Not Allowed To Take Picture Of House

mickeyco

Not sure if this is the right place, but have any of you had contracts that you and all subs had to sign stating that you wont take any pictures of the house. I believe the reason for it in this case is because of who the homeowner is, I like to take pictures of finished work in case a problem arises like damaged floors or whatever. I'm working as the construction manger for a friend's business' on a new house project for a few weeks because he has a full plate. I'd like to take some picture of some bad work done by a sub, not to post anywhere but to have when I don't pay him the full amount of his bill in case it ends up in court. I don't particularly want to ask the homeowner because I'd essentially be telling him, we have some substandard work being done in his house. How would you handle it?

donb1959

Painted a nationally recognized poet laureate here in tone, no cameras, no audio, gates were to remain closed/locked at all times.

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thom

If you agreed to it, live with it. The sub is your problem, not the homeowners.

Big Dog Dan

The no photo signing seems like it would have to work both ways.
If the owner comes back with anything, he or she has no way of proving you did any of the work.

In the same reguard the HO can say you did the work, but if he also signed for no photos, no one is responsible for anything.

Maybe ask the HO to sign something that says he or she can't keep any memory, that way if something is questionable, no one can remember what they did.

Who was it that always said in court (I can't recall)?

streetracer

If it really says you can't take pictures of the house, I would take pictures which don't depict the entrie house. Don't get caught, get the advice of an attorney before submitting them as evidence, etc. If there's a trusted employee who may not be aware of the no photos rule, maybe you could offer to buy a few photos from them.

It was Oliver North who had a bad case of amnesia under oath.

Richard

I disagree...if you signed a contract specifically stating to not take pictures--dont

...no judge or court will use any pictures for evidence anyway

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Rich

Stone Mountain

I reread your post to double check my reasoning. If you are construction manager, then are you not responsible for all the subs? If one is doing work poor enough that you want to take pictures, than I presume those pics are to protect your ass when the poor work is discovered. Why not just get the sub to fix what he's done so it's right?
Seems to me, that if you know about the poor work, and you want to record it to cover yourself, and you DON"T have it corrected, then if you eventually have to use the pictures, you are implicating yourself anyway, because you were aware of deficiencies and failed to correct them.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but that's what I'd do.

Steve

P.S. Seasons greetings to all.

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Mark Twenhafel

What you signed they wanted to protect their privacy. They also want a good job with fair outcomes. Go back to the HO or their agent/attorney, communicate your concerns and reasons for wanting to take limited, non-identifiable photographic documentation of substandard work. Chances are they'll be agreeable, probably with the condition that the HO's agent be present and be able to control the process in order to preserve the confidentiality of the HO.

They just don't want photos of their house ending up in the tabloids. All you need to do is communicate that the purpose is business and that the spirit of the agreement will be honored.

Also, get the exception in writing as an attachment to the original confidentiality agreement, with a copy for yourself.

While you're at it, if the nuances seem right, you might also ask that the exception include photographic documentation of the finished work, again with the condition that client remain non-identiafiable. This may be harder, and it may be better to not even ask. They will probably insist here that it not be used as advertising, though they may or may not agree to let you include it in a "fame album", as long as the client not be identified in any way.

Bottom line: Don't break your word. Instead, communicate and get the agreement amended in such a way as to maintain its original intent.

Mark T.

Just my $0.02. HTH.

mickeyco

Thanks for the input, the decision was made contrary to my wishes, although I understand why. The problem was that the electrician. He wasn't the original electrician, but there were major changes in the kitchen and we needed to move a few circuits. I asked the Inspector if he knew someone local for a small job (big mistake, should have done it my self), he did, turned out to be his buddy. All he had to do was run conduit and two dedicated circuits for a couple of Hobart dishwasher (they each needed their own circuit) and an outlet for the fridge. The guy must have run out of white wire and decide to use blue for the neutral and sealed everything up, Inspector passed it. The conduit looked nice, everything was working fine and I would never have found it except I had to pull out one of the dishwashers so a cabinet could be replaced. Anyhow I have a few hour into checking all his work and replacing the blue wire with a white. I wanted to deduct some money from his bill and show him a picture. The guy I'm working for decided to pay him in full and let him no he'll never use him again, he didn't want any problems with the Inspector and didn't want to bother the homeowner. He's probably right but I hate rewarding people for crap work.