Commercial Defect Work Paul Handles
- Tenant improvement and build-out defects in retail, restaurant, office and medical spaces
- Renovation defects in occupied facilities, including healthcare and public buildings
- Interior partitions, ceilings, doors and hardware, millwork and finishes
- Commercial flooring systems and transitions
- Subcontractor workmanship and backcharge disputes
- Defects identified at turnover and during warranty periods
Specifications Are Detailed, and So Are Disputes
Commercial projects are usually governed by detailed specifications that reference industry standards, plus approved shop drawings and submittals and, often, owner design standards. Defect allegations frequently turn on which of those documents controlled a particular detail. Paul reviews them in date order with RFIs and change orders to identify the requirement that applied when the work was installed.
Tenant Improvement Disputes
Tenant improvement work involves three parties with different interests: the landlord, the tenant and the contractor. Lease work letters define who pays for what and which standards apply. When defects appear, disputes about responsibility can involve all three. Paul identifies the condition, the governing requirement and the party that performed the work, and leaves the allocation under the lease to counsel.
Renovation in Occupied Buildings
Renovation in a building that stays open adds risk. Work is phased, performed at night or around operations, and installed next to existing finishes that must be protected. Paul has spent most of his career doing exactly that, including nearly two decades at O'Hare International Airport. He evaluates whether defects resulted from the installation itself or from conditions created by phasing, protection or later operations.
Subcontractor Defects and Backcharges
When a general contractor backcharges a subcontractor for defective work, the subcontractor often responds that the work was acceptable, that it was damaged by others, or that the correction went beyond the defect. Paul evaluates each of those positions: the original installation, the evidence of damage by others, and the scope and cost of the correction. The repair costs page explains how corrective work is evaluated.
Warranty Period Defects
Some commercial defects only appear after occupancy, during the warranty period. Warranty claims raise their own questions: whether the condition existed at completion, whether it results from use or maintenance, and whether the contractor responded as the warranty required. Paul reviews the warranty terms, the timing of the complaints, the condition of the work and the response, and documents each claimed item on its own facts.