Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida

Re: Defective materials and/or workmanship by a contractor in Florida

As Mr. Vebit mentioned, a lot depends upon the wording of

your contract. You also may have a common law

remedy for breach of warranty. There are several

different courses of action you can take, each with

its pluses and minuses. I strongly suggest you seek

the advice of a knowledgeable attorney in your area.

Re: Defective materials and/or workmanship by a contractor in Florida

From the wording of your question, I am assuming there was a written agreement between you and the contractor. But I am not sure what the relationship was between you and the supplier.

You say only that the contractor installed the riser. It is not clear if the contractor was just to install a riser that you purchased directly from the supplier, or whether the contractor was responsible for constructing the riser from materials the contractor purchased from the supplier. My answer to your question would vary depending on which of these scenarios is correct. My response, therefore, is necessarily subject to the terms of any written agreements you had with the contractor and/or the supplier. You should have an attorney review all written agreements and any and all other documentation you have regarding this situation before you take legal action.

For purposes of this response, I am going to assume you had a written agreement with the contractor requiring him to build and install the riser from materials he purchased from the supplier. If so, then, in general terms, and subject to what your written agreement might say, you are correct that it is the contractor's obligation to correct this problem. It is not necessarily the case, however, that the contractor must remove and replace the defective riser. If the contractor can implement an appropriate fix without removing and replacing, and he will stand by the fix in case it does not work, then it would probably be in your best interest to work with the contractor. But, it should be the contractor, not you, who pays for the fix. If the contractor is not willing to correct the problem appropriately, then you would have to seek legal remedies under the terms of your written agreement. Depending on the terms of the agreement, this may require arbitrating the dispute or litigating the dispute in court. In some cases, it requires the threat of or the actual initiation of legal proceedings to bring a recalcitrant contractor to act responsibly and reasonably.