What Happens When Workmanship Leads To A Lawsuit?

One of the most potentially contentious issues in construction litigation is the possibility of disputes over the quality of the workmanship involved in a project. The question of workmanship often gets very personal, with contractors offended by claims against the value of their work and customers angry that they didn't get what they paid for. In the worst scenarios, these disputes can lead to both parties suing each other. Here is what happens when customers and contractors lock horns in court.

Payment and Completion of the Contract

The main issue that dictates how things will be handled is whether the contract was fulfilled, meaning whether payment was rendered according to the terms of the deal. It's not uncommon for parties that are angry over how a project unfolded to withhold payment, treating the case as fundamentally a form of business litigation. A contractor often fires back by imposing a lien on the title of the property in question.

Matter unfolds a little differently if payment was fully rendered. This, of course, gets tricky because a customer may be giving up what feels like the last bit of leverage they have. It's wise, however, to continue paying until a lawyer has told you to stop payment.

Proving Exhaustion of Other Remedies

Even if arbitration or alternative dispute resolution isn't included in a contract, judges generally don't want everyone bringing every dispute into court. For that reason, it's important to demonstrate that good-faith efforts were made to resolve the problems. In the simplest form, this means a customer should give a contractor a chance to make things right. Likewise, the contractor owes it to the customer to at least assess how valid the complaint about workmanship is before dismissing the objections.

Always Document Everything

It can't be stated emphatically enough how important it is to document everything along the way. One of the first questions that will come up during construction litigation is "When were complaints regarding workmanship first raised?" Similarly, documentation of efforts to resolve the dispute needs to be provided.

Gaps in documentation from the other side can be filled as litigation moves forward. Discovery can be requested, allowing you to obtain work and materials orders, inspection reports, emails, texts, and other communications that outline how the workmanship of the project was handled. These will then be compared with the terms of the contract and broad professional standards to determine if workmanship was, in fact, unacceptable.

Contact a construction litigation lawyer for more information.

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