Need advise with a condo renovation dispute

[bkkdriller]

Dear readers,

I am looking for a reliable lawyer, preferably a construction lawyer in the Hua Hin area. I need advice for a dispute with my contractor about the non-fulfillment of an agreement for the remodeling of my condo.

Despite good preparation with a detailed contract and construction drawings, a number of things went wrong. Although the contractor acknowledges the mistakes, he is not willing to correct them and the work is still not finished after months of delay.

As a result, the contractor has paid a penalty following a delay clause in the contract. But now he is no longer willing to finish the job.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

Best regards, Henk

[OneMoreFarang]

Is it crystal clear what he should have done and didn't do?

It seems often "our" expectations are not the same as what they think they have to do or get away with.

 

I.e. with my condominium renovation I expected straight walls, but I didn't specify that anywhere. Like, sure they should be straight, isn't that obvious? It seems the contractor and the construction team had other standards than I imagined. Luckily this was sorted peacefully, but it is one of those things.

 

Good luck!

[JBChiangRai]

A few points.

 

You have to look at mistakes the contractor makes from his point of view.  How expensive/difficult is it for him to rectify the mistakes? Are you nit-picking or does it make a major difference? If it'/s going to cost him a lot of time/mney, he will walk away every time.

 

Penalties need to be reasonable and should never tip the contractor into a loss-making situation or he will walk away.  Most contractors will always make sure the money they are holding covers the part of the contract they are currently doing.  Even though the contract may say it's payments on completing a particular stage, the upfront deposit payment will be in the contractors calculations so he is never experiencing a loss.

 

I would advise against legal action, it will take up to 7 years and you'll end up with a legal bill over a million baht and you may lose anyway, don't expect the contractor to tell the truth to a judge or the judge to follow the law.

 

We build houses and make moo baans as a business.  On one of the houses, the contractor put the kitchen door in the wrong place.  By the time I noticed, it was a big job to move it and I wasn't going to put the contractor thought that when I could redesign the fitted kitchen.

[freeworld]

Was anyone appointed to supervise the contractors work, approving materials, QC control during the work?

 

Found this link for Hua Hin https://www.huahinlaw.com/service/

 

On their website they mention construction and contract law and conflicts.

[CharlieH]

More suited to Real Estate forum....MOVED

[Njoku]

On 4/22/2024 at 10:54 AM, JBChiangRai said:

A few points.

 

You have to look at mistakes the contractor makes from his point of view.  How expensive/difficult is it for him to rectify the mistakes? Are you nit-picking or does it make a major difference? If it'/s going to cost him a lot of time/mney, he will walk away every time.

 

Penalties need to be reasonable and should never tip the contractor into a loss-making situation or he will walk away.  Most contractors will always make sure the money they are holding covers the part of the contract they are currently doing.  Even though the contract may say it's payments on completing a particular stage, the upfront deposit payment will be in the contractors calculations so he is never experiencing a loss.

 

I would advise against legal action, it will take up to 7 years and you'll end up with a legal bill over a million baht and you may lose anyway, don't expect the contractor to tell the truth to a judge or the judge to follow the law.

 

We build houses and make moo baans as a business.  On one of the houses, the contractor put the kitchen door in the wrong place.  By the time I noticed, it was a big job to move it and I wasn't going to put the contractor thought that when I could redesign the fitted kitchen.

Yep would agree, they have different standards here meaning lower in most cases, unless you have it in black and white and both have signed off and a lot off money at stake forget it...

 

I was a builder back home...I turned a blind eye here and there, you can only tell them so many times...of course some things I didnt stand for...