Arecent decision1 from the B.C. Supreme Court
effectively provides a roadmap for what not to do when a dispute
between a subcontractor and a general contractor arises on a
commercial construction project. It provides a cautionary tale for
how matters can spiral out of control and result in substantial and
significant legal fees and damages being incurred when a
contractual dispute is not addressed in a timely and reasonable
manner.
The subcontractor in this case, a steel stud framing and drywall
subcontractor on a residential condominium project, walked off the
job after a payment dispute. It then issued bogus invoices and
filed an inflated claim of builders' lien on title to the
project. It proceeded to pursue its inflated claims through an
eight day trial only to concede in closing argument that its
inflated invoices were not in fact what had been agreed between the
parties as the amount owing at the relevant time.
