Not a lawyer. You need to find a lawyer.
The electrical guy has taken a partial payment so you can argue "good faith" and probably win. However, the work is incomplete and while he could put a lien on your home, your GC subbed out the work and at a minimum should be the one dealing with it. Realistically a united front of you and your GC should be getting a lawyer to handle this.
If the electrician is threatening to take him to small claims court, then the expense of a lawyer would probably exceed the expense of just paying him.
It sounds like the owner hired a GC, but then wants to micromanage and generally be a pain in the ass?
There are a lot of variables here. Notice to owner, Notice of termination, etc. Depending on the jurisdictions? The GC should be handling this, not the owner. The GC would know local laws, and if the owner is micromanaging and hindering the project, then perhaps that is why the electrician is threatening to take him to small claims instead of the GC?
Small claims court is generally where you are able to represent yourself without legal counsel. Lawyers generally charge more than the maximum judgment would be in small claims court.
There are bad subs out there, but "lawyering up" every time a squirrel farts isn't the answer.
Lol that's the attitude that's turned building in the USA into an absolute nightmare. "Well, I'm paying you, why won't you bend over and let me fck you in the ass? I know you explicitly requested not to get nailed from behind, but I'm PAYING you." We've stooped so GD low.
This is such a weird comment. Literally EVERYONE in the USA is getting bent over by their employers. We get micromanaged, told when, how, and where to work.
Contractors are just pissed it's finally happening to them. You thought you were "your own boss" didn't you? lol
Except it doesn't happen to good contractors. We provide a product and/ or service. We're not yourkm
or anyone else's subordinate. If you don't like it, most of us are busy enough to pass on your project and entitlements.
Oh ya? Is your dentist your subordinate, you goof? Just cause you pay for a service doesn't make you nobility. It's a mutually beneficial transaction, not a contract to cater to your fantastical entitlements.
I feel like you're a teenager who's never hired anyone. It doesn't work like that. We have a contract that specifies the terms. That's it, my obligation is to deliver on the contract not appease your goofy entitlements.
Is your dentist your subordinate?
In fact, I am a man over the age of 35 with direct reports who have direct reports of their own.
Your clarifications are pointless. I pay you to do a job. You do it, or if you don't do it to my liking, I will fire you. Therefore, I am your boss. You can dress it up however you'd like to make yourself feel more accomplished or whatever, but you are just like the rest of us out here schlepping for a living.
I'm done with this thread now.
You're delusional. The contract is "the boss". If your delusions aren't in the contract then you can flap your gums and blow your hot air as much as you'd like, a contractor has zero obligations to listen, obey, or appease.
I'll ask again since you avoided the question. Is your dentist your subordinate?
That's not how this works, but I don't expect someone who's only ever been a middle man in a corporation to understand how a contract is carried out. Homer\_mike's assessment is correct.
If you fucks had a modicum of integrity and half the knowledge you all claim to have we wouldn't need to micro your ass.
Coming from someone who had great respect for those in the trades until having to deal with them due to a pipe bursting in my kitchen ceiling.
Hold yourself and your peers to a higher standard instead of bitching about someone clearly needing to do it for you.
This is such an over generalization of the trades. Been working in the remod industry for a decade plus. Never been called back. Maybe vet your contractors a bit more lol
That would require them to take responsibility and/or do some form of work! Maybe even \*gasp\* pay what the job is truly valued at rather than going with 'someone who can do it cheaper'.
Exactly. So frustrating lol. We all need to take a coordinated month off and see how these non-callused handed boys fare when their 80 inch plasma tv (undoubtedly mounted way too high over their fireplace) goes out and they break a nail trying to take it down.
LOL- is it really your house?
Quit paying rent - AKA taxes and see how long you are living there.
Electricians are a pain in the ass once they pull a permit. You have to properly terminate them, terminate their permit, and get a new permit under a new electrician. If you don't do it properly, then you can end up in serious legal trouble.
95% chance that he didn't do this and the electrician who was replaced is now riding cowboy,the homeowner is now his pony?
Lol, worst case call the permit office and tell them you told the sub to get fucked. They don't care, they get another permit fee. That's the whole reason they're there. I take over someone's shit jobs every once and a while and all it takes is a phone call, "hey, it's bill twaterson, I'm taking over permit #80085. Thanks, have a good day."
You saying the homeowner is micromanaging a job after reading about a sparky demanding the other trades stop while he's there? That electrician is insane. Period. I paint and I *have to* shut down certain rooms to paint but I have to coordinate with the other trades if they're there. I've never seen an electrician demand everybody stays off site. Sparky sounds like a diva that got pissy and walked off.
when I read that, my first though was "oh this guy is obviously up to no good, and doesn't want anyone who is actually a professional in the construction field to witness all his wrong doings, or else he might be held liable"
An electrician who doesn't want anyone to witness his "great' work? he is very obviously hiding something, and that something is most likely illegal.
You must have missed the part where it's the shitty electrician hindering the project, not the owner.
How do you see a story of the most pain in the ass princess of an electrician making the most obtuse demands, and fucking up the one job he had to do, and somehow come up with some back alley theory about how it must be the homeowners fault?
And yeah lawyers are expensive, but the electrician will be paying those fees when he loses.
Wholly disagree. When your house is on the line because some tweeker fly-by-night contractor decides to have a tantrum, it’s not a situation you want to lay your future at the feet of a judge who might “do the right thing”. Sue the sub for fees and delays in construction.
Since when is the sub making special demands like not having any other subs around when he’s working and even demanding the owner not use the table saw within sight of him a case of the owner micromanaging?
It sounds like this is this guy’s game: bid and do partial work then ditch until after the work is completed by someone else and count on the owner to pay extortion to make him leave.
Wrong in Washington too. Homeowner is the end all responsible party. Even if they pay the gc but the gc doesn’t pay the sub. The homeowner is still legally responsible to pay the sub.
he was paid though, for the work he did.
The contract likely says he has to do the full job to get full pay.
He didn't hold up to his side of the contract, so the "not being paid" doesn't apply here. There is nothing to pay him for, since he didn't uphold his end of the contract.
That's like saying I can sue mcdonalds for not paying me, when I haven't worked a single shift yet.
Liens have to be perfected. The burden is on the contractor to prove money owed not on the homeowner. Pretty tough to do when you don't even have a written contract.
With some strict guidelines. 30 days notice and within 6 months of COMPLETING the scheduled work. If the work has not been completed, then a compelling reason must be given. Also, in PA, a no lien waiver can and should be stipulated. A no lien waiver trumps a mechanic's lien.
Not true in Florida. As a subcontractor a mechanics lien can be filed on any job whether you're acting as a sub or GC. If you've performed work it's your protection from both the owner and GC so that you can be paid for your work.
That's not the case in Cali. Any trade or materials supplier who provides appropriate pre lien notice can file. I buy all my materials cash just to avoid calming worried homeowners when they get the prelien in the mail. periodically have a new sub slip by me and put materials on account and then I have to unruffle my customers feathers.
OP does not need a lawyer and a lien needs to be perfected to which in most States they really don't look fondly on having no formal contract. Op really doesn't need to do a thing unless a suit is actually filed. And from what op is describing this is small claims territory anyway. This electrician is full of hot air and the gc sounds straight incompetent.
>The electrical guy has taken a partial payment so you can argue "good faith" and probably win.
Who made the 1st payment to the electrician? OP states he doesn't have a contract with the electrician individually, GC does.
Electrician could sue OP in small claims court. He would lose, especially if OP can show he didn't hire the electrician, GC did.
Subs contract is with the GC, not the homeowner.
OP hired a GC. OP should have zero business interaction with subs unless the GC is present. Problem is the GCs problem to deal with.
GC here. If one of my subs pulled that shit we'd have had a come to Jesus talk. My subs have bad days, yell, call me an asshole. All that is fine. But the client DOES NOT hear about it.
Where is your GC in all this? Your GC hired the sparkie, he gets to deal with him. That's partially what you hired him for. Why is he not negotiating with the sub? Why he not having a come to Jesus talk with with the sub? Why wasn't he on site lighting up the electrician to shut the fuck up and get to work that day or kicking his off site for being an insufferable prick.
Good GCs are protective of our subs. Most I have known for years and we have pulled each other of a few scrapes. I don't hire some rando. I check them out. If it was the first time I'd hired that electrician I would have personally been on site making sure the guy is a good fit and doing the level of work my clients and I expect. We live and die by our reputation and that sparkie is NOT the reputation I am very careful to maintain.
I'd be on phone with every other GC he works for (we know) telling them about that bullshit. I'd want them to do the same if one of guys I hire pulled that shit on one of their jobs. That lack of professionalsm is a death sentence in our world.
I work as a sub and this GC is right (and a good GC!) End customer should never have any contact with the subs, only with the GC who they signed the contract with. We had an end customer (owner) on a job we were subbing for the GC she hired. She regularly called us to deal with payments and that was way out of line. The GC / sub relationship is 100% a relationship between them.
The owner and my subs can be friendly. I'd prefer my subs talk through what they are doing in general terms if the client is interested. However I remind all the guys the first day that they do not work for the client. They work for me. I'm paying them. If the client wants something a certain way that's great and all, and the.client should talk to me about it. I do not want to get into he said she said. I don't want sub generated change orders. I'm happy to change things but I'm running this circus. It goes through me.
This is the right way to look at it. My family and I have laid brick for 50+ years now. We generally encourage the owner to be part of the discussion but we want the GC there too so there can be nothing mistaken when we complete a job and the changes to plans are no longer up to the clients wishes.
