Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

Contractor overages

We are in the final stages of building a custom home. We had a bid for Millwork at one price in the very beginning of the project and then along the way we signed a change of order form for a higher grade material, no problem, we expected to pay the original bid + the change order. Now the general is billing us for an additional +/- $5,000 dollars over the original bid + the change order without our knowledge/consent or even an additional change order. His explanation is that he put the materials in our house and we should pay. He further stated theyn had made an on-site decision and were to busy to process a change order. Do we have to pay for the unknown overages?


Asked on 11/02/07, 5:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: Contractor overages

This is a really typical dispute between a contractor and a homeowner. From what you are saying, it sounds as though the $5K charge was additional on top of the change order.

Without seeing your contract or your change order, it doesn't sound right.

Being "too busy" to do a change order is what gets contractors in all sorts of trouble.

You might want to look at avvo.com to see if there is a LOCAL attorney who handles construction matters for consumers, and set up a consulation with that person.

I've seen judges rule either way on this dispute, depending on the facts and the contract and how it was written.

Elizabeth Powell

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Answered on 11/02/07, 10:07 pm


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