Approved change orders - Building new Home

[juwantme]

Out of curiosity if you have a change order not signed but was installed in the home construction is the purchaser required to pay? Correct me if I am wrong but I thought a home builder can only proceed with a change order once it has been signed?

A scenario if we go to the lawyers and in the statement of adjustment it indicates the change order was approved but there was no signature are we the purchaser still on the hook for it?

Thanks

[G]

Ask yourself...did you ask for the change? Was is installed to your safisfaction? If yes, just pay up. We waterfalled both sides of our island and they "forgot" to add it to our SOA so we brought it to their attention. They ended up giving us the $4000 upgrade for free.

[Lex350]

AS far as I'm concerned if it wasn't signed for, you aren't responsible. This happened when I built a house. The builder put in a jetted tub and I only asked for a soaker tub. They threatened to remove the jetted tub. I said I was fine with that as long as it didn't impact my move in date. They then let it slide.


Also at work we have client's that request on site changes all the time. We will not do them until a change order is signed. We've been burned by that before.

[FraserB]

What does the contract spell out in terms of change orders and how they are accepted?

There is the possibility that if a response is not given within a certain timeframe, the change is considered to be accepted.

[gwill]

2 ways to look at this, did you request the change order and never got around to signing it? If so the builder did you a favour in getting your house how you wanted it and avoided any delays with possession. You should pay for it.

If you requested pricing on multiple items(or just one) and decided against the change(s) and the builder added an upgrade you decided against then no you shouldn't pay for it.

But if your just trying to scam a free upgrade and you told them via email you wanted it and they built it for you then you might want to keep that in mind even if you didn't sign a change order.

Edited: Also before you decide on any advice here I would look over your contract with your builder to see if it covers this specific type of detail. Builders do put in clauses that will force charges onto the owner if something comes up mid construction. For example architectural controls.

[Sugarphreak]

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[gwill]

If it is a technicality they will screw him back when it comes to warranty work.