He pulled the permit and he has to see it through to the end…that means final inspection and whatever is left in your contract (grading the yard?) that has not been finished.

I can’t think of one professional who would expect payment before the job is completed. Image your dentist getting paid before she finishes your root canal only to find she has left town.

Building department usually prints in bold letters on the back of the Permit card saying "Don't Release The Final Payment Until The Final Inspection".

The only reason every building department started doing that, is because they received enough complaints from the homeowners that they can't get final inspections because "certain" contractors get the final payment and they no longer can be found.

That being said, it is up to you how you will handle that.

Depends how much $$ is involved and what your contract states. I'd hold a minimum of 10% until everything is complete.

Imagine your dentist getting paid before she finishes your root canal only to find she has left town.

Talk about awkward (and painful!)

The job is not complete until the final inspection. Absolutely no payment before. Just the fact he's giving you a hard time regarding the grading should be all you need to know about whether you'd ever see him again if you paid him beforehand

I always let my customers sit on the balance until I'm sure they're pleased. When I ask for my money, I get it, not excuses. I can't imagine doing business any other way.

Asking for money too soon looks desperate and therefore gives away contractor bargaining power. I never put myself in a position to have to have the money from a particular job.

The project costs almost $200K and last final payment is only $5000. This is very difficult owner we have been dealing- He keeps saying that he has done his part- but he wants us to deal with "W" who is his employee to complete the back yard. We told W that we have no control of W schedule since he works for the owner. I just want to make sure we are not being Difficult or unreasonable not giving his last payment.

Definitely no payment until everything is done 100% to your satisfaction. In the future, the last payment should be at least 10% on a 6 figure remodel.

You not difficult or unreasonable, he knows that he needs to get the final inspection first.

He has already got what he should have there is no way you should have to be responsible for his employee doing a job and never pay up front when work is not completed that is a gaurantee you will never get it done.BTW your hold back should have been close to 20K so he should count his lucky stars.

ksc36- he is a very difficult person-and if we hold 5-10% of the cost- he will flip out. It is almost closed to the final house inspection so we thought it is reasonable. It a long a painful story working with him-He would change his minds after our long meeting, I am so tired letting him control our life. We found out late that "W " does not own the company and we NEVER MET with the owner during the proposal. The worst thing : he has changed "words" in our 1st contract agreement and we paid for our mistake and trust. The ammendent on 2nd contract- we were so diligent to catch and stop him doing that. I guess I found out is is a common practice to share a "Commission" _W used to own his own company, lost but not sure if he has license or not- now working for this company, uses his license to get the permit. Hoping for a better news.

UPDATE: Not sure what my husband said to "B" (owner of the business). He agreed not getting his final payment until we get the final signed off. THANK YOU everyone-

Well, he can't "flip out" because you only owe him 2.5% of the total cost. The final inspection should be early next week. Hold the 5k until everything is done.

Is the grading an extra or part of the original contract?

ksc36 yes the grading is part of the project. Now we are facing another issue for our engineering hard wood floor that I post in the HOUZZ for a solution on how to fix. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/solution-for-our-engineering-hardwood-floor-from-applachian-dsvw-vd~5351933

Is this not covered by your contract? Do you have a contract?

You have referred to the contractor as the "owner". The owner of a construction company is usually called the "General Contractor". You should be the "Owner".

The simple answer has already been given: pay what is due but withhold what you think would be needed to correct possible errors or incomplete work unless the contract contradicts that approach. 2.5% is a very small amount to withhold so I would hold on to it.

When we set up the project- they dont want to act as a GC. After B agreed to wait for his last payment, we just got a threat/nasty text from W: " I understand the frustration your going through to finish everything. My personal opinion is that what your doing holding final check back is very unfair...the extra done on this job with no charges is threw the roof. If you would like I can make list--you say you wont pay until final--how about I wait till you get final before grade( no disrespect intended). This W is the one who turned down my antique fire brick by mistake-he told me do whatever I want to fix- I just want a simple cabinet and stone in the fireplace. I was crying for 2 weeks to loose that firebrick. He does not even pay the cabinet guy. Anyway what and how should I answer his nasty email? this is not the 1st time we got this treatment from W or his boss.

So it sounds like B simply pulled the permit for W because W is unlicensed. Who signed the contract?

If you don't have a contract with a general contractor, I have no idea how you should proceed. Good luck

My answer to his email would be, "What time is the electrical inspector coming today?" My answer to his next email would be, "Is the final inspection going to be Mon. or Tues of next week?"

ksc36 the permit and contract are signed by B-the owner of the company. We have a legit contract with B- they just dont want to be our GC ( all of the plumbing and electrician have individual contract with us -referred by them)-they dont want to manage the plumber and electrician. The plumber inspection is signed off, electrician will be next Monday and B told my husband his can be done the same day as the electrician.

