My house was suppose to be completed by 12/7/06 per our contract as of this date it has not been finished. Am I able to charge a penalty for each day that he is has not completed the work?
2007-02-13 01:51:12 · 13 answers · asked by Nessa 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
you should have grounds for a case talk to a lawyer
2007-02-13 01:54:25 · answer #1 · answered by furmanator1957 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No you can't, construction isn't an exact science when it comes to completion dates. Anything from weather to worker sickness can hold up a job, the contractor can't be held accountable for inclement weather, and sickness. And that's not even considering delivery drivers, inspectors and local permits holding everything up.
Think about it reasonably, you want into your house or use of your whole house. Unless this guy has done something truly wrong to your home or your family he's probably got a family to feed and bills to pay, just consider that before you jump on that "I'LL SEW YOU!!" bandwagon. If you do, do that and this guy can find any reasonable reason to be late, i.e. permits were held up, weather was bad, ANYTHING. If you refuse to pay or refuse to pay the agreed price he no longer has to finish because YOU breached the contract. Then where will court get you?
Another thing you might want to keep in mind is, by his being late he's already cost himself money. If the job was supposed to take 100 days and the price was $100--that's a dollar a day. If it takes him 200 days to finish it he only made $.50 a day. If a contractor is late its either something out of his control or he's some weird kind guy who doesn't like to make money.
2007-02-13 02:00:36 · answer #2 · answered by Centurion529 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your contract stated that there was to be a written date of completion, then somewhere in there spells out the penalties of missing that date.
Re-read the contract and find the penalties.
2007-02-13 02:04:02 · answer #3 · answered by RAR24 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you have a penalty clause in your contract and did the contractor sign it? If you and they agreed in writing to be done on a certain date or penalties would be assessed to them then you are in luck. If not you have to wait it out till they get down and see a contract lawyer about the good faith on time part of you contract. Be careful not to alienate your contractor with threats they might walk away and leave you hanging. Get everything in writing or it never happened. Good Luck.
2007-02-13 02:01:31 · answer #4 · answered by Mother 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In most contracts there is a clause that work may not be completed on agreed date of term shall outside forces of acts of nature or other undescribed circumstances hinder . I know these aren't the actual words used but none the less they almost always have something written to protect themselves. Best bet is patience. To tick off your contractor is to wait longer. Read the fine print closely and are you in a disaster type rebuild situation?
2007-02-20 12:21:04 · answer #5 · answered by #1 saints fan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a written contract. It is crazy for you to asking anyone's advice who hasn't read the contract. Seek legal counsel if it is worth it to you. Your best bet at this point will likely be to try to work WITH him so that he doesn't walk off the job altogether (unless he has already.) My fear is that in your attempt to play hardball you will make your situation worse. Part of this fear comes from the fact that you are seeking legal advice in an anonymous internet forum and are therefore likely not very savvy. Good luck to you; use honey before vinegar, or get a professional vinegar dispenser. ;-)
2007-02-20 03:51:19 · answer #6 · answered by snoopy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely not UNLESS.. UNLESS it was written in the contract that it must be finished by a certain date or a penalty would be assessed.. I assume that you did not do that
2007-02-13 02:02:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeppers.... if it had a firm date then Yep... I'd take the total cost and divide it up by the number of days it was supposed to take and use that as the per day penalty
2007-02-13 01:54:45 · answer #8 · answered by mdlbldrmatt135 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are not allowed to charge penalties under English contract law. You can, however, charge a penalty that masquerades as something else.
2007-02-13 01:54:39 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
what you can do is take him to court. sue him for not completeing the contract. there, the judge can impose the fine(of course, you tell him how much you want) and everything is legal and binding. good thing you had a contract, huh? most people dont and they end up in really bad situations. good luck
2007-02-20 00:50:35 · answer #10 · answered by sweetbeba05 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it's written into the original contract that he can be penalized, you can..If not ..Your out of luck. I'm quite sure if you read your contract you'll find that He didn't guarantee it would be completed, but rather said He estimates it's completion
2007-02-13 01:57:13 · answer #11 · answered by nalla 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