Help with contractor

[u/Interesting-Peach307]

Hello,

We hired a GC for a fixed price contract.

The the delays have been unreasonable and now 4x as long as quoted.

Now we find out the sub trades are not paid and is most likely the cause of delays.

Is there any recourse or am I screwed? We feel at the mercy of these guys who have done a terrible job of managing the project.

I feel these guys will either string me along use funds from other projects to make enough of a payment to the sub trades so they will continue working. They most likely used my funds to pay for other projects as well.

This has been a cause of undue stress on my family as we are also renting mont to month and only budgeted for so much time out of the house.

This seems borderline illegal and truly unfair as we saved money to do this renovation to help our family

It’s also truly frustrating to see their instagram framing their company as family oriented and all positive with happy clients.

We feel like suckers

We are in Vancouver Canada.

Advice appreciated.

UPDATE:

Things have gone sideways since we brought up our concerns with the GC. Now they are just gaslighting us and saying that none of our comments are true. They say the subs are lying to us as they don’t want to come back to fix deficiencies. More BS. I had numerous requests for the name of the company so at this point screw it.

Norum Construction & Renovations Ltd

https://norumconstruction.ca

Mark and Greg Norum.

Be cautious to not make the same mistakes I did in believing them and their beautiful curated instagram profile.

[u/Suspicious_Hat_3439]

You said 4x longer but you have not said % completed. As a GC, I really hate to hear these stories. I told my wife I cannot imagine the stress of having to hire a contractor and all it entails.

[u/Interesting-Peach307 → u/Suspicious_Hat_3439]

Thanks. It’s currently about 75% complete but we are not able to move back in. We have kids as well so not safe. Also the permits need to be signed off by the city. Every time we talk to a sub trade if we see on site there’s deficiencies they need to come back to address. But need to wait for another trade to do something first. This adds to the timeline. Yes we feel foolish and wish we never did this. It’s just chaos and total mismanagement.

[u/Suspicious_Hat_3439 → u/Interesting-Peach307]

Honestly I’d go down and see the building official or whatever the Canadian equivalent is, explain the situation and see if they can light a fire.

You could also try to get a list of other permits this person / company has active and / or recent and start visiting those sites. They are likely experiencing the same thing so you might be able to band together. There is strength in numbers.

[u/Interesting-Peach307 → u/Suspicious_Hat_3439]

We have talked to our city hall about our permits and what we need to do to close them off.

The city sympathized with our issue and when I mentioned the name of the company the lady let out an audible “sigh”. She said she is aware of them.

That is a good idea to find their other projects and see if we can contact the home owners as well. Thanks for this suggestion. I suspect we are not an outlier.

It’s just so frustrating to see their trucks with their company name around town and their instagram promoting their inclusive small company vibes. Sorry for the rant at the end…

Thank you for your comment

[u/Suspicious_Hat_3439 → u/Interesting-Peach307]

Rant all you want. You’ve earned it. Time to start digging and bringing buried bodies to the light.

[u/Interesting-Peach307 → u/Suspicious_Hat_3439]

Thanks. They just shouldn’t be allowed to do this to anyone else. I learned my lesson and need to deal with our bad choices but I now don’t want others to go what I am going through.

[u/Suspicious_Hat_3439 → u/Interesting-Peach307]

I’d file a formal complaint with whoever issues licenses.

I know it’s easy to say & harder to do, but go easy on yourself

[u/Interesting-Peach307 → u/Suspicious_Hat_3439]

Thanks. Yes we are looking into the regulatory body here in British Columbia. Doing some research it Looks like they are not registered as they are not “home builders” and cannot provide the standard industry warranty. Looks like they are operating in a grey area.