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Missouri Construction Law Questions & Answers
1 Answer | Asked in Consumer Law, Contracts and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: Can a sub-contracted electrician be sued for shoddy and dangerous wiring of a home? We keep finding problems and hazards

The sub-contractor was brought onto the job because he “needed work”. His duty was to rough in all electrical work. We are finding loose wires that are hot, wires that do not go to anything, and overloaded breakers caused by too many lights/receptacles on a circuit. We are now paying another... Read more »

John Michael Frick
John Michael Frick
answered on May 24, 2023

Legally, yes you can sue the original electrician for not performing his work in a good and workmanlike manner.

But I would be very skeptical about the electrician having non-exempt assets from which you may be able to collect any judgment based on your statement that “he needed work.”...
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1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law, Business Law and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: 1 cnt diceptful business practices and 1 cnt stealing. 1st offence. not guilty Whats going to happen. Can I beat it
Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Oct 18, 2022

No one here know the facts, the evidence, and how testimony will be viewed. Until a jury renders a guilty verdict and it is upheld on appeal, anyone can theoretically beat any charge.

2 Answers | Asked in Construction Law and Contracts for Missouri on
Q: Roofing contractor signs contract & accepts $9000 down payment for job. He uses money for himself

doesn’t replace it & doesn’t order roofing materials as promised. Isn’t contract breached at this point?

Robert Grant Pennell
Robert Grant Pennell
answered on Apr 28, 2022

As always, Mr. Eisenberg is correct.

A contract breach occurs when one party fails to perform (or whose performance deviates from) what was contracted. A common problem for contracting homeowners is the absence of required terms in the contract. To piggyback on Mr. Eisenberg’s example,...
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2 Answers | Asked in Construction Law and Contracts for Missouri on
Q: Roofer took 9,000 down payment in Nov’21 signed a contract & roof wasn’t done until Nov 2022 Is the contract still valid

He used our money for his own purposes & then couldn’t afford to replace it, fed me lie after lie, I chased him down for a year. His dad finally loaned him the money so I wouldn’t press charges. I paid for all materials/labor. Finished the roof a year later Nov 2022. Now he wants to be paid... Read more »

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Apr 5, 2022

Your contract governs. I think you misstated something. You claim that you entered into the contract in November 2021 and he finished the work in November 2022. We are only in early April 2022. Although it took longer than expected for him to finish the roof, unless you’ve suffered financial... Read more »

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1 Answer | Asked in Contracts and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: If a judge grants a motion to compel discovery and the question is only partially answered, what recourse do I have?

An important part of my case is to prove the inexperience of workers. The discovery question asked for names, addresses, and phone numbers of suppliers and workers for the project. After refusal to answer, a motion to compel the answer to the question was granted. An answer was received, but... Read more »

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Jun 7, 2021

You could file a motion for sanctions for failure to comply with the judge’s order. First, contact opposing counsel and request a full answer. If necessary, consider getting the information through a deposition.

1 Answer | Asked in Construction Law and Contracts for Missouri on
Q: Can I go under contract on more than one house?

This is not a construction loan. We are buying the home from the builder once complete. We went under contract on a custom built home 7/4/2020 with completion 12/25/2020. We signed an amendment extension 01/04/2021 for it to be completed 4/30/2021. The house is just framed. So there’s no way it... Read more »

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Feb 28, 2021

You need to have an attorney read your contract to see if it provides an out. In general, a party to a valid contract may not simply change his or her mind. A house purchase is way too large a contract to guess as to your rights and remedies. It will cost you something to confer with a local... Read more »

1 Answer | Asked in Construction Law and Contracts for Missouri on
Q: Out of state customer signed a construction contract on 10/26/20 and on 11/30/20 backed out and wants down payment back.

I am an Insulation Contractor from Illinois where I live and work full time. My client, whom I’ve never met face-to-face (we’ve only communicated via texts and phone calls) dialed me from New York, where he lives and works and requested a quote for Crawlspace Encapsulation for his new future... Read more »

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Dec 2, 2020

I suggest that you repost your question and list your location as Illinois rather than Missouri, because you've got a state law issue.

1 Answer | Asked in Contracts and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: Is the contractor responsible for replacing my pool. They tore it down insurance company approved parts not the pool

Contractor said pool was approved by insurance

Insurance only approved parts contractor never found parts took the pool down anyway and cut the walls in half left the pool debris in my yard said were not responsible for the pool but we could finance a new one through them or fight it out... Read more »

Ana Maria Del Valle-Aguilera
Ana Maria Del Valle-Aguilera
answered on Jul 22, 2020

You need to contact an attorney immediately that can look into the contract between you and your contractor as well as local laws that may offer you some protection. Collecting from such a person may be very difficult unless the contractor was licensed and insured. An attorney will be able to look... Read more »

1 Answer | Asked in Consumer Law, Contracts and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: Can I sue the seller or contractor?

I purchased a house in Aug 2019. There was rotted would that i wanted replaced and the banks underwriter was requiring to be replaced. The receipt from the contractor stated the wood was replaced. It wasnt replaced. It was temporarily fixed. My basement has been getting rained in at the spot of the... Read more »

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Jul 20, 2020

If you did not hire the contractor then I don't think you have a legal basis to sue the contractor. But I believe it is worth looking into suing the sellers for violation of Missouri's Merchandising Practces Act (MPA). Here's a blog article that I wrote. Beware, Missouri's... Read more »

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law, Civil Litigation and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: Would a County Prosecutor be the person to approach about a case of fraud?

