Contract dispute between Penticton man and construction company

A Penticton man and a local construction company are having a dispute over contractual agreements about a carriage home.

Kevin Buck says his new but unfinished carriage house is not what he asked and paid for.

Buck hired “The Radeck Group” to build a lane-way house for his daughter, behind his home on the 300 block of Scott Avenue.

Buck says once the house was close to being finished, he started noticing flaws. He says he asked about them — and he received quite the response.

“You owe us the rest of our money, and we’re not sending anyone back to your property until were paid,” said Buck.

In total, Bucks says there are 26 deficiencies with the carriage home including inadequate insulation, nails showing in the roof and loose side panels on the house.

“They never passed a single inspection the first time out,” Buck told Global News on Saturday.

1:52 City of Calgary charges contractor following multiple complaints

Buck says while he does owe $10,000 more per the original agreement, the extra $30,000 owed is not right.

The original timeline for the project was supposed to be four months, Buck adds, but has stretched out for over a year.

When Global Okanagan reached out to the Radeck Group, they responded with a letter of comment.

“It is unfortunate that events surrounding the construction of a carriage home for Mr.Buck has gotten to this point. Mr. Buck engaged Radec to design and build a standard carriage house, and is in direct violation of our construction contract by refusing to pay his invoice upon reaching occupancy. We received the final occupancy certificate from the City of Penticton and then did a final walk through with Mr.Buck on Aug 8, 2019, but Mr. Buck would not sign or acknowledge our standard walk-through deficiency list in spite of noting 16 deficient items that needed attention. We then continued to complete the deficiencies that were observed during the walk-through. We had completed 10 of the 16 items in a few days. We then tried to have Mr.Buck acknowledge this list again on Aug 12, 2019, but he would not acknowledge us. As per our contract we again requested payment offering a compromise to hold back a smaller amount for the few small items remaining. Mr.Buck again refused to pay his invoice as per contract. The only way to protect ourselves as a builder in this situation is to not incur any more expenses by stopping work. The estimated amount of remaining work is $1500 where Mr.Buck is owing over $30,000. On Oct 7, 2019 Mr. Buck stated “​I believe a compromise can be worked out but I absolutely refuse to pay any more money until the project has been completed in full.”
We then suggested a face to face meeting. During this meeting we suggested putting the payment owed to us in a trust account until the work was complete. Which did not happen.​ One of the main issues of concern for Mr.Buck is the smell in the suite above the garage. The suite above the garage was designed and built to BC building code specifications and passed ventilation inspections. The fact that it smells upstairs is attributable to improper use of the garage/storage space below the suite, NOT to faulty design/construction. The smell described in the suite above the garage/storage space suggests that Mr. Buck is using his garage to conduct unlawful business within a residential zone, which appears to be meat processing activities in an unlicensed facility. The smell issue is caused by Mr. Buck being in direct violation of multiple city by-laws within a home than was not designed for that type of use. We have tried to compromise multiple times, and we have attempted to complete any deficiencies back in August. We just expect Mr. Buck to pay his invoice as per contract or to show a willingness to compromise.
We will be seeking legal counsel from this point forward, and no other comments on the matter will be made.”

Currently, the project is on hold. Buck has refused to pay any more money while Radeck has refused to fix any of the deficiencies on the home.