The Disputed Variation
Full recovery of the outstanding amount including the disputed hot water cylinder replacement costs.
The Situation
A plumbing firm was engaged by a residential developer for renovations. After the job was done, the developer refused to pay the final invoice, claiming that the replacement of a (dead) hot water cylinder hadn't been authorised and that the costs were too high. The developer tried to argue the work was outside the agreed scope (fixing the leaking cylinder) to avoid settling the bill.
The Outcome
We stepped in to manage the dispute. Despite the developer's objections regarding the scope of work, we successfully recovered the full outstanding amount of approximately $6,800 for our client.
Takeaway
Despite the HWC being dead, the plumber didn’t get authority to replace it (he should have - keep your customers in the loop!). Even without authority to replace (there really was no other option), we were quickly and easily able to get an order for the client to make payment in full, including our costs.