Legal Question in Construction Law in Indiana

Our business was hired by a home owner, acting as his own contractor, to frame, roof, and do part of the interior finishing of the house he planned to build. He chose the building materials, lined up all the sub-contractors (of which we were one), maintained the building schedule, and inspected every day. We installed the windows he chose. The windows were ordered(through our company), delivered, and sat in the garage (on site) for several weeks. After installation, it was again several weeks before the brick masons bricked the exterior and even longer before the interior was finished and the window trim in place. Again the owner/contractor was inspecting everything, every day. After the installation of the brick and the interior trim, he decided he didn't like the windows and that they were defective. He insisted we take them out and replace them with other windows of his choosing, at our expense. We were willing to to as he asked, but not at our expense, because we didn't feel we were at fault. Replacing the windows meant taking all the trim off inside, enough brick on the outside to remove the windows, removing the windows and putting in new ones, bringing the brick masons back to fix the brick and replacing the interior trim. We had the window manufacturer inspect the windows, the county inspector do an inspection, and an independent inspector come in. The consensus is that the windows are within specs, we did the installation correctly, and there is no blame to be assigned. We are engaged in on-going negotiations and a law suit. In the meantime, he has resorted to self=help and has had the windows replaced by a third party and is expecting us to pay for it. While we believe he has the right to change anything he wants to change, we also believe that we are not required to pay for it if we are not at fault and/or were not given the chance to make it as he wanted it. Is there anything in the Indiana codes covering this situation?

Asked on 10/14/14, 10:41 am

Kenneth Wilk Rubino Ruman Crosmer & Polen

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0 attorneys agreed

If you are engaged in a law suit, your attorney should be the one who is answering this question for you.

Answered on 10/15/14, 10:02 am

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