You held back way too little (though I am guessing your contract may not allow you to hold back anything at all). But even so, no, they don’t get final payment if work is not done.

I am sure cabinet guy is not only one who was not paid. I give it a high, high chance there are going to be liens against your property.

It sounds like you are the GC then.

I am guessing you did not see a lawyer before you signed this contract and started this project. You should do so now.

Rai Kai that was part our mistake and try to remedy it. I hope it can be resolved without going to the lawyer.

Denita any kinds of lawyer or need to be specific?

There doesn't appear to be enough money involved to require a lawyer at this point. The only things under dispute are all less than the $5k the OP has held back.

Not just any kind of lawyer. A construction litigation type attorney that represents consumers.

We don't know what else is involved. Can the subs file liens on the house for work payment that the homeowner issued but wasn't paid by the GC? There are unknowns here and the homeowner has been pretty much bullied by the permit puller for a payment for work not done. Once that final payment is made, it is very likely no other work will be done.

OP, do you have a copy of lien releases for each of the subs for the work done stage by stage?

I'm not trying to scare you. Just want you to get all of your documentation while you can get it. You seem to be working with a permit puller that is highly unethical, based on your post. Time to protect yourself now.

Denita my husband handles all of the paper work. I know W paid some of the cost of the cabinet using his personal cc. Denita, can I email you?

“After B agreed to wait for his last payment, we just got a threat/nasty text from W: ‘I understand the frustration your going through to finish everything. My personal opinion is that what your doing holding final check back is very unfair...the extra done on this job with no charges is threw the roof. If you would like I can make list--you say you wont pay until final--how about I wait till you get final before grade( no disrespect intended).’ Anyway what and how should I answer his nasty email?”

You should not answer this email. Only answer (and ask) questions if they are relevant to the job. And make sure you keep records of all communications.

It is absolutely vital to get copies of all those lien releases. Many a contractor doesn't pay his subs and even though you've paid the contractor, you can end up having to pay the subs to get the liens removed. It i a vital part of the end of any job.

Sure. hkwan, just go to my profile and message me, it comes to my email.

Hiring an actual GC puts the onus of dealing with the job site supervisor and inspections on him. And the hiring and paying of the subs.

I have no idea what kind of weird hybrid relationship you managed to get into here, but it appears you hired a “construction consultant” and you yourself are acting as the GC. Which puts you in the hot seat for a lot of things that you didn’t know that you didn’t know.

I suppose this was done to save money. Because there is no other reason to not enter into a standard contract with a real GC who acts like a GC. Going back through your past posts on this project, it’s very apparent that you had insufficient design work on the front end, as well as a disconnect with the actual budget needed for such a project.

And having an engineer in house is a drawback that costs money, not saves it. Those jobs have surcharges.

Those chickens are coming home to roost. Do expect liens to be filed against you. Do expect to spend money on a lawyer to tell you how to navigate that, and the other Byzantine paths that you have here because of the non standard relationship and non standard contact that you did not get vetted on the front end.

The too good to be true low price on the front end usually does end up costing way more on the hind end. This is going to bite.

In my state there is a list of terms that must be in a home improvement contract or the contractor could lose his registration and then be unable to get a building permit.

I guess I shouldn't even mention a permit.

Like everyone else stated, pay only after the job is done.

We never requested the final payment before our last and final walk through with the client to see if there's nothing left to adjust (no talking about actual things that should have been handled like your backyard).

We know it's a hard situation, and there are mistakes that has been made but now you can answer politely that you are waiting patiently, just like he should, to be rest and assure that the job has been done properly and throw a little reminder about your backyard. Document whatever you can including all your emails and texts with the contractor and subs.

Good luck!

Joseph & Berry

Get a consult with a lawyer who is experienced in residential construction litigation/contractual disputes.

I don't agree with ksc36 that "there doesn't appear to be enough money involved" as I would suggest from my own experience there is likely are more than just $5,000 at play here. It is a $200,000 project. You already know people haven't been paid. You don't seem to really understand what contract you do have with these people. I am not confident that they don't have some sort of contracted right to come after you for excess overages (they have already mentioned going over). There is no apparent provision for hold backs. I would be surprised if it mentioned anything about who is to pay subs or is responsible for removing liens. You yourself don't seem to have anything in the contract you can rely on NOT to pay them in full before the work is done. You don't seem to even really understand the contractual relationship you do have here (to be fair, I don't either as it sounds to me like it is a hybrid, but you are ultimately GC).

The cheapest time to get a lawyer is before you sign anything. The next cheapest is as soon as you even think it might be the least bit of a good idea (which should be now). They will only get more expensive at this point the more you delay it.

The internet escalation begins....

