How to Properly Fire a Contractor?

[Jason Rivera]

Hi all,

I hired a contractor to work on my 2nd flip.  In the 2 months that he's been there, he's only completed the roof.  He's still working on the framing (which should've been a 2 or 3 day job).  He knocked down a bad wall over a month ago and has left it fully exposed since.  So basically, he's done less than 2 weeks worth of work in 2 months and I don't see any improvement.  With that said, I need to terminate his contract.  

I essentially used the same contract as the one provided when you purchase ' The Book on Flipping Houses'.  For the scope of work, I listed out all of the tasks that I needed completed and the payment schedule was similar if not the same as the one outlined in the template.

10% paid after Signing the Contract

20% paid after 2 weeks of work on the project

30% paid after half of the work has been completed

30% paid near the end of the project after a substantial amount of the project has been completed

10% paid after work has been completed

He received the first 2 payments and is no where near 50% complete.  I'm drafting the termination letter now and was wondering if there's anything that I should consider?  The contract says that I can terminate for any reason with notice.  I'm planning on handing him a Mechanic's lien form.  I suppose that when I hand him the letter and take the keys, that'll be the end of that.  I've reimbursed him for any material that he's purchased and since he's no where near 50% done, he's not due any more payments.  I was planning on having the inspector check his work before the letter but he seems anxious to get to the electrical and plumbing work which I keep telling him to hold off on and don't want him taking it upon himself to start purchasing that material.