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Can a contractor quit the job than tell you what price he will pay to complete the job and who to use

GeorgiaConstruction Contract

I hired a contractor to add an addition on to my house. Yes he was paid in full because the job was completed which was a very bad mistake on my part. The contractor does not know what he is doing. He tried leveling my floors 4 times before I told Home that enough is enough so I hired Lowe’s to do the flooring but he did pay for that. His text to me stated “Ms. Linda do what you have to do as of today and threatening me for the 3rd time about a lawyer, I will not work under these conditions for you or anybody, get a quote of what you say is unfinished and wI’m ok with the price I will pay, with cosmetic things you want done”. Does he has the right to tell me that he is not paying the other contractor because the price is to high and he need to know who the contractor is that is doing the work? I have watched many Judge show and know that once a contractor quits that he can not tell the other person who to choose to finish the job and to say how much it’s going to cost. Please help Georgia

2 replies

Jun 10, 2020

Generally, if the contractor abandoned the job, and as here, if the contractor affirmatively states that he is not going to complete/correct work and you should get it done yourself, you have the right to complete the job in a reasonable manner. The contractor cannot dictate who you should use, the price, or even the scope of work. On the other hand, your original contractor is not responsible for the cost if it is outside his scope of work. The law normally requires a party in your position to mitigate its damages, which is just to say that you should take reasonable steps to charge a fair amount to complete or correct the work.

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Jun 10, 2020

Generally, a contractor is responsible for the work he promised to perform. If he walks off the job, he may be liable to you for the amount you must pay to another contractor to finish the job and/or repair the defective work of the first contractor, especially where the first contractor agreed to pay for the second contractor. However, the costs and fees payable to the second contractor must be reasonable and consistent with the local markert. This type of issue is particlarly fact-dependent, so the foregoing answer is subject to the facts of your case.

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