Legal Question in Construction Law in California

If you can document the defective work, make sure you have paid him the contract price less the cost to fix the defect, and then you probably should pre-emptively take him to court for breach of contract. Otherwise you wind up the defendant in a mechanics lein case, instead of the plaintiff in a defect case. Not a good situation, because then it may look like you made up the complaints, or blew them out of proportion in order to avoid paying. I almost always encourage people to work things out without suing, but in this case it sounds like you could get steamrolled if you aren't proactive.

I'd agree with pre-emptive suit if the damages can be squeezed into the small-claims $7,500 limit, but more cautious (trying negotiation and mediation, for example) if more money is involved. Also, look to see if your contract has attorney-fee or mandatory mediation or arbitration clauses.