^Agree 100% with Rai Kai. Protect yourself now. Don't tell the contractors you are meeting with an attorney. Have your attorney consult with all of your documentation so you can see where you are right now and what your exposure is...because I believe it is much higher than the currently stated $5k.

It's simple...Tell B he will get final payment after final inspection. If you under a different contract with Electrical and Plumbing and they got their inspections, you can pay them. He has to wait until final inspection and he knows he cannot collect before that happens. This is always the case and pretty much industry standard in any contract.

If he knew the customer will be subcontracting trades of their own and he will not have control over them, and his final inspection cannot be done before their final inspection is done...

What he should have done is add an additional clause to his contract that the inspection involving different trades should be done within the reasonable timetable and the homeowner can hold back a certain amount (lets say 25% from the remaining 5k payment) until the final inspection, this way he is not leaving a huge balance behind and Homeowner is more comfortable with that.

In addition, when you have arrangements like this, the contract gets more complicated, because you have to set timetable clause, penalty clause, etc, because if one of the trades takes a hike for a week because he is busy on the other job, and you can't get your inspection, everyone has to wait and everyone is losing time and money.

Best if you have a 200k remodeling job, you want a GC to run and control everything and he is responsible for everything, this way the homeowner not only saves money, it will save lots of headaches and confusions.

Good luck

Involving a lawyer on a $5,000.00 dispute is like buying $75.00 worth of travel insurance on a $300.00 ticket. If you've got signed lien waivers from all the subs and suppliers, that's all the legal you need.

Except it is not actually a $5,000 dispute. For the other guy "B" maybe it is. Yes, he wants $5,000 (at least...maybe more, since ). Then I expect - whether he gets it or not - he will run far away from this project, final or not, grade or not. Typical fly by night issue. Maybe not before he files his own lien (always fun getting those removed when the fly by night has flown to unknown parts).

But for OP, there is a significantly higher financial exposure risk here of other liens - not once has OP indicated they have lien waivers from anyone, and it is pretty clear OP is highly inexperienced and not even sure what they have or have not contracted for with this other guy "B".

OP already tried to handle it on own with an email to "B" and got the following response from the mysterious "W" who is apparently doing the actual work but could not pull his own permit, and may or may not work for "B". but since OP is likely GC, maybe works for OP after all:

• From W: "the extra done on this job with no charges is threw the roof. If you would like I can make list--you say you wont pay until final--how about I wait till you get final before grade (no disrespect intended)"

That alone suggests to me OP needs a consult because "W" is throwing down the gauntlet - holding the work as hostage, and suggesting, well, they may in fact throw in some more charges if they need to. And the contract very well allow for that to happen. I don't know, and you don't know, because neither of us have seen the contract.

The resistance sometimes to pay $250-$500 to a lawyer for a consult to review the terms of a contract to me is incredible. It's a $200,000 project. I am sure OP spent far more than that on much less important things during the course of their build. They don't have to actually retain the attorney to take any further steps, even to send a demand letter, but for someone who does not understand their own contract or liability risk, a consult can be invaluable so they know what grounds they have (based in what is or is not in their contract) to push back.

We bought our material - we only paid labor to this company. At the beginning of the project was very smooth until we found out B changed the wording on the section A that both parties agreed on without letting us know. We are moving on after that meeting, then B slammed us with more additional costs ( during the proposal - we only met with W- informed W that our island needs modification due to our kitchen equipment) Since B only gave 1 person to install our kitchen cabinet and modification of our island, W was complaining it took longer. We had another meeting with B -he agreed then when he rewrote a new contract for the unfinished work ( we were holding the money for finished kitchen cabinet), he kept changing or taking off things we agreed- and we caught and asked him to put them back on-this took at least more than 2 weeks. No more extra charges until we are being consulted. Then things got uglier-Now we are not sure if W will install our fireplace that he ruined. I am really hoping for the best.

It gets worse with each revelation. This is a 500K remodel that someone wanted to do for 200K. And was cursed with someone actually promising to do just that. And an in house engineer in the mix too.

Sophie Wheeler-hope it is not get worst and also this is not a 500K remodel that we want to be 200K- We are not a difficult person and very reasonable and 100% know our budget very well-this was planned for 3 years -just making sure financially fit. ALl of our neighbor know us and our personality since 1993. I am not sure why do I need to explain this to you. Please it is not very nice of you to state and imply we want to squeesh them to do it for 200K- We have 5 different quotes and their is not the cheapest one and all of them run close to each other- The problem was their part of how they run their business-not sure why they want to prolong this project or any project. I guess it is how the contractor business runs and can get away with a lot of stuff ( due to respect not all of the contractor behaved like them-this was not the 1st time we did a renovation).They need to survive, taking so many projects etc etc- Even last time W was warned me (when everything was smooth) that the battle will start getting worst to the end of the project" - not sure why do the contractor would have that thought in their mind.