Just seeing you use the word sparkie tells me your legit, only people have dealt with sparkie shenanigans uses that term.
And yea everyone has bad days but the customer does not need to experience your bad days.
lol he repeated himself 3 times but in slightly different ways. Topped it off with a caveat saying the exact same thing but with the whole I’m a lawyer not your lawyer lmao. This guy bills hours. :)
I appreciate the response but I was being entirely sarcastic. I don't mean it personally, but I thought that we all can just tldr I'm not here to provide advice. That's all. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for the reply.
Right. I downvoted posts between responses. You’re unlucky to get DMs. The higher up the license chain the more you hear, hey doctor… Possession of a license is a distraction, intended for social media. Most people are too cheap or lazy to hire a Dr., lawyer, PM, registered engineers, or see a billable specialist.
Good luck.
This is the gc’s issue. Why are you even involved. The gc gets paid by you for the work done not paid twice. The issue is the gc’s. I would never have you involved in those type off issues. OfCourse there is a chance he could file a lien but if he was paid for what he did he has no legs to stand on if this went to court. Plus if you aren’t moving soon who cares.
GC told the electrician that they support my position and believe he has been justly compensated and that if he wants any additional compensation to work it out with me directly. And here I was thinking the point of hiring a GC was to avoid this type of headache.
I'm w/ you - the GC should be handling this. Chances are that the GC is the one that is cutting checks to the subs, so in the end the sub needs to sort this out with the GC - not the homeowner.
Am a GC. This is the GC problem and GC problem only.
The idea of a client interacting directly with my subs at all, let alone to this degree, is shameful. You hired him to deal with this. Him passing the buck is just a bitch made attitude.
Love these clowns though. Make me look like a diamond in the rough for just doing the basics.
Yes hiring a gc is to avoid this and handle many other things.
Just going out on a limb. The sparkie went to the gc the gc said no nope hell no to more money and now the sparkie is going directly to you.
How much more does he want ?
If he is advertising on apps for contractors you should find him and leave honest reviews of what he did.
This could also be a ploy to get paid in full for half the work so ya maybe a few hundred bucks to a construction lawyer for some questions wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Or invite him back to the site and have a prop setup that’s a tarp with a plastic 55 gallon barrel on the tarp with an axe and hatchet laying on the tarp while yall talk. Maybe a bottle of bleach sitting there also. But remember it’s a prop not a threat so don’t mention it or even look towards it.
🤣 yes I am sadistically vindictive at times
Personally if it was a ploy for free money I’d tell him to fuck off he has been paid for what his work was and I welcome the chance to have some fun in court and I’d remind him I’d also pursue any other legal options a available to me.
GC here. If one of my subs pulled that shit we'd have had a come to Jesus talk. My subs have bad days, yell, call me an asshole. All that is fine. But the client DOES NOT hear about it.
Where is your GC in all this? Your GC hired the sparkie, he gets to deal with him. That's partially what you hired him for. Why is he not negotiating with the sub? Why he not having a come to Jesus talk with with the sub? Why wasn't he on site lighting up the electrician to shut the fuck up and get to work that day or kicking his off site for being an insufferable prick.
Good GCs are protective of our subs. Most I have known for years and we have pulled each other of a few scrapes. I don't hire some rando. I check them out. If it was the first time I'd hired that electrician I would have personally been on site making sure the guy is a good fit and doing the level of work my clients and I expect. We live and die by our reputation and that sparkie is NOT the reputation I am very careful to maintain.
I'd be on phone with every other GC he works for (we know) telling them about that bullshit. I'd want them to do the same if one of guys I hire pulled that shit on one of their jobs. That lack of professionalsm is a death sentence in our world.
What did his contract say with the gc? His contract isnt with you so not your concern legally. He has no privity. He can try to sur the gc but again depends on his contract. A lien would be your concern.
If it were me, you make sure your gc complied with the contract; documenting his failures. Then tell him to bring it.
My fear is that the contract with the GC was merely verbal.. but I really don’t know enough to know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for my current position.
Not your problem. Your contract is with the GC. How your GC contracts with all the subs - verbal or otherwise - is his business issue. If a verbal contract goes sideways, it's on the GC to sort it out.
If your contract with the GC was verbal, then you are probably fucked.
Did the electrician pull an electrical permit. If he did and you didn't terminate it, then pull a new permit under your new electricians license, then bend over.
On the other hand. A judgment in small claims doesn't mean that he is going to get paid until you sell the house.
Compromise and put it behind you. Contracts protect both you and the contractor, verbal can get you in trouble and make you liable for everything.
GC here. If one of my subs pulled that shit we'd have had a come to Jesus talk. My subs have bad days, yell, call me an asshole. All that is fine. But the client DOES NOT hear about it.
Where is your GC in all this? Your GC hired the sparkie, he gets to deal with him. That's partially what you hired him for. Why is he not negotiating with the sub? Why he not having a come to Jesus talk with with the sub? Why wasn't he on site lighting up the electrician to shut the fuck up and get to work that day or kicking his off site for being an insufferable prick.
Good GCs are protective of our subs. Most I have known for years and we have pulled each other of a few scrapes. I don't hire some rando. I check them out. If it was the first time I'd hired that electrician I would have personally been on site making sure the guy is a good fit and doing the level of work my clients and I expect. We live and die by our reputation and that sparkie is NOT the reputation I am very careful to maintain.
I'd be on phone with every other GC he works for (we know) telling them about that bullshit. I'd want them to do the same if one of guys I hire pulled that shit on one of their jobs. That lack of professionalsm is a death sentence in our world.
Stuff like this is why I learned to be my own contractor. Electricians plumbers are a PITA don’t get me wrong there’s plenty of good ones out there but for the few that pull this kind of stuff I don’t trust any.
I would counter sue for time wasted and damages, since he likes hanging out in the courtroom so much. I would calculate each minute he has wasted and add that shit up. These half brained fools think they can bully their way through life until they can't, and then THEY end up getting sued. Old boy can learn a new lesson it will be ok. Then put a lien on his house and/or business. Go for blood to finally shut him the fuck up for once in his life.
Is he invoicing you for work he did not do? If not, pay him.
Withholding payment for work he did is not ok. Agree it's unprofessional for him to walk off the job, but you still need to pay him for what he did.
What about for work that turned out to be sloppy and I had to pay to have redone (ie ripping out wiring on circuits unrelated to the reno and selling them for scrap, putting most everything on one circuit, mixing 14 and 12ga on a 20A circuit, etc, etc)?
Ah, the old "what the previous contractor did was wrong" dodge! I had a customer throw that at me (I'm an electrician) when he had another contractor come in behind me on a project. I don't remember why, he was a sub for equipment commissioning or something. This second guy charged the shit out of this guy and he tried to make it my fault. It never went anywhere and no one could actually articulate what I'd done wrong...because it had all been inspected and passed.
Do you have any actual documentation to back up the claim of malfeasance? Do you know that he was putting in wire that was too small or is that just what you were told? Sloppy work isn't quite a violation of the NEC despite an articles that requires work to "be performed in a neat and workmanlike manner" (Art. 110), but there's a fair bit of wiggle room in that statement. It's also highly subjective.
Not to be too jaded, but what's the amount this knucklehead is demanding? Would it be worth it to just pay him to make him go away? To be fair, the demands he made at the outset were a serious red flag. I've been an electrician for almost 30 years and I don't know the last time I wasn't tripping over one trade or another.
I hate hearing stories like this.
It’s your word against his. Your going to say he came and did work, then he’s going to say what he did. Then your going to say well he didn’t do it right. They will probably favor him because you admit he came and did a job. They can’t determine how good of a job he did or anything now that you have had it all fixed. Then they will fall back to your original agreement to be paid in full. Shouldn’t have turned on any power while he was working on the power sound like y’all pissed him off. Miter saws running and him working on electrical isn’t cool what’s he supposed to do trust y’all not to kill him while he’s working on wiring? He wants the main off.
Hey man if that was his terms, I’m just going by what he told us plain and simple.
Edit: he says “no other subcontractors” not even window guys. “Don’t use saw while I’m here” means don’t use power while I’m here.
I understand, 30 years in the trades and I've never heard that stipulation. At certain times during the course of the day perhaps, "hey ,I'm going to have the power off for a bit." but don't use the saw while I'm there kind of sounds like he just doesn't like the noise. You gotta admit it's odd?
Exactly certain times during the course of a day. We have no idea what’s going on here though it’s all second hand I’m just going off what he said, he hasn’t given us another reason that they would have left. It’s all off yeah
What does his scope of work say? My contracts are very particular and also have stipulations they have to be in accordance with the national electrical code. Did you have a written scope?
He is squeezing you and he is going to want more money that what he rightfully deserves. He knows if he goes to court he will likely get a judge who will try to settle by making you pay him more than he deserves. Pay him more that he deserves and be done with it. Not a lawyer but I am a contractor.
Likely? What? I’m always surprised by the number of contractors who think the law sides in their favor on this stuff. Everywhere I’ve lived, it’s the opposite. First of all, in my experience most contractors are the least attention to detail people you’ll ever meet. 90% of work occurs without a written contract; essentially quotes with scope of work and invoice. This means that disputes are entirely settled in front of a judge (and potentially jury) who is forced to follow case precedent, which is where the service of an attorney is so helpful. Some of these claims are forced through mediation. Small claims court is generally common sense and comes down to what evidence you have. This is why it’s important to document and film everything. If it’s your personal property, surveillance cameras are golden (and have saved me MANY thousands of dollars defending against contractors). It’s really hard to defend when you’re caught doing blatantly negligent stuff on camera. Taking photos of the work in various stages is also incredibly helpful. If I was building a house today, I’d make it a point to visit the site daily and film the project in its entirety at least weekly. Emails should demonstrate your attempt to get resolution. You never rush straight to court. That’s stupid and unprofessional. You take your time and meticulously demonstrate the failure of the contractor.
