Luke Danes had been considering having his basement finished for a few years and finally in 2021 decided to have the work done. He contacted James Construction Services after receiving a positive referral about their company. Joe James, the owner of James Construction Services, visited Mr. Danes' home and provided Mr. Danes with a detailed estimate for the cost of the work. This estimate totaled $75,000 plus HST. Mr. Danes was satisfied with this estimate and decided to hire James Construction Services without consulting any other construction companies. The parties executed a contract with the details of the agreement on in June 2021. A deposit of 40% of the contract amount was provided by Mr. Danes upon signing of this contract. Construction began on Mr. Danes' home on July 2, 2021 and took approximately four weeks to complete. During construction Mr. Danes was out of town for work but had arranged for his friend Susan to check in the construction every few days which he did. Mr. Danes provided a further 20% of the contract price upon completion of half of the work as agreed. When Mr. Danes returned from his business trip the work was approximately 90% complete. Mr. Danes reviewed the work upon his return and did not note any issues. James Construction Services did not encounter any difficulties during the project and everything went as smooth as could be expected. The work was completed on or about August 3, 2021. In accordance with the contract, Mr. James sent Mr. Danes his final invoice on August 4, 2021 for the remaining balance. After work was completed Mr. Danes reviewed the final product and discovered deficiencies and was not pleased thus he refused to pay the final invoice. Mr. Danes proceeded to send Mr. James an email indicating his refusal to pay in light of his dissatisfaction with the work completed. This email did not specify exact deficiencies. Mr. James immediately replied to this email offering to meet Mr. Danes at the property to discuss his concerns - Mr. Danes did not reply. Mr. James followed up with Mr. Danes via email once per week for the next five weeks - he never received a reply or payment for the invoice.

Third Party invoice.

INVOICE

October 31, 2021

Work completed:

• Remove existing drywall
• Supply and install new drywall
• Remove existing flooring
• Supply and install new flooring
• Repair 4 electrical outlets

$20,000.00

HST: $2,600.00

TOTAL: $22,600.00

Payment received: $22,600.00; November 4, 2021

Third Party Report

August 13, 2021

I, David McLabb, attended the home of Luke Danes after receiving a frantic phone call from Mr. Danes about the work completed by another contractor in his basement.

I attended the property on August 12, 2021 to review the work completed in the basement and found it to be unacceptable as per Ontario Building Code requirements. To note, the following deficiencies were found:

1. Improper completion of drywall leading to cracks and nail pops in the walls
2. Incorrect joints on vinyl flooring leading to buckling in the floors
3. Incomplete electrical outlets causing a safety hazard if outlet were to be used

All of the above deficiencies need to be corrected in order for the basement to appear presentable. In order to correct the deficiencies, the drywall and flooring need to be entirely removed and redone. Unfortunately, this also means that new materials have to be purchased as their removal will cause excess damage and render the materials unusable.

I anticipate the cost to correct such deficiencies will be $20,000 plus HST (material and labour).

It is my professional opinion, with over thirty years in the construction business, that the work of the previous contractor was not only subpar but also unacceptable. I would never charge a client for work done to the standard of the work done at Mr. Danes' home.

WITNESSES:

Plaintiff: Joe James, Robert Kerry (you have elected not to call Graham Lite as it would be repetitive evidence)

Defendant: David McLabb (third party contractor)

We will prepare questions for David McLabb for defence witness cross examination based upon invoice and Third party report.