundaries, known
easements, etc. The builder can construct anywhere within the "valid" area.
After the construction is completed, a final as-built plan is filed with the
town or city.

-al sung

Had a builder get the footings too close to the property line once,
but they realized, and corrected, the mistake voluntarily, and it only
set us back a month. We were very happy the builder was this
responsible, so we just accepted the delay. I really do hope your
builder does the right thing, I just know how difficult it may be to
force them too, if they don't want to. If you're lucky, you have a
responsible builder, and contracts, codes, etc, in your area are
enforced so that the builder will be expected to comply and it won't
be left up to you to find some way to force him at your expense.

I don't think it's acceptable to have the footings in the wrong place
if it means you are in violation of any codes or laws, or would have
to use your neighbor's property. That could very well cause you
immeasurable problems, and by accepting it, it would likely fall all
on your shoulders, not your builders. If it's not a problem I'd leave
it where it is, but that does not seem to be the case in this
situation. I am really sorry this happened!

(UnhappyCamper) wrote in message . com...
My wife and I have recently undergone construction of a new home. The
contractor we picked is held in extremely high regard from everyone we
spoke with. Up until now we have been extremely pleased with the
choice we made to use him. Two days ago (1½ weeks into the
construction) we discovered the house was positioned in the wrong
place.
Background: We have a very narrow lot - 31.75 feet. The new house is
28 feet wide. We deliberately made the house this narrow due to lower
costs (square feet) but also to ensure we had enough room down the one
side to still be able to get a truck / ride-on-mower down the side.
Proposed Location: The drawings provided to the contractor showed the
house location on the lot (5ft - from the west side property line,
allowing for around 8'9" (105") on the east side for the truck access
etc). We want to be able to take lumber into the back for building a
deck etc at a later stage.
Actual Location: The house has been positioned at least 12" further to
the East than we specified in our plans. Instead of having approx.
105" on the East side, we are stuck with a mere 88" - 91".
So Far: We initially spoke to our contractor regarding this, showing
him the drawing with the house located on the lot. He didn't seem to
recall seeing the location plan before - we know we supplied it with
the drawings as we did with all the contractors we got to quote on the
job. This surprised us, and alarm bells started ringing. We went to
the house to get some better measurements. We contacted the contractor
again today and he said to speak with the Surveyor. We phoned the
surveyor. He said the contractor told him to put the house in the
middle of the lot! The weird thing of it all is that the house is not
quite in the middle - it's further to the west like we wanted it, just
not far enough over. The surveyor is going back tomorrow to re-survey
to see exactly where the house is located.

My questions a

1. Has anyone been in this situation before? If so, how was it
resolved?
2. What are your thoughts, ideas, etc on what we should do to remedy
this problem?

Our problem is:
If we decide to get the house re-located to where it should be, we
would have the following problems:
1. The contractor may be upset with us. He's the one building the
house and may do a sub-standard job.
2. If the contractor recompensates us for some part, what's stopping
him from incorporating that cost elsewhere within the build.
3. Who would foot the bill of the re-starting from scratch.
4. All the sub-trades would have to re-schedule and may not be able to
due to other commitments.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Stephen.