Fixing others' violations

[Speshulk]

We've all been confronted with work done by others that doesn't meet code. I'm currently dealing with someone that had roughly $2500 worth of work done and it was all half assed, at best.

I'm curious how the property owner typically handles the situation in regards to the original contractor. Not surprisingly, this particular customer is having difficulty getting the original contractor to respond to phone calls. He'd rather not pay to have the work redone, but he's also not thrilled about the possibliity of the original contractor doing any more work.

So my question is how people typically go about getting reimbursed for sub par work. I'm hoping to give the guy some advice on how people normally handle getting burned. Is there a way to go about it without having to lay out more money in legal fees than the job was worth?

 

[John120/240]

Is there a contract between the electrican and homeowner ?

Is there a permit & inspection ?

On what basis is the work "half assed" workmanship/appearance or code violations ?

Even if they had an inspection the work can pass inspection and look sloppy.

 

[growler]

I'm curious how the property owner typically handles the situation in regards to the original contractor.

Normally they bad mouth the heck out of the contractor and they cry and complain a lot and do little else.

They can report the contractor to the local authorities or the state board but much of this type of work is done because the owners don't want permits and inspections on the work for reasons of their own. They can take the contractor to small claims court if they want to spend a little time.

 

[renosteinke]

For all the talk of our 'overburdened court system,' there sure are plenty of barriers placed in the way.

What the customer has is a 'civil complaint.' If there are any administrative remedies - say, a contractors' board to hear his complaint - the customer needs to first address his complaint through them. Only if the administrative path is unable to address the issues - note that I did not say 'if he doesn't agree with the bureaucrats' - can he ask the courts to hear his complaint.

Meanwhile, the contractor has various mechanisms at his disposal, most prominently the lien process.

You don't get multiple tries at your case. If the matter is ruled on by one group, the others will honor it. The matter becomes 'res adjudica,' or already resolved by the courts.

Naturally, time and money factor into this, and it's rather unlikely that anyone will emerge happy in the end. Even if you 'win,' you lose.

So, in practical terms .... the customer eats the loss, maybe is able to not completely pay the other guy, and gets to pay someone else to do it over.
The contractor gets to cry about the money he got 'cheated' out of, come here to grouse about lousy customers, and cry further about how there's no business.

Unless, of course, the contractor really is a skunk. In that case, his business model takes full advantage of the barriers in our system, and he's long gone, with the money, by the time anything happens.

That's why there are so many skunks, trunk-slammers, and moonlighters out there. The system favors them.

The customer isn't innocent in all of this. In their zeal to play king (I'm the customer, so I write the rules) and pinch pennies (real contractors are so expensive- and all tradesmen are little more than apes with tool belts) the customers inadvertently search out the scoundrels.

 

[satcom]

Normally they bad mouth the heck out of the contractor and they cry and complain a lot and do little else.

They can report the contractor to the local authorities or the state board but much of this type of work is done because the owners don't want permits and inspections on the work for reasons of their own. They can take the contractor to small claims court if they want to spend a little time.

After many years of dealing with customers that loved to be taken by slick contractors, you got the bad mouth the heck out of them part right, but they never seem to learn that contractors that work without permits usually end up the most expensive contractor.

 

[Speshulk]

In this particular case, the work was done 2-3 years ago by a "reputable" contractor. I regularly deal with people that have hired this company and subsequently been unhappy with their work.

This customer paid for the job when it was done, but didn't realize that it was done incorrectly until I showed him all the things that were done wrong. So, basically, he's trying to figure out the best way to be made whole by the original contractor.

I'm just hoping that some other posters have dealt with a similar situation so I can give him an idea of the best way to proceed without having to spend a ton of money on a lawyer. (If that's even possible.)

 

[ceb58]

In this particular case, the work was done 2-3 years ago by a "reputable" contractor. I regularly deal with people that have hired this company and subsequently been unhappy with their work.

This customer paid for the job when it was done, but didn't realize that it was done incorrectly until I showed him all the things that were done wrong. So, basically, he's trying to figure out the best way to be made whole by the original contractor.

I'm just hoping that some other posters have dealt with a similar situation so I can give him an idea of the best way to proceed without having to spend a ton of money on a lawyer. (If that's even possible.)

That time frame he is going to have to suck it up and move on. Again, what are, if any code violations or dose it just look like crap? Were Permits and inspections done at the time? 2-3 years ago, if it hasn't burned down by now it must not be that bad.