31 - VACCARO ARCHITECTURE, INC.

Intro
1. Personal information:
  1. I have 27 years of continuous experience working in the construction industry as an intern architect from 1996-2003 and as a licensed architect since 2003.
  2. I am a South Carolina licensed architect (#6618) and have owned and operated my own firm on Hilton Head Island since 2003, Vaccaro Architecture, Inc. (SC license #3061). I hold AIA and NCARB certificates. These licenses and certificates require annual renewals and continuing education to remain valid.
  3. My firm specializes in high end, full service custom residential construction projects on Hilton Head, Daufuskie, and the surrounding LowCountry area.
    1. I perform construction administration on the majority of these projects and am usually on a residential job site at least one time per week.
    2. I review contracts between owners and builders on most of my projects
    3. I am familiar with typical and industry standards of construction and locally acceptable standards and thresholds for performance.
    4. In the past five-year span, 84% of my billings have been on custom residential projects. During this past period, I have averaged 17 residential projects per year, with an average of 7 new construction homes and 10 renovation projects per year.
  4. I am or have recently (active terms within the last 3 years) served as a Director on several Boards that are involved in the construction industry in one form or another.
    1. Member of American Institute of Architects - AIA
    2. Member of National Council of Architectural Registration Boards - NCARB
    3. Board Member, Hilton Head regional Habitat for Humanity
    4. Board Member, Palmetto Dunes Property Owners Association Board of Directors
    5. Board Member, Town of Bluffton, SC Construction Board of Appeals and Adjustments
    6. Consulting Architect to Bluffton Promenade Development Architectural Review Board
    7. Consulting Architect to Sandcastles by the Sea Architectural Review Board’
  5. I provide pro bono work for the following organizations
    1. Hilton Head Habitat for Humanity
    2. Daufuskie Island Historical Society
    3. Bluffton Historical Preservation Society
2. Project Information
  1. I chose Rick Bohrer to build this house because I had worked with him on several projects dating back to 2014. Most of these projects were commercial in nature, but I felt he did a good job managing the jobs from both construction and financial perspective. In a few instances there were typical construction type issues with his work and he was diligent in correcting these issues. Therefore, I had reason to believe that he would provide the same level of professionalism on my personal residence.

General Contractor
1. EXHIBIT – Pre-Contract
  1. I provided Rick Bohrer with preliminary drawings and specifications to provide preliminary pricing via emails on 10/22/2019.
  2. Rick Bohrer sent me a preliminary budget on 10/29/2019
  3. I sent him updated plans and specifications on 10/30/2019
  4. I sent a list of proposed unit price changes on 11/7/2019
  5. I sent him updated plans and specifications on 11/25/2019
  6. On 12/10/2019 I issued the Permit (and Construction Set)
  7. On 12/12/2019 at 12:01PM I sent him a link to my budget worksheet that was based off of the numbers he provided me
  8. On 12/12/2019 at 2:27PM Rick Bohrer sent me a schedule of values
2. EXHIBIT – THE CONTRACT - dated December 18th, 2019
  1. Rick Bohrer wrote the Contract, and provided a signed copy to me, which I then signed and returned to him without any changes.
  2. ARTICLE 1 says,” The Contract Documents consist of this Agreement, Conditions of the Contract (General, Supplementary and other Conditions), Drawings, Specifications, Addenda issued prior to the execution of this agreement, all of which form the Contract, and are as fully a part of the Contract as if attached to this Agreement or repeated herein.”
  3. Drawings are called out as Exhibit A in Article 16.1.5
  4. Specification was in the form of notes on sheet A0.1 GENERAL NOTES
    1. Rick Bohrer had all of the Architectural Drawings and Specifications and he was responsible for submitting to the Town of HHI. There is a record of those drawings and his submittal there at the town.
  5. In the Contract Bohrer cites Exclusions (last page) and includes the clause” Any work other than what is shown on the drawings of record”. Drawings of record are permit drawings dated 12/10/2019
  6. ARTICLE 3 RELATIONSHIP OF THE PARTIES says “The Contractor accepts the relationship of trust and confidence established by this Agreement and covenants with the Owner to cooperate with the Architect and Exercise the Contractor’s skill and judgement in furthering the interests of the Owner; to furnish at all times an adequate supply of workers and materials; and to perform the work in an expeditious and economical manner consistent with the Owner’s interests.”
    1. It is important to note that, in good faith, I paid for non-conforming work that he said would be corrected at a later date; specifically, the Paint.
