NEED TO FIRE THE SUB FROM HELL

[Tim]

Maybe I've been lucky, I don't know. I have never had to can a sub until now. This guy is so full of himself, it'd fool anyone. He has licenses, insurance, bonding, etc. so all looks legit, but what a hassle. All was good until we hit some delays caused by the homeowner. Hey, the homeowner wants to order handmade things that take weeks and it holds things up, what can I say? My contract says I can't be held liable for delays not caused by me, and I have had no hassles with the homeowner whatsoever. They are really good people. So I give the guy a weeks notice of when to come back, no show, no calls, nothing. I fax, I call, I email, I text, nothing. Finally, I threaten to report him to the contractor board and he calls and says he'll be there tomorrow. Nothing. This goes on a week. When he finally does come, he does crappy work. Sheetrock with big bubbles in the tape, etc. He installs an expensive hydro tub for me and installs it wrong to begin with, then he nicks the fiberglass drilling the holes to secure it to the studs. When I tell him he screwed up, he denies everythng, naturally. I need to toss this guy out.

What stops me is that we have a contract for the work. He is probably 70% through with the work but the rest is finish and he'll just screw that up, I guraantee. Install expensive cabinets? Set expensive fixtures? NO WAY, JOSE.

Any suggestions on how to toss the guy out without running into contract issues? What I'd like to do it to pay him fior what he has done with the amounts off his bid (minus any backcharges). Then just tell him goodbye. Any other ideas? Report him to the contractor board? Scare him like that? Anybody have a similar experience?

Thanks

[PeterD]

...

Without seeing and reading the contract there is *no* way anyone here on this group could give you any meaningful advice.

All the questions you ask should be in the contract: quality of work, promptness and responsiveness, non-performance, termination, etc.

Instead of asking Usenet users (who are a great, and only slightly opinionated bunch of people) ask your lawyer who drew up the contract.

[jloomis]

If your contract states anything about quality of work you should have grounds to replace him with another more qualified sub contractor. Even if the contract states installation of said items, with improper installation I would concur the contract broken regardless of the delays.

I am a General Con. in Calif. and have had some slip shod work done by a plumber and I tell you, I understand the dilemma.

[Tom Cular]

Peter has it right, without seeing your subcontractor agreement, no one can comment intelligently. A typical AIA agreement provides for a 7 day notice of failure to perform, then a second 7 day notice. With that system (piss poor) , if the contractor acts to correct the situation within 14 days, the clock starts all over again. My employer has a subcontract agreement that provides for (ONE) 3 day notice. If a sub fails to perform as agreed there's a darn good chance that on the fourth day, someone else will be doing the work.

That agreement is modeled after the AGC Standard Subcontractor Agreement.

Normal and accepted practice would dictate that the Sub be paid for any and all acceptable work and materials that they have completed or purchased to date, payment for unacceptable work may be withheld, but will be subject to legal scrutiny if it goes that far.

Any solution you can arrive at without going to court and satisfying your client is probably a good one.

Tom

[ransley]

So he leaves because of no supplies and you expect him to just walk off his next job to come back and screw his present customer? He nicked holes that you wont ever see, and bubbles in tape are irreparable? I think you are new to this and a pain in the ass, he probably wants to leave you, ask him and pay him what he wants.

[RicodJour]

You're jumping to a bunch or conclusions, and some of them are obviously wrong, Mark. The guy installed the tub and nicked it when he was attaching it to the studs. That can only mean that his tool slipped when driving/drilling into the flange sticking up from the edge of the tub and he nicked something visible. Bubbling tape is worrisome as you'll never know when the rest of the tape he did that day will bubble up (if at all).

I agree that we're (obviously) only hearing one side of the story, but making assumptions doesn't help clarify things. Your point about the sub having another customer is a major point. Not all subs have crews that they can juggle.

R

[ransley]

True, if tape is bubbling the how much is defective, bad stuff needs to go.