Arriving on site before the owners, Hanson did a quick walk-around of the project and spoke to the superintendent. “Are there any problems that I don’t know about here? The owners just called me and said that they’re unhappy about some things.” The superintendent was puzzled and said, “They were here at lunchtime with some other guy in a shirt and tie, but they never expressed any problems to me.”
When the Kings arrived, Bill could immediately see from their sour look and lack of eye contact when he tried to shake hands that there must be some major issues. “Bill, there are some major problems here and unless they’re fixed we’re going to have a falling out,” John King said. “Tell me what concerns you and what we can do to help,” Hanson replied, anxious to unveil their concerns.
“I’ll go through these problems one by one,” King started. “The siding is the wrong size, texture, and wood species. It won’t look right with the siding stain color we’ve chosen. And most of the windows are wrong. The windows you put in are those crank-out types [casement windows], and we wanted double-hungs. We don’t like what you picked.”
Bill Hanson took a breath and responded: “The siding and windows are identical to the spec house we mimicked to create your home. If you’re unhappy with those things we can certainly change them. It’s not too late for any of that.” “We always wanted those things changed, but you and the architect overlooked our directives,” said the client in a sarcastic tone.
“I’ll have to call the lumberyard and my window supplier to see what the time-frame and cost differences will be on those materials,” Bill added.
The Kings fumed. “Don’t even talk to us about additional money for a screwup caused by you and the architect. We’re not paying another dime! We wanted clear, smooth, heart-cut redwood siding in a 1×12 bevel lap instead of the rough sawn, knotty cedar 1×8 siding that you’ve mistakenly installed.” Hanson wanted to get to the bottom of this quickly without further angering or upsetting the clients. “Let me look into this, and I’ll get back to you by tomorrow morning.”
He left the jobsite and drove directly to the architect’s office. He explained the situation and customer complaint to Chris Solomon. “I don’t get it, Bill. The siding and windows are identical to that used at the spec home the owners wanted us to duplicate. I’ll look through all of my client meeting notes to make sure they never requested those changes, but I’m almost certain they never even brought up the subject before this.” “I agree wholeheartedly, but boy are they upset!” moaned Hanson. Both the architect and builder then reviewed the plans and specifications. The home had been built according to the documentation. The owners were incorrect as far as the paperwork was showing.
The architect and builder contacted the owners by phone and requested a meeting. “Are either of you prepared to accept your mistakes and absorb the additional costs for making the corrections? Unless you’re ready to concede fault, there is no point in meeting with you. Consider yourself fired!” blustered the client.
Eight months went by without any compromises or letting up by either party. The problem evolved into a lawsuit brought by the builder. Depositions were taken. Expert witnesses examined and evaluated the plans and specs. The overall opinion was that the plans and specs were very detailed and specific, and that any reasonable person would be able to understand from the paperwork what they were getting under the construction documents. The case was settled through summary judgment (where the case facts are outlined and presented to a judge in a non-court setting to gain an opinion about the merits or lack thereof involved with the case). The court found in favor of the builder. The monetary balance of the construction contract plus all of the plaintiff’s legal expenses were awarded as damages.
Upon reflection, the architect and builder determined that you can’t make assumptions about the detailing involved with a custom home or the assumed level of understanding of the plans and specs by the clients. To this day, they question what set the owners off.