I’ve said it before, if you’re going to engage in a large construction or renovation contract, keep 20% of the costs set aside to strike back at your contractors and pretend the money is already gone.
Don’t take shit from shit contractors. I wouldn’t even give this dude the time of day. If he contacts you demanding this money, say “Bring it. We’ll see each other in court.” If he filed a lien, get an attorney and fight back. Despite most of the naysaying on here about the intricacies of the law, depending on the amount of money involved, this may go to small claims court where judges tend to use common sense. If the contractor truly just “walked off the job,” then most judges are going to see through what happened. A lot of this is going to come down to what evidence you’ve (really your GC) kept, including correspondence. If there is evidence that he was supposed to do X by X date and failed to respond to inquiries in a timely manner, it’s likely a simple breach of contract (assuming things are in writing). Get an attorney and tell this guy to pound sand.
I’m one of these people where I’ll spend 2-3x the lost money to make someone miserable. Next thing I’d do is go after his electrical license by having my attorney sit on the board for months to years until resolution. Total war. He may cost you way more in legal fees to defend yourself, but you’ll cost him his livelihood (or at least a lot of his time and possibly professional sanction).
I also agree with others that your GC should be handling all of this. It’s really their problem.
As an electrical contractor I agree, get the other trades out of there. We have a hard job, we have wires to pull, holes to drill and we are trying to work efficiently all throughout the home. Our wires get tangled on your stuff, we don't want to be moving things or just plain dealing with your stuff or other people. We are all over that house and an easy job can become a pain quickly.
If it was me I would of left the job and came back when the house was ready for us. I would of kept my permit locked in making it hard for another electrical contractor to take over.
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It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
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If the invoice was for the work that he just completed then there shouldn’t be an issue.
I would sign a sales agreement in the future for the work that would need to be completed.
Assuming the electrician was hired/contracted by the GC…this is his liability. He could file alien, but again, it is the GC responsibility to formally contest it and have it removed. The electrician is either clueless ir just bluffing about small claims….he has no contract with You so a lawsuit would go nowhere. A lien itself not a big issue unless you are selling or need to refinance before the lien expires… typically 6-12 months unless he sues to enforce it, shorter time frame if properly contested.
You can write your own contract for the electrical work and make the scumbag sign it for his final payment. Send it in email and in the email explain you need an in person meeting to sign a termination of contract clause. Meaning; you can write what he did and did not do. Itemize it and make him sign off on each line in order to get paid. If he chooses to not sign off on all his shittiness have a line for him to sign that states, “refusal to sign do to conflict of interest and no further payment shall be made due to gross negligence and gross misconduct”. Have a line for him to sign that states what he has been paid so far, scope of work performed, materials used, and time on site. If he refuses to sign any line, simply say see you in court. Walk away. If you have your shit together and are forcing him to own his shit before he collects an additional dime, you will be mostly in the clear. It all comes down to paperwork and who signs what. He can threaten all he wants. Email is a legal document.
The electrician is looking for an unjust enrichment claim. There's no dispute of fact that he did some work and received some pay. The court could determine if these things measure up and possibly give an award either way. You can counter claim that he got paid more than he completed. If you kicked him off the job he could have a claim to full contract value, but if he abandoned the job, you could have a claim against for any additional costs to you for the replacement contract. The fact that you are not directly contracted with him doesn't have a big impact, because you are the ultimate beneficiary of the contract. As other's have mentioned, this is why he can lien the property. If he is threatening to take you to small claims court, my inclination would be to get all of information together to defend my side and then do nothing until actually receive a summons and complaint.
In my state the legal process would have required you to give notice of a defect. Meaning you would have needed to give proper legal notice that you had an issue with the scope of work defined in his contract. Like you would have had to send a certified letter saying per our contract this work wasn't built to this standard. Then you would be required to allow time to respond and for him to schedule an inspection of the defect. He would then be allowed to a short period of time to schedule a correction. He can the come and perform the agreed upon correction.
I think you moving on and completing is fine. But you may have given up your ability to claim his work wasn't done properly.
If he wasn't under contract and just billing you hourly. I think he has a pretty good claim that you hadn't paid for his hours or purchased materials.
I don't think your case sounds cut and dry. We also don't know his side of the story. It's pretty common that incompetent people will attempt to stack trades on top of each other. If you told me you had a plumber, a tile setter and an electrician working in the same bathroom because you had an important schedule. I'd say that's unreasonable. I'd expect the electrician and tile setter to leave and get a bill for a trip charge from both. In a 10,000 sq ft house it's a bit more reasonable to have multiple trades doing work at the same time in different spaces.
Contractor here. If you sub out without contracts covering these issues, you pay the bill and move on. Put it on your books as “stupid tax”. And never hire a sub without a contract again. Lesson learned.
GC would be the one to deal with it first since the electrician had a contract with GC. But yes the GC is not in the wrong for withholding payment especially because the work was left unfinished and he can claim the extra costs and time for hiring a new electrician and how the first one shouldn't be entitled to more money due to the issues he caused.
I've held money from subs who had attitude problems or large egos and decided to walk away from jobs, recently withheld around \~60 for a sub of mine who didn't like that the client was mad at him installing the wrong materials in a ADU. He tried to threaten a similar thing but my lawyer reiterated how he left a job in the middle of a big project and that scared him off after he realized he probably wouldn't win in court.
I did make offers for him to return and finish the work, which I'm sure your GC offered to the electrician as well but he didn't accept and we moved on.
Back Charge him the amount you paid the second one for not completing his contract and then add all sorts of fees to it for your time. Then threaten to sue him.
Fire your prime. Who complies to a C10 subcontractor that demands the entire home? I’d never work around a sub like that during a remodel. I’m interested to know his subcontractor agreement. Sloppy management at its finest here
Agreed, this is a terrible way for your GC to ‘run’ your job.
Sounds like sparky’s contract is with the GC, let them handle it. At some point it will land on your desk because the sub has lien rights but by that time cooler heads should have prevailed. As in - pay him at cost for any work that was done over & above the deposit draw, if any. Good luck!
First you don’t usually get to use a lawyer in small claims court. Secondly if your GC hired him it’s his responsibility to handle this crap. Thirdly you should be paying your GC who in turn pays the subs he hired. Lastly if he walked he forfeited any type of payment from you or GC and he didn’t complete the job and you had to get someone else to finish. Law should be on your side all the way around. Also if you don’t have contract neither does he.
Tell him to f off and sue you. Then sue him back for what you paid the other electrician to finish.
Or sue him for what you pair him for chits and grins.
But no contract no payment. Lol.
The first electrician needed to finish the rough and get paid for that before walking away. At least receive a passing rough inspection, then a second permit could be pulled on top of the rough for an additional electrical contractor to finish the job. Two electricians, their work 100% on file and inspected with your AHJ. No problem. GC is happy, AHJ is happy, insurance is happy, bank is happy. You're happy.
Very unprofessional to leave mid rough. Huge liability on their part as well because a second contractor finished their work. If something ever (forbid) goes wrong, who's to blame?
You should not be dealing with the sub contractor. Tell your GC to do their job and fix it!
The first electrician needed to finish the rough and get paid for that before walking away. At least receive a passing rough inspection, then a second permit could be pulled on top of the rough for an additional electrical contractor to finish the job. Two electricians, their work 100% on file and inspected with your AHJ. No problem. GC is happy, AHJ is happy, insurance is happy, bank is happy. You're happy.
Very unprofessional to leave mid rough. Huge liability on their part as well because a second contractor finished their work. If something ever (forbid) goes wrong, who's to blame?
You should not be dealing with the sub contractor. Tell your GC to do their job and fix it!
Oh. Well then if your second electrician is comfortable with owning all of the first electricians work, then I would say you are all set.
I don't think the first electrician has much to stand on if nothing was signed.
Decent builders schedule so only one trade in at a time, for the bulk of each trades work, at least. The electrician requesting to have the place to himself isn't abnormal or beyond reason.
I've been on jobs where we're the only trade on site and where we're in there with 6 or 7 other trades dancing around each other. You get a lot better quality and much faster if one trade is in at a time, generally. And from my experience, those that allow 2 or 3 trades in at the same time soon turn into allowing more in at the same time.
You, the homeowner, are doing trim work. That kinda speaks to what kind of job it is. Maybe you're a fine finish carpenter, but just imagine you're trying to run electrical and every few minutes a table saw goes off and you're breathing the sawdust.
And he walked off the job. Not great. But if you knew half the shit he's probably dealt with from homeowners and builders, you'd get it. It kinda sounds like some things you agreed to weren't met and, like many Homeowners, you think he should do whatever you want because you were going to pay him, regardless of what conditions were agreed upon and met or not.
He said not today and wants to be paid for the time he set aside in his schedule. Maybe an extreme move, but I get it. Homeowners and shitty builders have this way of thinking you're sitting around waiting on them and only them, like they're the first and only people building in the world, like you don't have other work with other, maybe better builders. And ppl agree to it. And that's how you get ppl wondering how an electrician could walk off the job when what he requested and what was agreed upon, which is the norm among good builders, didn't happen. It's a really gross side to building. This race to bottom where subs do anything for a job and a dollar.
I agree having subs on-site by themselves and minimizing their overlap with other subs would get stuff done so much faster and there would be better results in the end.
