Material Substitutions
Another common problem stemming from a lack of communication and/or an unclear determination of who’s in charge is unauthorized material substitutions. You or your contractor should specify in your plans in writing exactly what materials are to be used with acceptable substitutions where applicable. When you use a designer or architect their plans will (or should) have a complete materials list that specifies exactly what they want used on all aspects of the job. When a sub-contractor reads those plans and does a quote based on those specifications, he or she is legally agreeing to follow those plans as written. Following this procedure gives you solid recourse if you feel that unauthorized changes are being made.
As you may understand from planning your kitchen design, specifying materials is a time-consuming job requiring a lot of research and legwork. Putting those specifications in writing and including samples like paint chips as guides is a good way to make it clear that you will not accept changes without your permission.
