Contractor Disputes Lead to Homeowner Nightmares

I was working on a job a few years ago when one of the contractors told me that they weren't going to do any more jobsite cleanup. Since I was only another subcontractor, I didn't worry about it, but I did notify the General Contractor, who neglected to notified the homeowner.

I continued to clean up my construction mess daily, but it wasn't long before the other contractors found out that one of the contractors wasn't going to clean up their mess, anymore. So why should they?

It was in our contracts and the General Contractor threatened the other contractors and construction workers that he would hire someone to clean up after them, at their expense, if they weren't willing to. This is when the arrogant contractor who started this nightmare, told the General Contractor that he was neither going to pay for the jobsite cleanup or do any of the cleanup, himself.

What a mess and this was only the beginning.

That night I went home and thoroughly examined my contract and found the clause that stated," All contractors shall keep a job clean," however, there wasn't anything mentioned about any penalties, if the jobsite wasn't kept clean.

When I pointed this out to the General Contractor, he started yelling and screaming and telling me that I'd better clean up my mess or else. I told him that I was going to continue to clean up my mess, but that he would have problems, with the other contractors.

A few weeks later, the homeowner approached me and asked me why he needed to pay, for extra cleanup. I felt sorry for the homeowner, but I knew that the General Contractor wasn't going to pay for any jobsite cleanup, out of his own pocket and instead, passed it on to the homeowner.

I told the homeowner that it really wasn't his responsibility, to pay for any additional cleanup, but I also pointed out that the General Contractor would figure out another way to charge him, if he didn't.

Yes, the homeowner ended up paying for extra cleanup, making this another contractor versus homeowner construction nightmare. So remember, make sure that you understand everything within your construction contracts, especially when it relates to jobsite cleanup.