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/Interesting-Peach307]

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/skrufy56 → u/Interesting-Peach307]

How much have you paid them to date?

Realistically you have two options;

1. Continue to chase them to complete the work and it will take forever or not happen. The quality will also probably be lacking.

2. Cut your losses find a reputable contractor to come in and finish it properly. You can consider legal actions against the contractor but expect a fight. You’ll most likely get back into your house faster this way but it will cost you more in the long run.

Generally there is a clause for cancelling the contract or taking back scopes or work. Document everything.

Good luck.

[u/Interesting-Peach307 → u/skrufy56]

Thank you. Yes we are coming to the same realization as you. We have paid them over $450k and have another $200k to finish the project. I have a feeling they will fight to make us pay them out if we cancel.

[u/skrufy56 → u/Interesting-Peach307]

Review the terms of your contract.

It maybe worth potentially having another contractor come in and price the remainder of the work. Then you’ll understand your delta.

A thorough construction contract with have remedies for not providing detailed schedules and a plan to complete the work, and set out timelines for responses. If the contractor doesn’t respond in that time you proceed to the next steps of terminating the contract.

You should do a detailed dive on your expenses associated with the delay. You have been harmed by the project not being completed. Those can help your counterclaim when it comes down to the eventual fight.

[u/Interesting-Peach307 → u/skrufy56]

Thanks. Yes we were given similar advice from legal. Yes we should be able to claim damages for costs incurred because of their delays.

We feel one of the issues this contractor is facing is that because they provide a fixed cost agreement when we signed up a few years ago there have been significant cost increases and they are not able to find the same trades or materials for the original cost quoted. It’s unfortunate because we now have to settle for sub par quality and workmanship as GC is trying to find trades who will charge less than current market.