  7. ARTICLE 6 CHANGES IN THE WORK states,” (in section 6.1) The Architect may make minor changes on the Work as provided Section 7.4 of Document 201, the General Conditions of the Contract for Construction.
    1. A Google search for Section 7.4 of Document 201, the General Conditions of the Contract for Construction points directly to AIA Document A201, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction. Later in the Contract, AIA 201-2007 is specifically referenced as a condition for this contract.
  8. ARTICLE 7 states “(7.1.2) Where any cost is subject to the Owner’s prior approval, the Contractor shall obtain this approval prior to incurring the cost.”
    1. This was not done on paint labor as it was never changed from the control estimate and was not specified as an allowance.
  9. ARTICLE 12 states Payment apps shall be every month
    1. This did not happen. There were 10 Pay Apps in 17 months.
  10. ARTICLE 12.2.3 references AIA A201-2007 and other places reference AIA103; conditions within these documents apply to this contract
  11. AIA201 2007 §2.4 If the Contractor defaults or neglects to carry out the Work in accordance with the Contract Documents…
    1. The owner has the right to correct he work
  12. AIA201 2007 §3.1.2 States “Contractor shall perform work in accordance with Contract Documents”
    1. Carpentry Work
    2. Paintwork was not in accordance
    3. HVAC was not in accordance
  13. AIA201 2007 §3.3.1 “Contractor shall supervise and direct the Work…”
    1. Contractor was not there on a regular basis and missed scheduled meetings.
    2. His typical time on site was 15 minutes in the beginning of the day and then he would drive by at the end of the day to see if the site was secure.
  14. AIA201 2007 § 3.3.2 Contractor responsible to the owner for acts and omissions of the Contractor’s Employees, Subcontractors and their agents and employees…”
  15. AIA201 2007 § 3.4.3 Contractor shall not permit unfit persons or persons that are not properly skilled
    1. Painters and carpenters were unlicensed and had teenagers performing work – and unsupervised at that
    2. HVAC contractor could not provide manual or other calculations as generally required for work
  16. AIA201 2007 § 3.5 States contractor shall warrant the work
  17. AIA201 2007 §3.7.2 Contractor shall follow laws
    1. Knowingly hired unlicensed subs
  18. AIA201 2007 § 3.10 Contractor shall provide schedules and (3.10.3 perform as scheduled
  19. AIA201 2007 § 4.2.6 Architect has the authority to reject the work that does not conform to Contract Documents
  20. AIA201 2007 § 4.2.13 The Architect’s decisions on matters relating to aesthetic effect will be final if consistent with the intent expressed in the Contract Documents.
    1. See Paint notes on A0.1
    2. See DIVISION 23: HVAC on A0.1
  21. AIA201 2007 § ARTICLE 6. says contractor is responsible for costs due to negligence or failure of the Contractor, subs, etc...
  22. AIA201 2007 § ARTICLE 6.2.3 The Contractor shall reimburse the Owner for Costs the Owner incurs that are payable to a separate contractor because of the Contractor’s delays, improperly timed activities or defective construction.
  23. AIA201 2007 § ARTICLE 9.5.1.1 allows the Architect to withhold certification for payments for defective work not remedied.
    1. (paint)
  24. AIA201 2007 § ARTICLE 14.1.1 The Contractor can terminate if work is stopped for 30 consecutive days
    1. Bohrer stopped work after one day and an argument over painter labor fees. We were close to the end of the job as far as his fee was concerned $78,520 of $86,000 was paid at the point when he quit. At that point he had been on what he was hoping to be an 8 moth job for 17 months and probably realized that he did not have the manpower or qualified individual to complete the job to local industry standards. So, he quit. He had had tantrums on site before and I had witnessed this with him on other jobs where I was the Architect and he the builder, but he told me in person that he had never quit a job and never would, so I initially just wrote off his actions to another one of his tantrums. However, his emails and threats of liens made the obvious finally clear to me. Unfortunately, the contract spells out reasons that a General Contractor can walk, and his reasons were not listed. He stated he was walking for “nonpayment” but would not revise his payment application in order to receive any payment. In fact, when he finally filed the lien, he did not include any of his unlicensed painter fees that were contested in the payment application that was denied.
3. Refund of General Contractor fee
  1. Consequential damages
    1. I was forced to take over the job and act as GC when he walked off the job. This required just under two months of my full-time commitment to the work and cost me money since I had to work on this job instead of my own business and livelihood.
    2. Since I had to take over GC duties, I cannot sell the house for two years. This has a HUGE potential negative impact on my personal finances if I need to sell.
