Delays beyond the contractors control and the added costs .

[Matthew Paul]

I did some work for a homeowner who wants to be his own General  Contractor .  I was hired to dig and pour the footers . So I give the guy a price to dig and pour the footers she signs the contract , told him we pour the concrete a day or 2 after the inspection .  i get there to dig , its not staked  out . He thinks I do that  No , thats the engineers job  I dig the footers .   So we wait 2 hours while he stakes it out with brother .  ( The clock is running , thats an extra $ 200 for the machine time )  So I set up the laser , and dig the footers , set the grade stakes and get a partial payment .He  calls in the inspection , the county is busy and they set it for 7 days a way .  The guy is pissed , he says block layer is coming in 4 days .   I tell him this is how the county works .  So he calls the block layer and sets him back , then calls the inspector and complains . ( dumb move) A week later the inspector comes out and fails the footers........why ?  they are full of leaves .  The home owner calls me and complains , I tell him I am not his lawn service , thats the generals problem . So he cleans it out and I call in a re inspection . Another 5 days .  He is pissed on the delays , so he calls the inspector and complains again .( I told him not to )  .  Now he put off the block layer , but not the delivery of the block . The footers pass .  I run by the job and see 5 cubes of block in the driveway , no access for the concrete truck .  So I tell him unless he moves the block that day , I have to cancel the concrete until they are moved .  He calls the block company to move them , that another 3 days , and cost hin $ 300. .    He tells me its moved , so I stop by and hand him a bill for extras ,  the waiting time while he staked it out and 4 hours for the scheduled concrete pour , $ 600 total .   ( he is $ 900 over and 2 weeks behind )  Now he doesnt want to pay the extras , I show him the contract , and explain to him that I sell time .  All the delays were caused  by the homeowner  .  He isnt happy , but pays the extras , I pour the footers and get paid the balance .  He  then calls the block layer , the block layer tells him it will be 2 to 3 weeks now because he started another job . 

Moral to this story ..............   Welcome to the world of contracting , things never go as planned