Legal Question in Construction Law in New York

Residential construction contract

If your contract said that change orders must be agreed to and signed by both contractor and client can the contractor force you to pay for items at the last hour before closing? ($107,000 in unsigned changes?)


Asked on 2/14/09, 4:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Marshall Isaacs Marshall R. Isaacs, Attorney At Law

Re: Residential construction contract

I handled a case recently involving the same exact issue. The answer is "no", you should not be required to pay for unauthorized work done pursuant to unsigned change orders.

The whole purpose of a contract is so that you know exactly how much you are obligated to pay and so the contractor knows precisely how much work they are required to perform.

The contractor has an even bigger problem if it used its own contract because the terms of a contract are held against the draftsman.

There may be other facts of which I'm not aware that might lead to a different result. I'd suggest speaking to an attorney in greater detail before taking an action against the contractor.

Hope this is helpful.

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Answered on 2/14/09, 5:22 pm


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