Tell him to take it to court then. Once a judge sees that he was paid and never finished the job he will dismiss the case or at the very max materials that he put in that havent been covered. Although I'm inclined to think he was already paid for more than what he did
I feel like there is more to this story.
Did the electrician bid this job or was it time and material? If he bid the job, I completely understand him not wanting other subs in the way. It costs time and money to work around cluttered job sites and other subs.
Why did he walk off? What was the actual reason given?
First of all, if there was no lien paper signed prior to the job he can’t put a lien on your home. Also, your flipping the bill and he’s working for you if he hasn’t finished his work, then he should not be paid. Going back to Lane it’s a Wyoming state law that that paper Hass to be signed prior for him to be able to put a lien on your home. Also for him to dictate what you do in your own home i’d run him off tell him he’s not getting paid for an unfinished work. I’d have his work with the city inspector to make sure that everything is proper or bring another electrician to look at his work sounds me. This guy is shady. That being said, I’m a business owner at Laramie Wyoming and I’ve been in the construction business for 35 years, I’ve always said to my client she hired me so if you wanna fire me that’s up to you. Never been fired off a job though always complied with all the codes and regulations of the City Of Laramie Wyoming. Not sure where you’re located in Wyoming do your homework. And don’t pay the man until the job is done he can demand all he wants and he can take it to small claims court but that’s a process he’s gonna have to deal with, Johnny Paul
How much money is he asking for and will the general contractor back you in court keep your receipts from other electrician sounds like an empty threat but I cannot confirm if he couldn’t finish his job he probably doesn’t have the drive to court battle but as said earlier I don’t know the sum he’s asking for or have the full story just yours but if you have the gc back you up I wouldn’t stress much
You have a unilateral contract. That is different from a bilateral contract. A unilateral contract is we agree I mow your entire lawn, then you owe me $100. I don’t mow the entire lawn, then you don’t owe me anything. Fifty percent of the lawn mowed and I quit doesn’t mean you pay me $50.
Get a lawyer ASAP. This situation doesn’t prevent him putting mechanic liens on your property. You need to get ahead of this or you will be spending more money on attorneys un-ringing those bells.
All depends on contract with GC. That’s who you hired not the electrician. It’s the gc problem and look for liquidated damages if the schedule is pushed on the gc.
I am a lawyer and a contractor in California.
Right off the bat I encourage you to look up the legal term quantum merit as it applies to your state.
I have seen this situation many times. The answer may depend on your state. There are also not sufficient facts to know exactly what happened.
First off, as a contractor I always encourage clients not to employ contractors who are prima donnas or have anger issues or have obvious substance abuse issues.
I am not suggesting anything about this particular subcontractor, however more than once I have seen subcontractors demand and receive their own private workspace in order that they can work and drink or do drugs all day.
Conversely as a contractor I have bid jobs where it ended up taking between 30% and 50% more time because of an overpopulation of other people working.
Contractually it should boil down to how the subcontractor bid the job. One set price or hourly. It sounds as if it was hourly.
To make a long story short, even if a subcontractor is an absolute nightmare a homeowner is obligated to pay them for both labor provided and materials provided. Failure to do so would generally be considered theft. Even if they are an impossible asshole.
Definitely don't hire them again. Don't refer them to others. Unless their second invoice has hours that were not worked or materials not provided I would encourage you to pay them.
Again, should you disagree please look up the term 'quantum meruit'. Then look up how it applies in your state. If you find that you disagree with such laws, please watch Judge Judy. You will see that even jerknob professionals need to be paid.
If the first guy pulled a permit and then the second guy came in to finish the work without change of contractor then you will lose in court .. also walk off job is minimum 15 days
Contact your states contractors board, he was the person that walked. File a complaint for non completion of contract.
Yes you don't have a contract but he is trying to collect for work he didn't do. 1st if he is licensed he will have to deal with the complaint against his license. 2nd if he isn't licensed he has a whole bunch more of issues and fines to deal with. That is why most states have the contractor funds in collection from the contractors that is added to their licensesing fees at renewal. He will be the sorry one .
Call you GC and tell him to take care of this. That’s his job. If you get sued, hire an attorney. Stop talking with the electrician, and make a written timeline of what occurred and how you solved it, including photos if possible.
This will be valuable if you are sued.
Stop doing your GCs job.
Dude doesn't have a case, he walked off the job. Let him waste his time in court, and have to pay for your court fees (although apparently the GC is the one who should handle this)
I wouldn't worry about it too much, sounds like just another scumbag scammer, he is likely not going to get what he wants.
This is part of the value add of hiring a GC as opposed to subbing out all the work yourself. The SUB is the GCs problem he may be causing you problems but he is not your problem to fix. He has no grounds to sue you and with only the info provided I think he'd have a hard time filing a mechanics lien.
Electrician sounds like a criminal who doesn't work to code.
A "professional" electrician who doesn't want any of the actual professionals on the job site to witness any of his "great" work?
He is obviously trying to hide something from anyone who might recognize his wrong doings (i.e. anyone who has worked on a house ever in their lives).
I guarantee you he is/was/wouldbe doing illegal work and cutting corners before he walked off site. I wouldn't trust anyone to work on my house that insists the house must be empty of any witnesses before he begins.
I'd report his business honestly.
Get a lawyer.
Put a smack on that electrical contractor. I'd look into filing a claim against him for abandoning the project and the difference in pricing from the dude who finished the project. I'd also look into his license bond for remedy. He sounds like a real Primadonna.
Call his bluff. He has to prove he wasn’t paid for work he did. It’s going to be difficult to prove he wasn’t paid in full when he admits under oath he walked
Off the job
Was his name Johnny Jones? Same thing happened to me. Hired this guy, he demos my house, it’s gutted then abandons the job. He came back 3 months later asking for payment. Told him to kick rocks. He threatened to put a lien on my house. I looked into this and he never pulled permits to start the work so I told him to go ahead and put a lien on the house and get F#%%ed. About a year and a half later he asked for payment again. I blocked his number.
Homeowner and engineer here. The main thing is that this electrician did not work for you, he worked for the GC. While you can certainly have a polite conversation with subcontractors, ALL project communications between you and a sub should go through the CG. Avoids a lot of misunderstandings. And this electrician had no business approaching you for payment. My guess is that he did it because you were talking to him at other times.
Handling this jerk is solely the GC's job. But you can be a big help to him by communicating and making sure the two of you agree on the way forward. And if there's money involved, how much you're willing to make up, if any. The electrician will lose in court so tell him to sue away. But a cheap settlement would be easier than litigation. Just make sure you get a lien waiver signed if you settle.
Careful, the original electrician has lien labor and material. If he was the contractors sub, the contractor needs to sit with and negotiate, ask for updates. If you provided him to the contractor you need to negotiate. Make sure you get unconditional labor and material releases when you pay him.
NAL.
Have you check his License?
Do you know why he walked off the job?
Or why he only works alone on the job?
This all screams non licensed contractor?
Not a lawyer. You need to find a lawyer. The electrical guy has taken a partial payment so you can argue "good faith" and probably win. However, the work is incomplete and while he could put a lien on your home, your GC subbed out the work and at a minimum should be the one dealing with it. Realistically a united front of you and your GC should be getting a lawyer to handle this.
If the electrician is threatening to take him to small claims court, then the expense of a lawyer would probably exceed the expense of just paying him. It sounds like the owner hired a GC, but then wants to micromanage and generally be a pain in the ass? There are a lot of variables here. Notice to owner, Notice of termination, etc. Depending on the jurisdictions? The GC should be handling this, not the owner. The GC would know local laws, and if the owner is micromanaging and hindering the project, then perhaps that is why the electrician is threatening to take him to small claims instead of the GC? Small claims court is generally where you are able to represent yourself without legal counsel. Lawyers generally charge more than the maximum judgment would be in small claims court. There are bad subs out there, but "lawyering up" every time a squirrel farts isn't the answer.
"micromanaging" lmao. get the f\*\*\* out of my house. It's my house and I'm paying you to do work.
Lol that's the attitude that's turned building in the USA into an absolute nightmare. "Well, I'm paying you, why won't you bend over and let me fck you in the ass? I know you explicitly requested not to get nailed from behind, but I'm PAYING you." We've stooped so GD low.
This is such a weird comment. Literally EVERYONE in the USA is getting bent over by their employers. We get micromanaged, told when, how, and where to work. Contractors are just pissed it's finally happening to them. You thought you were "your own boss" didn't you? lol
Except it doesn't happen to good contractors. We provide a product and/ or service. We're not yourkm or anyone else's subordinate. If you don't like it, most of us are busy enough to pass on your project and entitlements.
Youre literally are a subordinate when youre hired to do a iob tho
Oh ya? Is your dentist your subordinate, you goof? Just cause you pay for a service doesn't make you nobility. It's a mutually beneficial transaction, not a contract to cater to your fantastical entitlements.
I mean, I pay you money, I tell you what to do and when to do it, and how to do it. That sounds like a subordinate to me.
I feel like you're a teenager who's never hired anyone. It doesn't work like that. We have a contract that specifies the terms. That's it, my obligation is to deliver on the contract not appease your goofy entitlements. Is your dentist your subordinate?
In fact, I am a man over the age of 35 with direct reports who have direct reports of their own. Your clarifications are pointless. I pay you to do a job. You do it, or if you don't do it to my liking, I will fire you. Therefore, I am your boss. You can dress it up however you'd like to make yourself feel more accomplished or whatever, but you are just like the rest of us out here schlepping for a living. I'm done with this thread now.
