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Job shut down by management/association. What can we do?

We actually have a high rise condo in Chicago combining two units that we have our contract like 45% completed and due to the states shut down the buildings management and association will not allow us back. We have 3-4 days work to collect large payout and due to not working the last 4/5 weeks have had all of both units materials come in and have had to pay for them. Now we may have storage fees/charges next week and the units cabinets hit town next week too. What can we do?

1 reply

May 8, 2020

If the timing of payments and costs has become dangerous for your business, there are a few different actions that might be helpful for straightening things out. First, it'd be smart to take a look at the contract to see what rights you may have. If the customer has acted out of line with the contract, then it's possible they could find themselves in a position of liability - especially in a situation where they don't have the right to shut down work. It's good to be flexible in the face of these coronavirus shutdowns, but it looks like Illinois is mostly allowing construction work to continue. So, if there's a way to continue construction while maintaining safety - and if the customer has blocked you from continuing work without a contractual right to do so - then it's possible a claim could be available against them. And, if a claim is possible, that could be leveraged into solutions like partial payment to float current costs, restarting the job to some limited degree, or at least payment for the storage of materials. Obviously, before things take an adversarial flavor, it'd be wise to first try and talk things out with the customer. If at all possible, reaching a mutually beneficial deal that provides for partial payments and material storage would help to avoid unnecessary stress and disagreement. Plus, if the customer hasn't acted in line with their agreement and they know it - they may be more open to talking about solutions. As a final note - it sounds like you may have double-posted this question. Here's a link to the other question and answer, which contains some additional information regarding material storage: Covid 19 job shut down by management/association.

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