Legal Question in Construction Law in Virginia

Asking this on behalf of a friend:

Contractor said he would finish my friend's basement and said permits were not necessary and said no plans were necessary. He said he was licensed. He never wrote up a contract. Agreement was oral. We were never able to find his license online. He did the work but the work was sub par and my friend had to correct his work on many occasions. he is now pressing for the final check but the work is not done. There is at least one switch that overheats. My friend have no warranty. What are my friend's options at this point? The contractor claims to have left for a vacation for 3 weeks and now his brother is demanding final payment on his behalf, but the job is not done.

There are other things that are wrong such as the doors are cut about 1 inch too short and are not hung square, the tiles were not cut square in the bathrooms, etc. It doesn't look professional.

I think my friend should not pay until the contractor is back from vacation. I also think my friend should not pay until the job is complete. I also think my friend should try to obtain some sort of written warranty and also hire a licensed electrician to fix the overheating switch problem and deduct the cost of the electrician from the total cost of the basement refinish charged by the contractor. What should my friend do at this point?

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