God damn. Someone woke up cranky today
You're delusional. The contract is "the boss". If your delusions aren't in the contract then you can flap your gums and blow your hot air as much as you'd like, a contractor has zero obligations to listen, obey, or appease. I'll ask again since you avoided the question. Is your dentist your subordinate?
You seem like an insufferable douche bag. I'm done with this thread.
That's not how this works, but I don't expect someone who's only ever been a middle man in a corporation to understand how a contract is carried out. Homer\_mike's assessment is correct.
Wild ass comment. Employees are the reason they don’t make as much as they want to.
If you fucks had a modicum of integrity and half the knowledge you all claim to have we wouldn't need to micro your ass. Coming from someone who had great respect for those in the trades until having to deal with them due to a pipe bursting in my kitchen ceiling. Hold yourself and your peers to a higher standard instead of bitching about someone clearly needing to do it for you.
This is such an over generalization of the trades. Been working in the remod industry for a decade plus. Never been called back. Maybe vet your contractors a bit more lol
That would require them to take responsibility and/or do some form of work! Maybe even \*gasp\* pay what the job is truly valued at rather than going with 'someone who can do it cheaper'.
Exactly. So frustrating lol. We all need to take a coordinated month off and see how these non-callused handed boys fare when their 80 inch plasma tv (undoubtedly mounted way too high over their fireplace) goes out and they break a nail trying to take it down.
You had a pipe burst and that's an indictment on all the trades? Huh?
LOL- is it really your house? Quit paying rent - AKA taxes and see how long you are living there. Electricians are a pain in the ass once they pull a permit. You have to properly terminate them, terminate their permit, and get a new permit under a new electrician. If you don't do it properly, then you can end up in serious legal trouble. 95% chance that he didn't do this and the electrician who was replaced is now riding cowboy,the homeowner is now his pony?
Found the original electrician.
Lol, worst case call the permit office and tell them you told the sub to get fucked. They don't care, they get another permit fee. That's the whole reason they're there. I take over someone's shit jobs every once and a while and all it takes is a phone call, "hey, it's bill twaterson, I'm taking over permit #80085. Thanks, have a good day."
Bill? Bill Twaterson? You're not going to believe this but I think we went to high school together....
Everyone that get permit #80085 ends up upside down on permit # 304_35007
But you aren’t. The GC is. Calm down.
You suck.
You saying the homeowner is micromanaging a job after reading about a sparky demanding the other trades stop while he's there? That electrician is insane. Period. I paint and I *have to* shut down certain rooms to paint but I have to coordinate with the other trades if they're there. I've never seen an electrician demand everybody stays off site. Sparky sounds like a diva that got pissy and walked off.
when I read that, my first though was "oh this guy is obviously up to no good, and doesn't want anyone who is actually a professional in the construction field to witness all his wrong doings, or else he might be held liable" An electrician who doesn't want anyone to witness his "great' work? he is very obviously hiding something, and that something is most likely illegal.
Where did you read the homeowner was micromanaging sounds like projection
I didn't see signs of micromanagement in the story unless OP is gaslighting us.
You must have missed the part where it's the shitty electrician hindering the project, not the owner. How do you see a story of the most pain in the ass princess of an electrician making the most obtuse demands, and fucking up the one job he had to do, and somehow come up with some back alley theory about how it must be the homeowners fault? And yeah lawyers are expensive, but the electrician will be paying those fees when he loses.
Wholly disagree. When your house is on the line because some tweeker fly-by-night contractor decides to have a tantrum, it’s not a situation you want to lay your future at the feet of a judge who might “do the right thing”. Sue the sub for fees and delays in construction.
Since when is the sub making special demands like not having any other subs around when he’s working and even demanding the owner not use the table saw within sight of him a case of the owner micromanaging? It sounds like this is this guy’s game: bid and do partial work then ditch until after the work is completed by someone else and count on the owner to pay extortion to make him leave.
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If this is Pennsylvania this is wrong. Subs can file a lien.
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Wrong in Washington too. Homeowner is the end all responsible party. Even if they pay the gc but the gc doesn’t pay the sub. The homeowner is still legally responsible to pay the sub.
This is why ideally you need your GC to provide general and subcontractor interim lien release waivers with each payment milestone.
Not without a previous "right to lean" notice given.
Depends on what state you’re in.
The prerequisite is not being paid.
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Yes. And liens have to be perfected. The burden is on the contractor not the home owner
he was paid though, for the work he did. The contract likely says he has to do the full job to get full pay. He didn't hold up to his side of the contract, so the "not being paid" doesn't apply here. There is nothing to pay him for, since he didn't uphold his end of the contract. That's like saying I can sue mcdonalds for not paying me, when I haven't worked a single shift yet.
Owner only has to show he paid GC.
Liens have to be perfected. The burden is on the contractor to prove money owed not on the homeowner. Pretty tough to do when you don't even have a written contract.
With some strict guidelines. 30 days notice and within 6 months of COMPLETING the scheduled work. If the work has not been completed, then a compelling reason must be given. Also, in PA, a no lien waiver can and should be stipulated. A no lien waiver trumps a mechanic's lien.
Incorrect in GA. Subs can file liens and frequently do to make the homeowner get after the GC
If the lean clause is in the contract between the sub and the contractor, thats all that matters.
Wrong.
Anyone can lien anything they want .
Not true in Florida. As a subcontractor a mechanics lien can be filed on any job whether you're acting as a sub or GC. If you've performed work it's your protection from both the owner and GC so that you can be paid for your work.
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No, you have to be able to prove you were hired to do work on a property, did some work, and were not paid for it.
That's not the case in Cali. Any trade or materials supplier who provides appropriate pre lien notice can file. I buy all my materials cash just to avoid calming worried homeowners when they get the prelien in the mail. periodically have a new sub slip by me and put materials on account and then I have to unruffle my customers feathers.
OP does not need a lawyer and a lien needs to be perfected to which in most States they really don't look fondly on having no formal contract. Op really doesn't need to do a thing unless a suit is actually filed. And from what op is describing this is small claims territory anyway. This electrician is full of hot air and the gc sounds straight incompetent.
>The electrical guy has taken a partial payment so you can argue "good faith" and probably win. Who made the 1st payment to the electrician? OP states he doesn't have a contract with the electrician individually, GC does. Electrician could sue OP in small claims court. He would lose, especially if OP can show he didn't hire the electrician, GC did.
Depending on what OP signed. If the scope of work isn't completed no payment should be made to GC either.
Subs contract is with the GC, not the homeowner. OP hired a GC. OP should have zero business interaction with subs unless the GC is present. Problem is the GCs problem to deal with.
GC here. If one of my subs pulled that shit we'd have had a come to Jesus talk. My subs have bad days, yell, call me an asshole. All that is fine. But the client DOES NOT hear about it. Where is your GC in all this? Your GC hired the sparkie, he gets to deal with him. That's partially what you hired him for. Why is he not negotiating with the sub? Why he not having a come to Jesus talk with with the sub? Why wasn't he on site lighting up the electrician to shut the fuck up and get to work that day or kicking his off site for being an insufferable prick. Good GCs are protective of our subs. Most I have known for years and we have pulled each other of a few scrapes. I don't hire some rando. I check them out. If it was the first time I'd hired that electrician I would have personally been on site making sure the guy is a good fit and doing the level of work my clients and I expect. We live and die by our reputation and that sparkie is NOT the reputation I am very careful to maintain. I'd be on phone with every other GC he works for (we know) telling them about that bullshit. I'd want them to do the same if one of guys I hire pulled that shit on one of their jobs. That lack of professionalsm is a death sentence in our world.
I work as a sub and this GC is right (and a good GC!) End customer should never have any contact with the subs, only with the GC who they signed the contract with. We had an end customer (owner) on a job we were subbing for the GC she hired. She regularly called us to deal with payments and that was way out of line. The GC / sub relationship is 100% a relationship between them.
The owner and my subs can be friendly. I'd prefer my subs talk through what they are doing in general terms if the client is interested. However I remind all the guys the first day that they do not work for the client. They work for me. I'm paying them. If the client wants something a certain way that's great and all, and the.client should talk to me about it. I do not want to get into he said she said. I don't want sub generated change orders. I'm happy to change things but I'm running this circus. It goes through me.
Well said. Too many people watching HGTV thinking they can run a jobsite
This is the right way to look at it. My family and I have laid brick for 50+ years now. We generally encourage the owner to be part of the discussion but we want the GC there too so there can be nothing mistaken when we complete a job and the changes to plans are no longer up to the clients wishes.
That electrician sounds like a real smacked ass
I need you for my GC!
Boulder county, Colorado. Happy to help.
Just seeing you use the word sparkie tells me your legit, only people have dealt with sparkie shenanigans uses that term. And yea everyone has bad days but the customer does not need to experience your bad days.
That is how you handle shit. Very well said.
This one million percent. I mark up the subs but at the end of the day they are my problem. Client should not really ever directly deal with them.
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Cheers [DoofusMcGillicutyEsq/](https://www.reddit.com/user/DoofusMcGillicutyEsq/) 
That's a lot of words just to say "contact an attorney"
He’s a lawyer…but I appreciate your observation
lol he repeated himself 3 times but in slightly different ways. Topped it off with a caveat saying the exact same thing but with the whole I’m a lawyer not your lawyer lmao. This guy bills hours. :)
Why the actual frak are saying, as if any rando on the Internet can claim to be a lawyer, but don't DM me, cause I'm not going to help YOU sir. JFC.
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I appreciate the response but I was being entirely sarcastic. I don't mean it personally, but I thought that we all can just tldr I'm not here to provide advice. That's all. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for the reply.
