Contractor caused damage to neighbor's property

[Sean Chen]

I found BP not long ago and have used this site extensively as it provides rich info on RE. This would be my first post of question on the site and hope to hear from many experienced investors/landlords.

I obtained a duplex early February this year. Hired contractors to remodel the basement and fix many other issues this old building has, including a slightly tilted front porch due to the expansive soil in the foundation. In order to fix the front porch, the contractors wanted to pour concrete to the base and used the neighbor's front porch as an angle point. I did not know the exact details but there was a crack that the neighbor found out and complained.

I have used the contractors in the past. They are honest and hardworking but not fluent in English. When situation arises, I got called in and heard neighbor's complain. We agreed to hire a structural engineer to inspect. The neighbor designated the engineer and my contractor paid the fee. The first sentence the engineer said after inspection was "it is not a big deal and you guys should settle this". To be on the safe side, I also obtained second opinion from other contractors. The general consensus is that the crack is tiny and may have been there before (but with this incident, there is no way to claim that any more).

According to the structural engineer, the fix is to use epoxy and drill holes to fill the gap. But as a side effect, the mortar between bricks above the concrete wall (where the crack is) needs to be repaired on the side of the concrete wall where the crack is.

The concrete wall crack was fixed by contractors hired by the neighbor using the exact technique and process outlined by the structural engineer. The total cost to my contractors was $135 (structural engineer) + $200 (concrete wall foundation repair). But neighbor wants to have the brick/mortar repaired, and with the stress and frustration, they would like to be compensated with the entire porch repaired (re-touched to be precisely for all the mortar). They found a contractor who can do it for $900 but my contractors think it is too expensive (double what the others charge). So this is the part not settled for almost a month as the neighbor could not find another bid due to time constraints. I interviewed an experienced mortar guy who can safely do it for less than $400.

My contractors will be done with their work in a few weeks and leave. I would like to get the whole thing settled so everyone can move on. What would be the appropriate steps for me to protect myself in this situation?

Thanks in advance,
Sean

[Steve Babiak]

Once you are named as additional insured, and you have an ongoing relationship with the contractor, you will usually continue to receive updated certificates of insurance (until the contractor cancels the policy or notifies the agent to remove you from being named as additional insured). I still receive certificates for a contractor I last used 3 years back. Some contractors specifically only have that come for the one job and then have the certificates stop, so you would have to request one for the next job. Big or small, you should be doing this, and contractors already know this is part of the nature of their business.

Now, it is your contractor's liability insurance where you are named as additional insured; from your last post's first sentence, I'm not sure you understood it that way. Again, when contractor performs some action, he is liable, and you want to have his policy cover you for anything resulting from that action that the contractor performed.