Electrician billing 70% - is this typical and 70% of the work?

Question

Our electrical contractor completed rough in on our house and garage, and after failing and doing repairs, did finally pass inspection for rough in. He quoted us $24,000 for the entire job, and is billing us $17,000 as 70% of the quote. I asked if 70% of the work was done yet, and he replied that it didn't matter. It is their policy to get paid 70% when completing rough in. He never did finish the job (from last October), and we had to do all the finish wiring ourselves. That included all of the wiring to the main panel, circuit breakers, furnace and water heaters, and all switches, outlets, branch circuit junction boxes, and lighting fixtures. My question is this: Is completing rough in truly 70% of the labor and materials?

Light fixtures were not included, however all other hardware was in the quote (switches, outlets, covers, exhaust fans, etc.)

Answer 1

Issue 1: You are obliged to follow your contract, and you should precisely. What he claims is his policy doesn't matter, but if you signed a contract agreeing to pay 70% at rough-in, and you are certain that he has completed that much properly, then pay it.

Lesson learned for the future: get it all spelled out very clearly ahead of time, then follow what you both agreed to.

Issue 2: Quality and completion. Legally you cannot punish him for last October's problem if that was a different contract. (Why on earth did you have him back, however?) But if it was on this same contract, you are not required to pay for what he did not do.

NEVER pay ahead of what is completed. In construction, it is conventional to pay 50% of material costs when they have been purchased, even if not installed, so if he has your fixtures, but they are warehoused, he should be able to show you the paid invoices, and you could pay on that.

NEVER pay ahead of what is completed. I repeat: NEVER pay ahead of what is completed. and always agree on schedule.

You may need a lawyer on this, sorry to say.

Answer 2

Read your contract. If he passed the rough-in inspection he might be entitled to the money at the 70% level. You should go by the contract and if he did not comply with any of the requirements, you have a basis for action on it. He sounds like a weezel.

Answer 3

was this statement "he replied that it didn't matter. It is their policy to get paid 70%",,known going into the contract??
if so you should pay, but then he needs to finish,,because he is high on the rough in price
we have been getting 60% on rough and this amount is a little high,,,but we finish the jobs
we have been here 30 + years,,same town,,

Answer 4

You have two issues. One is quality and the other is procedure.

When I do jobs I get 50% when I start the job, 40% when I am done installing and 10% retension after everythings tests and works.

Now on quality you have to deal with your contractor however you guys agreed when you struck your contract. If you feel you are getting ripped off then count your costs and present it to him with your ideas. I think you should be able to work things out, after all he wants at least $16,800 because that is what he is billing.

If you want more info I except email.

Answer 5

Depends on what was included in your contract. Light fixtures can be quite expensive and therefor may be a large percent but wiring and labor is expensive too, it is possible that in your case it was 70 percent but probably not quite that much.

Answer 6

Time for a legal opinion. Let an attorney read your contract. If you just sit back and refuse to pay him, he will file a lein against your home (quite legal). The contractors reasoning does not make sense.

Answer 7

I wouldn't think so but if you have already paid him he is probably in the clear right now. Sorry