Construction & Renovation: Contractor Disputes Including Workmanship Quality Concerns, Among Other Issues

Question: What are common legal disputes between property owners and contractors?

Answer: Legal disputes between property owners and contractors often involve accusations of poor workmanship by the contractor and non-payment by the owner. These cases are usually extensive, involving laws like the Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30, and often require independent expert evaluations. Proper legal advice is crucial to navigate complex issues like unjust enrichment and consumer protection laws. If you're facing such disputes, Pollock Paralegal offers guidance to resolve your concerns efficiently.

Common Disputes Affecting Contractors

Legal cases wherein the issue in dispute involves a property owner and a contractor are very common. In the Small Claims Court, disputes between a property owner and a contractor are an almost everyday occurrence. It is common that the allegations in construction law cases will involve a property owner alleging defective work or incomplete work and the contractor alleging failure of payment due.

Challenges

Construction law cases can be very challenging to litigate due to the extent of laws involves as well as the extent of evidence usually involved and the need for independent witnesses to inspect and provide expert reports as to what constitutes as proper workmanship and thus whether the trade standards or the contractual specifications for the project were met, valuation of the portion of work properly completed, among other things; and accordingly, even the seasoned legal professional may find construction law cases as burdensome to litigate.  These cases are often extra challenging and troublesome due to the conduct of the parties involved and breach of various legal duties occuring prior to the obtaining legal advice.

Furthermore, lawsuits involving construction or renovation projects commonly include legal issues that go beyond defective workmanship issues and may also include concerns such as unjust enrichment, consumer protection laws, failures to mitigate, among other concerns.