Breach Of Contract

Brickie

To make a long story short: A sign company hired us to do some masonry work on one of their jobs. I have a signed contract. Last week I drove by the site on my way to meet with a client. Much to my surprise, the work that we were hired to do was completed. The sign company's customer had someone else do the job! I never ran into this problem before. What do I do now????

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“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan

Double-A

Now that is an interesting situation. Sounds like the sign company and their client had a major disconnect.

If you have a termination clause, I guess you can invoke it, but, something tells me your sign company is going to be just as surprised by this as you were.

I don't know if this would be worth pursuing beyond that.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

Gordo

Sounds like a "sign" to me.

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Looks like some pros were here.

dayexco

sounds like a $200 trip to an atty.

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

realpurty2

You didn't mention if you had received any down payment on the contract at this point. If you did, consider yourself paid for what time you have invested and it's best left at that. (more explanation to follow)

If you did not receive any type of down payment, you should make a list of expenses on the job until this point such as time spent on permits, any materials on order etc. and submit it as a normal invoice along with a copy of the signed contract and the clause highlighted that states the repercussions of not performing according to contract. Send it certified or registered mail and hope that they pay quietly. Otherwise, you'll have to spend money for attorney and court fees to recover the original price of the contract.

Me personally, I would not recommend aggressively pursuing it in court UNLESS it drastically and negatively affected your schedule. If you turned down work to complete the contract, then you would have justified loss of income in a court's eyes. If you simply moved right into the next job in line, the court or mediator may not see the negative effect as easily.

If the contract price was relatively small, it could cost you far more in attorney's and fees, plus lost time during all the endless meetings and legal processes. I'm not saying to bite the bullet, but sometimes you have to weigh all the cost (including adverse opinions of your company and it's reputation) versus the one contract price your trying to recover.

Just my two cents.

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Woman in a Man's World.

Teetorbilt

You have a contract. Go for a breach of contract. I'd send a notice of intent to file for........return reciept requested through the USPS. That locks down many potential arguments. It also gets you to the negotiating table without hiring an atty. If they lose, they will pay for them too. The ball is really in your court.

All that you need to do is show that you had X# of guys sheduled for X# of days to produce Y. You are now suffering a loss because you still have to pay expenses (wages, ins., WC) while not producing income due to the signor on your contract violating said contract.

I'm getting good at this lately. Unfortunately.

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Albert Einstein

dayspring

Teetor, Your good man!

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Brickie

It is quite obvious now that the sign company has lied to me over the last couple of months. They claimed that the delay in starting the job were "design changes" that their customer was thinking of.

FYI,

The job was at a gas station that expanded to a mini-mart and a new car wash. The masonry company that did the addition & the car wash apparently did the sign as well. In order to install the huge LED sign the sign company would have to be in contact & coordinate with the masonry company doing the job.

__________________
“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” – Ronald Reagan