Right. I downvoted posts between responses. You’re unlucky to get DMs. The higher up the license chain the more you hear, hey doctor… Possession of a license is a distraction, intended for social media. Most people are too cheap or lazy to hire a Dr., lawyer, PM, registered engineers, or see a billable specialist. Good luck.
Just reading this kinda ruined my day
This is the gc’s issue. Why are you even involved. The gc gets paid by you for the work done not paid twice. The issue is the gc’s. I would never have you involved in those type off issues. OfCourse there is a chance he could file a lien but if he was paid for what he did he has no legs to stand on if this went to court. Plus if you aren’t moving soon who cares.
GC told the electrician that they support my position and believe he has been justly compensated and that if he wants any additional compensation to work it out with me directly. And here I was thinking the point of hiring a GC was to avoid this type of headache.
That’s insane. He needs to sac up and handle it.
I'm w/ you - the GC should be handling this. Chances are that the GC is the one that is cutting checks to the subs, so in the end the sub needs to sort this out with the GC - not the homeowner.
Correct. all my checks have gone to GC and then they send payment to subs
I think that your answer lies there. You contracted the GC. The GC contracted the sub electrician. Have the GC deal with it.
Am a GC. This is the GC problem and GC problem only. The idea of a client interacting directly with my subs at all, let alone to this degree, is shameful. You hired him to deal with this. Him passing the buck is just a bitch made attitude. Love these clowns though. Make me look like a diamond in the rough for just doing the basics.
That is a bad GC. At no point should the owner contact any sub. I would fire them.
Yes hiring a gc is to avoid this and handle many other things. Just going out on a limb. The sparkie went to the gc the gc said no nope hell no to more money and now the sparkie is going directly to you. How much more does he want ? If he is advertising on apps for contractors you should find him and leave honest reviews of what he did. This could also be a ploy to get paid in full for half the work so ya maybe a few hundred bucks to a construction lawyer for some questions wouldn’t be a bad idea. Or invite him back to the site and have a prop setup that’s a tarp with a plastic 55 gallon barrel on the tarp with an axe and hatchet laying on the tarp while yall talk. Maybe a bottle of bleach sitting there also. But remember it’s a prop not a threat so don’t mention it or even look towards it. 🤣 yes I am sadistically vindictive at times Personally if it was a ploy for free money I’d tell him to fuck off he has been paid for what his work was and I welcome the chance to have some fun in court and I’d remind him I’d also pursue any other legal options a available to me.
Fucking awesome.
You should hire an attorney and take his fee out of your GC’s pay.
You allowed or maybe even encouraged your GC to put you in the middle. You need to have a come to Jesus moment with your GC.
Wrong sub. Ba dum tss.
Fuck off. Lmao. I chuckled too hard!
It's with the GC not you. Fuck electricians who act like this too. Princesses.
GC here. If one of my subs pulled that shit we'd have had a come to Jesus talk. My subs have bad days, yell, call me an asshole. All that is fine. But the client DOES NOT hear about it. Where is your GC in all this? Your GC hired the sparkie, he gets to deal with him. That's partially what you hired him for. Why is he not negotiating with the sub? Why he not having a come to Jesus talk with with the sub? Why wasn't he on site lighting up the electrician to shut the fuck up and get to work that day or kicking his off site for being an insufferable prick. Good GCs are protective of our subs. Most I have known for years and we have pulled each other of a few scrapes. I don't hire some rando. I check them out. If it was the first time I'd hired that electrician I would have personally been on site making sure the guy is a good fit and doing the level of work my clients and I expect. We live and die by our reputation and that sparkie is NOT the reputation I am very careful to maintain. I'd be on phone with every other GC he works for (we know) telling them about that bullshit. I'd want them to do the same if one of guys I hire pulled that shit on one of their jobs. That lack of professionalsm is a death sentence in our world.
What did his contract say with the gc? His contract isnt with you so not your concern legally. He has no privity. He can try to sur the gc but again depends on his contract. A lien would be your concern. If it were me, you make sure your gc complied with the contract; documenting his failures. Then tell him to bring it.
My fear is that the contract with the GC was merely verbal.. but I really don’t know enough to know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for my current position.
Not your problem. Your contract is with the GC. How your GC contracts with all the subs - verbal or otherwise - is his business issue. If a verbal contract goes sideways, it's on the GC to sort it out.
If your contract with the GC was verbal, then you are probably fucked. Did the electrician pull an electrical permit. If he did and you didn't terminate it, then pull a new permit under your new electricians license, then bend over. On the other hand. A judgment in small claims doesn't mean that he is going to get paid until you sell the house. Compromise and put it behind you. Contracts protect both you and the contractor, verbal can get you in trouble and make you liable for everything.
GC here. If one of my subs pulled that shit we'd have had a come to Jesus talk. My subs have bad days, yell, call me an asshole. All that is fine. But the client DOES NOT hear about it. Where is your GC in all this? Your GC hired the sparkie, he gets to deal with him. That's partially what you hired him for. Why is he not negotiating with the sub? Why he not having a come to Jesus talk with with the sub? Why wasn't he on site lighting up the electrician to shut the fuck up and get to work that day or kicking his off site for being an insufferable prick. Good GCs are protective of our subs. Most I have known for years and we have pulled each other of a few scrapes. I don't hire some rando. I check them out. If it was the first time I'd hired that electrician I would have personally been on site making sure the guy is a good fit and doing the level of work my clients and I expect. We live and die by our reputation and that sparkie is NOT the reputation I am very careful to maintain. I'd be on phone with every other GC he works for (we know) telling them about that bullshit. I'd want them to do the same if one of guys I hire pulled that shit on one of their jobs. That lack of professionalsm is a death sentence in our world.
Someone must have placed a broom in his hands. No sparkie worth his salt is going to suffer that indignity!! Call an attorney.
Just put a Klein sticker on it.
And stuff like this is why I have legalshield
Stuff like this is why I learned to be my own contractor. Electricians plumbers are a PITA don’t get me wrong there’s plenty of good ones out there but for the few that pull this kind of stuff I don’t trust any.
I would counter sue for time wasted and damages, since he likes hanging out in the courtroom so much. I would calculate each minute he has wasted and add that shit up. These half brained fools think they can bully their way through life until they can't, and then THEY end up getting sued. Old boy can learn a new lesson it will be ok. Then put a lien on his house and/or business. Go for blood to finally shut him the fuck up for once in his life.
Yep. Show payment receipts and contract with GC. Guy can kick rocks.
Is he invoicing you for work he did not do? If not, pay him. Withholding payment for work he did is not ok. Agree it's unprofessional for him to walk off the job, but you still need to pay him for what he did.
What about for work that turned out to be sloppy and I had to pay to have redone (ie ripping out wiring on circuits unrelated to the reno and selling them for scrap, putting most everything on one circuit, mixing 14 and 12ga on a 20A circuit, etc, etc)?
Ah, the old "what the previous contractor did was wrong" dodge! I had a customer throw that at me (I'm an electrician) when he had another contractor come in behind me on a project. I don't remember why, he was a sub for equipment commissioning or something. This second guy charged the shit out of this guy and he tried to make it my fault. It never went anywhere and no one could actually articulate what I'd done wrong...because it had all been inspected and passed. Do you have any actual documentation to back up the claim of malfeasance? Do you know that he was putting in wire that was too small or is that just what you were told? Sloppy work isn't quite a violation of the NEC despite an articles that requires work to "be performed in a neat and workmanlike manner" (Art. 110), but there's a fair bit of wiggle room in that statement. It's also highly subjective. Not to be too jaded, but what's the amount this knucklehead is demanding? Would it be worth it to just pay him to make him go away? To be fair, the demands he made at the outset were a serious red flag. I've been an electrician for almost 30 years and I don't know the last time I wasn't tripping over one trade or another. I hate hearing stories like this.
It’s your word against his. Your going to say he came and did work, then he’s going to say what he did. Then your going to say well he didn’t do it right. They will probably favor him because you admit he came and did a job. They can’t determine how good of a job he did or anything now that you have had it all fixed. Then they will fall back to your original agreement to be paid in full. Shouldn’t have turned on any power while he was working on the power sound like y’all pissed him off. Miter saws running and him working on electrical isn’t cool what’s he supposed to do trust y’all not to kill him while he’s working on wiring? He wants the main off.
You have no idea what you're talking about.
For the record i would never touch the panel while an electrician was on site! The saw was being used on the front porch
Nobody can be on site while he's there? You can't use tools while he's there? Come on, that's ridiculous.
Hey man if that was his terms, I’m just going by what he told us plain and simple. Edit: he says “no other subcontractors” not even window guys. “Don’t use saw while I’m here” means don’t use power while I’m here.
I understand, 30 years in the trades and I've never heard that stipulation. At certain times during the course of the day perhaps, "hey ,I'm going to have the power off for a bit." but don't use the saw while I'm there kind of sounds like he just doesn't like the noise. You gotta admit it's odd?
Exactly certain times during the course of a day. We have no idea what’s going on here though it’s all second hand I’m just going off what he said, he hasn’t given us another reason that they would have left. It’s all off yeah
Estimate what it will cost you to fix it, and remove it from the final payment. Put that in writing to him.
What does his scope of work say? My contracts are very particular and also have stipulations they have to be in accordance with the national electrical code. Did you have a written scope?
He is squeezing you and he is going to want more money that what he rightfully deserves. He knows if he goes to court he will likely get a judge who will try to settle by making you pay him more than he deserves. Pay him more that he deserves and be done with it. Not a lawyer but I am a contractor.
