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#173433 01/09/08 08:47 PM
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 23
H
HEI_Inc Offline OP
Member
On Dec.31, 2007 we started a basement rough. The HO asked when we would be returning to finish. I said Wednesday Jan.2, 2008. She asked what time and I said, "7am".

She said she wanted to leave by 6:30a so I said I would be there before 6:30am.

I arrived at 6:20a, knocked on the door, rang the bell but no answer. After 10 minutes I called the superintendant and got his voicemail. Called the GC, got his voicemail.

So I sat in my van waiting for a callback. The HO calls at 7:20a and says, "I called your office yesterday and left a message saying I was leaving yesterday and that you would need to make arrangements with the GC's superintendant to arrange access." Now, she called the office on NEW YEARS DAY (a holiday).

The HO also called the superintendant and left him a message saying she was leaving early and that he (super) would need to let me into the house. However, she never gave either of us a code for the garage and he doesn't have a key to the house.

So, we got into the house and finished the rough. I faxed over my invoice for the rough draw and I added a C/O for 2 hours of downtime (2 guys, 1 hour). GC calls and says he is not paying for this. I said, "I don't think you should. However, the HO will need to." He said, "You made the arrangements outside of our office. This is between you and the HO. I'll show her your fax and she can pay you if she wants."

Now, since the super. didn't have any means for access what difference does it make who made the arrangements ? The HO still was the one who changed the pre-arranged time.

The GC is still responsible for access. He should have had a key on site or given all subs a garage code.

I thought it was funny....

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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 706
T
Member
Typically GCs only pay for Change Orders if you demand payment in full, in advance, before you do the work. Unsigned Change Orders?...Good Luck.

Dave

Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 349
Member
In this case it's not the GC who will do the paying anyway, so what does he care? The GC has an obligation to present your extra charge to the HO - but it is obvious he would rather argue with you than face a nit-wit of a HO who leaves messages on a holiday and expects everyone to accomodate.

Seems to me like the GC wasted some time here as well. And that's OK with him?

radar


There are 10 types of people. Those who know binary, and those who don't.
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 706
T
Member
...or the GC plans on charging the HO but he doesn't want to give any of it to you.

Dave

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445
Likes: 2
Cat Servant
Member
YOU upset the GC? Move over, sonny ... let me show you how it's done ....

I'm currently helping convert an old service station into a convenience store. With morning temps in the 20's, the GC naturally want to get the furnace running.

Well, well .... too bad the GC installed a USED furnace that he salvaged somewhere. Too bad that the wiring ports are flat against the attic floor. Too bad he's lost track of the main cover - the one with the necessary part numbers, wiring diagrams, etc. Too bad the air conditioning is an added coil - and the used furnace has no interface; I'd have to cobble something together to make it work. Too bad the GC needs to dismantle the suspended ceiling he made (out of sequence!!) to replace the furnace with one that works.

Not able to work on the furnace, I look at hooking up the compressors for the cooler. My first problem was with the nameplates; ALL technical info had been carefully removed. All that remained were the property tags from a major convenience store chain. Then I see the units use R-22 - a discontinued refrigerant.
Short version: The GC has been raiding the landfill .... again!

Well, MY weekend got off to a better start than his!

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 943
Likes: 2
N
Member
"Then I see the units use R-22 - a discontinued refrigerant."

Where are you getting your info? R22 is currently available...

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445
Likes: 2
Cat Servant
Member
My apologies to the original poster ... I do not mean to hijack this thread!

It's just that GC's can be SO maddening! They must, it seems, take classes in it ..... and are never willing to admit that their 'cleverness' is the cause of so many job site problems!

Last edited by renosteinke; 01/11/08 09:36 PM.
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 141
C
Member
Ahhh, ya know, I really didn't want to comment on this stuff, but I gotta say a couple of things about GC's.

Most of them are all O.K. - it's the few ignorant, crappy, underhanded, cheap, "only in it for themselves" guys that really **** me off.

With our "hot" economy here, a bunch of these shysters have flooded into the city looking for a quick buck now.

Any of us established trades contractors have kind of pinned them down now, but new ones show up almost daily around here.

We're still figuring out who those GC's are, but we've eliminated about 5 of them running around here in Edmonton in the last couple of months that all of us EC's (and other trades) that won't work for anymore. It's an ongoing battle to get jobs done right while trying to deal with these crooks.

We've formed a kind of informal group with most of the reputable and long term contractors here now to try and pin down these kinds of "hit and run" ******, and it seems to be working reasonably well so far.

We know we'll never see perfection, but it sure helps with the networking to see just who is trying to do it to who here.

Let the jungle drums roll.!!!!

Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 3
Member
I'm amazed that it is like this.
When I was an EC, we used to sit in the local supply house and over a travel cup of coffee, during smoko break and talk about who was paying and who isn't.
It's not like it's confidential information, but you guys seriously need to talk to your competitors, if they have been hit before, chances are you will too in the future.
Some of the best advice I've ever got was from a guy or two from another company, use it or lose it.
Just my $0.02 worth.

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 141
C
Member
Please pardon my last post where I used some language that I should not have. The subject of dishonest GC's gets me going in directions that I should not be directing at the esteemed members of this board don't need to hear in graphic ways that I sometimes use.

Thanks to one of the moderators, the disagreeable language I used was edited, for which I'm very grateful.

Thanks to all on the board here for putting up with me and getting me back on the correct track at expressing my thoughts in a more thoughtful direction before I go off in some idiot direction.


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