A Contractor I hired to remodel my home merely covered ceilings with new drywall rather than removing damaged, molded tiles, insulation, & wood. He did the same with plywood on the floors. This was unknown to me until after I fired him & hired a new Contractor. The floors are now COVERED... Read more »

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Jul 2, 2020

You could contact the Missouri Attorney General's office. If work was done poorly, as opposed to your money being taken and no work done, unfortunately that office is unlikely to go after the contractor on your behalf. You'd need to hire your own attorney to sue but before doing so you... Read more »

1 Answer | Asked in Construction Law and Contracts for Missouri on
Q: I’m a small construction business owner in St. Louis MO. I just signed a commercial contract w/ a school in G.C. IL.

The school requested the usual docs. Such as to be a policy holder on my Ins., Minimum $1m policy etc. but they also asked for copies of my workers drug & background checks. My workers are independent sub-contractors. I’ve never needed to drug test them & I do my own background checks... Read more »

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Apr 20, 2020

Your contract controls as to the requisite background checks. If you don’t understand the contractual requirements, and it sounds like you don’t, you should have an attorney review the document.

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law, Traffic Tickets, Civil Rights and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: can a cop forcefully make an arrest without ever obtaining my identity

i brokedown and received promission to leave suv there for couple hours and started to walk and then a vernon county deputy turned around and quickly got out the squad car and started to run up on me with taser drawn and forcefully put handcuffs on me told me i was in possession of stolen plates... Read more »

Gary Kollin
Gary Kollin
answered on Sep 6, 2019

So if a police officer sees you next to a person, drives by, hears a gunshot, looks in rear view mirror, sees the guy on the ground. Cop turns car around, drives back, sees guy wounded and a gun next to him, the officer cannot arrest you because he first did not identify you?

1 Answer | Asked in Construction Law and Real Estate Law for Missouri on
Q: just bought a house and found a huge problem with the foundation. Hugh bulge in wall and cracked. Covered by box

House had foundation work done but didn’t notice any problems. Haven’t moved in yet what should I do. The living room wall looks like it’s gonna explode has a two inch bulge splitting the dry wall. Just closed on the house 4 days ago.

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Jul 3, 2019

I’m sorry to hear about your “new” house. A house is a huge purchase. You should meet with a real estate attorney promptly to review your sale contract and disclosure form and assess whether you might be able to achieve a satisfactory resolution. A relevant question is whether the seller... Read more »

1 Answer | Asked in Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: If I have a contractor build an earth dam for me and 2yrs later the dam fails ? Is that contractor liable ?
Tim Akpinar
Tim Akpinar
answered on Jul 14, 2019

It's difficult to say, based on the brief facts. In institutional settings, the parties generally formalize the work scope into an engineering specification, a civil engineer provides a design, a P.E. signs off on it, surveys are done, soil testing is done, among other measures to ensure a... Read more »

1 Answer | Asked in Civil Litigation, Construction Law, Contracts and Social Security for Missouri on
Q: Does You Guys Law Firm Take LawSuits AgainSt The SoCial SerVices In The State Of Missouri In JasPer CounTy MissOuri
Tim Akpinar
Tim Akpinar
answered on Jan 7, 2019

This is more of a question-answer board. Try reposting your question with some additional details and hopefully an attorney could pick it up to provide some direction after seeing the basis of a suit you're contemplating.

Tim Akpinar

1 Answer | Asked in Consumer Law, Contracts and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: What is the duty of care owed by a furnace repairman when, after replacement of heat exchanger in an oil furnace, furna

After replacing heat exchanger, furnace burned rich, creating soot, smoke, and odor. Serviceman refuses to address repair, citing lack of tools and claiming rich mixture was pre-existing.

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Ronald J. Eisenberg
answered on Nov 20, 2018

Here's an excerpt from a Missouri case that my provide guidance:

"When a person possesses knowledge or skill superior to that of an ordinary person, the law requires of that person conduct consistent with such knowledge or skill. W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the...
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1 Answer | Asked in Consumer Law, Personal Injury, Civil Litigation and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: Do I have a lawsuit against the electric company?

I was putting a metal roof on our porch today and my ladder slid, when I caught myself my arm touched a service drop that runs to the meter loop, when it done so I was electrocuted causing a small burn on my arm and numbness and tingling in my hand and arm, when I looked at it I noticed it was... Read more »

Kevin Webb
Kevin Webb
answered on Nov 23, 2017

While this is a good question, it's important to follow up with an attorney in person. That attorney can discuss with you the importance of negligence, and your likelihood to prevail in a suit.

One thing that is considered when your case is evaluated is the possibility that you...
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1 Answer | Asked in Civil Litigation, Construction Law, Family Law and Divorce for Missouri on
Q: Can I be sued for bad work my ex husband did while married that I had no involvement in?

We are now divorced, but we're married when he did a bad remodeling job. They are now sueing me because we were married at the time. I had no involvement in the job, business, or contract. We have always had separate bank accounts, no joint assets, and I received no money for this work. I knew... Read more »

Kevin Webb
Kevin Webb
answered on Nov 23, 2017

It can be frustrating, but it is a common frustration that one can be innocent, yet still must spend money on an attorney to prove that innocence. Fortunately, you are not wrongly accused of a criminal accusation; I know that doesn't make this any less painful, but it is also a clear example... Read more »

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law, Personal Injury, Constitutional Law and Construction Law for Missouri on
Q: In Case 001-3912, I signed a written waiver of counsel form mandated by Mo.Rev.Stat. Section 600.051. However, Case

001-3912 was dismissed by nolle prosequi. Could the form I'd signed in Case 001-3912 constitute compliance with Section 600.051 for my subsequent Case 011-2189 and relieve the trial court from obtaining a new form pertinent to the new case?

Kevin Webb
Kevin Webb
answered on Nov 23, 2017

Each case is its own case. Each case requires going through the same steps over and over again. The fact that you are asking this question suggests that you might not want to sign the form this time.

I doubt that the court will rely on a waiver in a different case for this case. That...
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