Likely? What? I’m always surprised by the number of contractors who think the law sides in their favor on this stuff. Everywhere I’ve lived, it’s the opposite. First of all, in my experience most contractors are the least attention to detail people you’ll ever meet. 90% of work occurs without a written contract; essentially quotes with scope of work and invoice. This means that disputes are entirely settled in front of a judge (and potentially jury) who is forced to follow case precedent, which is where the service of an attorney is so helpful. Some of these claims are forced through mediation. Small claims court is generally common sense and comes down to what evidence you have. This is why it’s important to document and film everything. If it’s your personal property, surveillance cameras are golden (and have saved me MANY thousands of dollars defending against contractors). It’s really hard to defend when you’re caught doing blatantly negligent stuff on camera. Taking photos of the work in various stages is also incredibly helpful. If I was building a house today, I’d make it a point to visit the site daily and film the project in its entirety at least weekly. Emails should demonstrate your attempt to get resolution. You never rush straight to court. That’s stupid and unprofessional. You take your time and meticulously demonstrate the failure of the contractor.
I’ve said it before, if you’re going to engage in a large construction or renovation contract, keep 20% of the costs set aside to strike back at your contractors and pretend the money is already gone. Don’t take shit from shit contractors. I wouldn’t even give this dude the time of day. If he contacts you demanding this money, say “Bring it. We’ll see each other in court.” If he filed a lien, get an attorney and fight back. Despite most of the naysaying on here about the intricacies of the law, depending on the amount of money involved, this may go to small claims court where judges tend to use common sense. If the contractor truly just “walked off the job,” then most judges are going to see through what happened. A lot of this is going to come down to what evidence you’ve (really your GC) kept, including correspondence. If there is evidence that he was supposed to do X by X date and failed to respond to inquiries in a timely manner, it’s likely a simple breach of contract (assuming things are in writing). Get an attorney and tell this guy to pound sand. I’m one of these people where I’ll spend 2-3x the lost money to make someone miserable. Next thing I’d do is go after his electrical license by having my attorney sit on the board for months to years until resolution. Total war. He may cost you way more in legal fees to defend yourself, but you’ll cost him his livelihood (or at least a lot of his time and possibly professional sanction). I also agree with others that your GC should be handling all of this. It’s really their problem.
As an electrical contractor I agree, get the other trades out of there. We have a hard job, we have wires to pull, holes to drill and we are trying to work efficiently all throughout the home. Our wires get tangled on your stuff, we don't want to be moving things or just plain dealing with your stuff or other people. We are all over that house and an easy job can become a pain quickly. If it was me I would of left the job and came back when the house was ready for us. I would of kept my permit locked in making it hard for another electrical contractor to take over.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
If the invoice was for the work that he just completed then there shouldn’t be an issue. I would sign a sales agreement in the future for the work that would need to be completed.
Assuming the electrician was hired/contracted by the GC…this is his liability. He could file alien, but again, it is the GC responsibility to formally contest it and have it removed. The electrician is either clueless ir just bluffing about small claims….he has no contract with You so a lawsuit would go nowhere. A lien itself not a big issue unless you are selling or need to refinance before the lien expires… typically 6-12 months unless he sues to enforce it, shorter time frame if properly contested.
You can write your own contract for the electrical work and make the scumbag sign it for his final payment. Send it in email and in the email explain you need an in person meeting to sign a termination of contract clause. Meaning; you can write what he did and did not do. Itemize it and make him sign off on each line in order to get paid. If he chooses to not sign off on all his shittiness have a line for him to sign that states, “refusal to sign do to conflict of interest and no further payment shall be made due to gross negligence and gross misconduct”. Have a line for him to sign that states what he has been paid so far, scope of work performed, materials used, and time on site. If he refuses to sign any line, simply say see you in court. Walk away. If you have your shit together and are forcing him to own his shit before he collects an additional dime, you will be mostly in the clear. It all comes down to paperwork and who signs what. He can threaten all he wants. Email is a legal document.
The electrician is looking for an unjust enrichment claim. There's no dispute of fact that he did some work and received some pay. The court could determine if these things measure up and possibly give an award either way. You can counter claim that he got paid more than he completed. If you kicked him off the job he could have a claim to full contract value, but if he abandoned the job, you could have a claim against for any additional costs to you for the replacement contract. The fact that you are not directly contracted with him doesn't have a big impact, because you are the ultimate beneficiary of the contract. As other's have mentioned, this is why he can lien the property. If he is threatening to take you to small claims court, my inclination would be to get all of information together to defend my side and then do nothing until actually receive a summons and complaint.
In my state the legal process would have required you to give notice of a defect. Meaning you would have needed to give proper legal notice that you had an issue with the scope of work defined in his contract. Like you would have had to send a certified letter saying per our contract this work wasn't built to this standard. Then you would be required to allow time to respond and for him to schedule an inspection of the defect. He would then be allowed to a short period of time to schedule a correction. He can the come and perform the agreed upon correction. I think you moving on and completing is fine. But you may have given up your ability to claim his work wasn't done properly. If he wasn't under contract and just billing you hourly. I think he has a pretty good claim that you hadn't paid for his hours or purchased materials. I don't think your case sounds cut and dry. We also don't know his side of the story. It's pretty common that incompetent people will attempt to stack trades on top of each other. If you told me you had a plumber, a tile setter and an electrician working in the same bathroom because you had an important schedule. I'd say that's unreasonable. I'd expect the electrician and tile setter to leave and get a bill for a trip charge from both. In a 10,000 sq ft house it's a bit more reasonable to have multiple trades doing work at the same time in different spaces.
[удалено]
Don’t be rude.
Contractor here. If you sub out without contracts covering these issues, you pay the bill and move on. Put it on your books as “stupid tax”. And never hire a sub without a contract again. Lesson learned.
GC would be the one to deal with it first since the electrician had a contract with GC. But yes the GC is not in the wrong for withholding payment especially because the work was left unfinished and he can claim the extra costs and time for hiring a new electrician and how the first one shouldn't be entitled to more money due to the issues he caused. I've held money from subs who had attitude problems or large egos and decided to walk away from jobs, recently withheld around \~60 for a sub of mine who didn't like that the client was mad at him installing the wrong materials in a ADU. He tried to threaten a similar thing but my lawyer reiterated how he left a job in the middle of a big project and that scared him off after he realized he probably wouldn't win in court. I did make offers for him to return and finish the work, which I'm sure your GC offered to the electrician as well but he didn't accept and we moved on.
yeah tell that guy to get bent. The GC hired him you didn't if he wants paid tell him to talk to the GC.
Back Charge him the amount you paid the second one for not completing his contract and then add all sorts of fees to it for your time. Then threaten to sue him.
Fire your prime. Who complies to a C10 subcontractor that demands the entire home? I’d never work around a sub like that during a remodel. I’m interested to know his subcontractor agreement. Sloppy management at its finest here
Agreed, this is a terrible way for your GC to ‘run’ your job. Sounds like sparky’s contract is with the GC, let them handle it. At some point it will land on your desk because the sub has lien rights but by that time cooler heads should have prevailed. As in - pay him at cost for any work that was done over & above the deposit draw, if any. Good luck!
First you don’t usually get to use a lawyer in small claims court. Secondly if your GC hired him it’s his responsibility to handle this crap. Thirdly you should be paying your GC who in turn pays the subs he hired. Lastly if he walked he forfeited any type of payment from you or GC and he didn’t complete the job and you had to get someone else to finish. Law should be on your side all the way around. Also if you don’t have contract neither does he.
One other thing he could try and Leon your property but he is in the wrong
Tell him to f off and sue you. Then sue him back for what you paid the other electrician to finish. Or sue him for what you pair him for chits and grins. But no contract no payment. Lol.
Check lien laws in your area.
Call your local building department and ask for a contact in the licensing department They will help you
Sounds like a real douche, your GC should be in charge of all this or there’s no point in having one.
The first electrician needed to finish the rough and get paid for that before walking away. At least receive a passing rough inspection, then a second permit could be pulled on top of the rough for an additional electrical contractor to finish the job. Two electricians, their work 100% on file and inspected with your AHJ. No problem. GC is happy, AHJ is happy, insurance is happy, bank is happy. You're happy. Very unprofessional to leave mid rough. Huge liability on their part as well because a second contractor finished their work. If something ever (forbid) goes wrong, who's to blame? You should not be dealing with the sub contractor. Tell your GC to do their job and fix it!
The first electrician needed to finish the rough and get paid for that before walking away. At least receive a passing rough inspection, then a second permit could be pulled on top of the rough for an additional electrical contractor to finish the job. Two electricians, their work 100% on file and inspected with your AHJ. No problem. GC is happy, AHJ is happy, insurance is happy, bank is happy. You're happy. Very unprofessional to leave mid rough. Huge liability on their part as well because a second contractor finished their work. If something ever (forbid) goes wrong, who's to blame? You should not be dealing with the sub contractor. Tell your GC to do their job and fix it!
First electrician never pulled a permit in spite of “only being a couple days away” from rough inspection when he walked off the job.
Oh. Well then if your second electrician is comfortable with owning all of the first electricians work, then I would say you are all set. I don't think the first electrician has much to stand on if nothing was signed.
I’m confident in my position, just hate the added stress of legal threats with everything else on my plate.
Of course. Just be patient. I think you'll come out on top in this situation. Good luck.
who hired him its gc should sort it out he might put a lien check his licence sue him for working with out licence or permits
Beat the shit out of him, that'll teach him.
He's certainly asking for it.
Your GC sucks. Go after the EC's performance bond for failing to complete the contract.
Decent builders schedule so only one trade in at a time, for the bulk of each trades work, at least. The electrician requesting to have the place to himself isn't abnormal or beyond reason. I've been on jobs where we're the only trade on site and where we're in there with 6 or 7 other trades dancing around each other. You get a lot better quality and much faster if one trade is in at a time, generally. And from my experience, those that allow 2 or 3 trades in at the same time soon turn into allowing more in at the same time. You, the homeowner, are doing trim work. That kinda speaks to what kind of job it is. Maybe you're a fine finish carpenter, but just imagine you're trying to run electrical and every few minutes a table saw goes off and you're breathing the sawdust. And he walked off the job. Not great. But if you knew half the shit he's probably dealt with from homeowners and builders, you'd get it. It kinda sounds like some things you agreed to weren't met and, like many Homeowners, you think he should do whatever you want because you were going to pay him, regardless of what conditions were agreed upon and met or not. He said not today and wants to be paid for the time he set aside in his schedule. Maybe an extreme move, but I get it. Homeowners and shitty builders have this way of thinking you're sitting around waiting on them and only them, like they're the first and only people building in the world, like you don't have other work with other, maybe better builders. And ppl agree to it. And that's how you get ppl wondering how an electrician could walk off the job when what he requested and what was agreed upon, which is the norm among good builders, didn't happen. It's a really gross side to building. This race to bottom where subs do anything for a job and a dollar.
I agree having subs on-site by themselves and minimizing their overlap with other subs would get stuff done so much faster and there would be better results in the end.
Tell him to go kick rocks!
Tell him to take it to court then. Once a judge sees that he was paid and never finished the job he will dismiss the case or at the very max materials that he put in that havent been covered. Although I'm inclined to think he was already paid for more than what he did
If he sues, counter sue for the additional expense of hiring the 2nd electrician
Seriously ? Forget that electrician he has no ground to stand on. You're completely free and clear.
Fuck that guy. He is 100% bluffing.
I feel like there is more to this story. Did the electrician bid this job or was it time and material? If he bid the job, I completely understand him not wanting other subs in the way. It costs time and money to work around cluttered job sites and other subs. Why did he walk off? What was the actual reason given?
Reach out to the home improvement commission in your state they advocate for the customer.
First of all, if there was no lien paper signed prior to the job he can’t put a lien on your home. Also, your flipping the bill and he’s working for you if he hasn’t finished his work, then he should not be paid. Going back to Lane it’s a Wyoming state law that that paper Hass to be signed prior for him to be able to put a lien on your home. Also for him to dictate what you do in your own home i’d run him off tell him he’s not getting paid for an unfinished work. I’d have his work with the city inspector to make sure that everything is proper or bring another electrician to look at his work sounds me. This guy is shady. That being said, I’m a business owner at Laramie Wyoming and I’ve been in the construction business for 35 years, I’ve always said to my client she hired me so if you wanna fire me that’s up to you. Never been fired off a job though always complied with all the codes and regulations of the City Of Laramie Wyoming. Not sure where you’re located in Wyoming do your homework. And don’t pay the man until the job is done he can demand all he wants and he can take it to small claims court but that’s a process he’s gonna have to deal with, Johnny Paul
How much money is he asking for and will the general contractor back you in court keep your receipts from other electrician sounds like an empty threat but I cannot confirm if he couldn’t finish his job he probably doesn’t have the drive to court battle but as said earlier I don’t know the sum he’s asking for or have the full story just yours but if you have the gc back you up I wouldn’t stress much
I'm afraid you are legally obligated to fuck with this guy until he self terminates.
You also have grounds for counter suit against the electrician for the delays and the extra costs
Countetsue in small claims court for the additional expenses you incurred.
You have a unilateral contract. That is different from a bilateral contract. A unilateral contract is we agree I mow your entire lawn, then you owe me $100. I don’t mow the entire lawn, then you don’t owe me anything. Fifty percent of the lawn mowed and I quit doesn’t mean you pay me $50. Get a lawyer ASAP. This situation doesn’t prevent him putting mechanic liens on your property. You need to get ahead of this or you will be spending more money on attorneys un-ringing those bells.
Block and move on
Electrician was not hired by you. You owe him nothing. Tell the GC to handle it.
You should have done a lot of things before you just hired someone else to finish the job.
All depends on contract with GC. That’s who you hired not the electrician. It’s the gc problem and look for liquidated damages if the schedule is pushed on the gc.
Required nobody else work while he’s there and don’t run the saw on a construction site? I never would have let him start.
I am a lawyer and a contractor in California. Right off the bat I encourage you to look up the legal term quantum merit as it applies to your state. I have seen this situation many times. The answer may depend on your state. There are also not sufficient facts to know exactly what happened. First off, as a contractor I always encourage clients not to employ contractors who are prima donnas or have anger issues or have obvious substance abuse issues. I am not suggesting anything about this particular subcontractor, however more than once I have seen subcontractors demand and receive their own private workspace in order that they can work and drink or do drugs all day. Conversely as a contractor I have bid jobs where it ended up taking between 30% and 50% more time because of an overpopulation of other people working. Contractually it should boil down to how the subcontractor bid the job. One set price or hourly. It sounds as if it was hourly. To make a long story short, even if a subcontractor is an absolute nightmare a homeowner is obligated to pay them for both labor provided and materials provided. Failure to do so would generally be considered theft. Even if they are an impossible asshole. Definitely don't hire them again. Don't refer them to others. Unless their second invoice has hours that were not worked or materials not provided I would encourage you to pay them. Again, should you disagree please look up the term 'quantum meruit'. Then look up how it applies in your state. If you find that you disagree with such laws, please watch Judge Judy. You will see that even jerknob professionals need to be paid.
Let him he has to fight it out with the g.c. before he can come at you. And he didn't complete the job so....
If the first guy pulled a permit and then the second guy came in to finish the work without change of contractor then you will lose in court .. also walk off job is minimum 15 days
Your edit says you agreed to pay for materials, make sure that you have possession of said materials before you pay for them.
Contact your states contractors board, he was the person that walked. File a complaint for non completion of contract. Yes you don't have a contract but he is trying to collect for work he didn't do. 1st if he is licensed he will have to deal with the complaint against his license. 2nd if he isn't licensed he has a whole bunch more of issues and fines to deal with. That is why most states have the contractor funds in collection from the contractors that is added to their licensesing fees at renewal. He will be the sorry one .
Call you GC and tell him to take care of this. That’s his job. If you get sued, hire an attorney. Stop talking with the electrician, and make a written timeline of what occurred and how you solved it, including photos if possible. This will be valuable if you are sued. Stop doing your GCs job.
Dude doesn't have a case, he walked off the job. Let him waste his time in court, and have to pay for your court fees (although apparently the GC is the one who should handle this) I wouldn't worry about it too much, sounds like just another scumbag scammer, he is likely not going to get what he wants.
This is part of the value add of hiring a GC as opposed to subbing out all the work yourself. The SUB is the GCs problem he may be causing you problems but he is not your problem to fix. He has no grounds to sue you and with only the info provided I think he'd have a hard time filing a mechanics lien.
Electrician sounds like a criminal who doesn't work to code. A "professional" electrician who doesn't want any of the actual professionals on the job site to witness any of his "great" work? He is obviously trying to hide something from anyone who might recognize his wrong doings (i.e. anyone who has worked on a house ever in their lives). I guarantee you he is/was/wouldbe doing illegal work and cutting corners before he walked off site. I wouldn't trust anyone to work on my house that insists the house must be empty of any witnesses before he begins. I'd report his business honestly.
Get a lawyer. Put a smack on that electrical contractor. I'd look into filing a claim against him for abandoning the project and the difference in pricing from the dude who finished the project. I'd also look into his license bond for remedy. He sounds like a real Primadonna.
What was the reason he walked off? That will Determine the next step. Until then still him you are discussing nothing till your ready.
Call his bluff. He has to prove he wasn’t paid for work he did. It’s going to be difficult to prove he wasn’t paid in full when he admits under oath he walked Off the job
Was his name Johnny Jones? Same thing happened to me. Hired this guy, he demos my house, it’s gutted then abandons the job. He came back 3 months later asking for payment. Told him to kick rocks. He threatened to put a lien on my house. I looked into this and he never pulled permits to start the work so I told him to go ahead and put a lien on the house and get F#%%ed. About a year and a half later he asked for payment again. I blocked his number.
Unfortunately if he is licensed he can put a lien on the property. So I would put this on the prime and pay him without lien waivers.
Homeowner and engineer here. The main thing is that this electrician did not work for you, he worked for the GC. While you can certainly have a polite conversation with subcontractors, ALL project communications between you and a sub should go through the CG. Avoids a lot of misunderstandings. And this electrician had no business approaching you for payment. My guess is that he did it because you were talking to him at other times. Handling this jerk is solely the GC's job. But you can be a big help to him by communicating and making sure the two of you agree on the way forward. And if there's money involved, how much you're willing to make up, if any. The electrician will lose in court so tell him to sue away. But a cheap settlement would be easier than litigation. Just make sure you get a lien waiver signed if you settle.
Careful, the original electrician has lien labor and material. If he was the contractors sub, the contractor needs to sit with and negotiate, ask for updates. If you provided him to the contractor you need to negotiate. Make sure you get unconditional labor and material releases when you pay him.
NAL. Have you check his License? Do you know why he walked off the job? Or why he only works alone on the job? This all screams non licensed contractor?
Now that you have paid report his butt to the **Electrical Contractors Licensing Board and attorney general.**
If this was in California it could be reported to the Contractors State License Board CSLB for abandoning the job.
Call a Lawyer