  2. Wanton and willful neglect
    1. The GC should have been supervising the job and did not.
    2. He knowingly allowed unlicensed carpenters and painters to perform substandard work which he said would all be corrected in the end but then left the job. This is straight out fraud.
    3. He was barely ever on the jobsite to perform supervisor duties
    4. He did not update control estimates and simply charged overages anytime he felt like it and I had to pay just to keep the job moving
    5. There were several examples of neglect that he would have just left in a broken or incomplete state
      1. Insulation
      2. Roof framing
      3. Foundation slab
      4. Various framing areas carpentry
      5. Paint
      6. Concrete at pool
  3. Breach of Contract
    1. He was unable to provide monthly draws and would sometimes get very behind. In 17 months, he provided 10 draw requests
    2. He was unable to provide any sort of real schedule for the work. I would ask for dates and he would send back a schedule that was unattainable and unrealistic. This caused me damages because he originally advertised that the house would be finished in August of 2020. This shows his incompetency.
  4. Laws
    1. He hired unlicensed subs.
    2. He walked off the job because I would not pay for the paint labor for the painter that he fired, then when he filed the lien, the painter money was not requested. I looked for licenses for the companies he said were doing painting and they did not have licenses in the county or town of Hilton Head. That explains why he is not requesting that money. Or is shows that the agrees it was not adequate work.
  5. He was constantly getting in trouble from the neighborhood for bad jobsite conditions
  6. Warranty
    1. I am unable to depend on any warranty for the work. This is extremely important when hiring a GC. Since I cannot depend on his warranty I am deserving of a refund for his fee.

EXHIBIT - PAINT PACKET
1. Issues with Paint
  1. Overspray everywhere -ruined finished components
  2. Drips and sloppy work
  3. Orange peel effect on Trim work
  4. Sloppy cut-ins and poor coverage areas
  5. Wrong type of caulk in many areas
  6. Exterior overspray
2. Original bid was $26,000 for a complete turnkey job.
  1. This number was never changed and the only possible overage would be in paint materials
  2. Contract states in article 5.2 that the contractor shall create and update a control estimate which was $26k
  3. Article 8.5 states that cost is not to be re-imbursed to the contractor due to negligent or faulty work
  4. Through Draw #9, I paid $16,300.00 in Labor costs for Painting (no materials included). This labor needs to be refunded – (See attached receipts)
3. I paid $20,508.00 To re-paint, fix and repair the original painter’s work
  1. (See attached receipts)
4. Contract language refers to drawing for paint performance
  1. (See attached specification section on Paint)
5. The issues with the original Painter were ongoing.
  1. It started with the exterior. I informed Rick Bohrer on several occasions that there was significant overspray, areas that were left unpainted and areas in which damage to finished components existed. He would always respond with a statement like, “we’ll take care of it.” I did not want to slow the job, so I just went along with that.
  2. Once they started on the inside, it became more obvious that the “crew” was unqualified. It comprised of the trim carpenter’s brother as “foreman” and Rick Bohrer told me that the non-painting brother who was the trim carpenter was actually better with the sprayer than the one he had spraying my project.
    1. I continually pointed out areas of significant drips, brush strokes, orange peel, etc. and Rick Bohrer agreed that the entire interior, specifically the Poplar trim needed to be sanded down and re-done. It was that bad. I assumed that the labor for this would be at the painter’s expense (or General Contractor since the General Contractor made no mention of any additional compensation when agreeing with me that the work was not adequate and that it needed to be re-done.
    2. I instructed Rick, that I would prefer this trim to be re-painted using a semi-gloss standard interior paint instead of the “flat” that he had talked me into using originally. Rick agreed and I did not question any additional painting material costs, having felt that the material cost previously paid was sunk costs. However, since there was no mention of labor for correcting the non-conforming work, I never thought he would try to charge for this.
    3. As the work trudged along inside on the corrections, it became obvious that the paint crew had “checked out”. I would go to the jobsite every other day or so and the only painters there would be one or two teenagers.
    4. The repair work just made the paint job worse and it became clear to both Rick and me that this crew was not fit to complete the job.
    5. Rick and I met with the painters and that is when Rick told them he was not paying them to correct their faulty work.
  3. The original paint crew work ended with the original (unlicensed) painters being fired (or walking off the job) due to Rick stating to them that he was not paying them to correct the work. At this time, I was not aware that he had indeed been paying them an hourly rate instead of the turnkey contract control figure that he had originally advertised. At any rate, I was eager to see the new painters that Rick said he hired since the original crew’s entire body of work needed to be redone since the quality was so bad.

EXHIBIT - CARPENTRY PACKET
1. Issues with Carpentry
  1. Interior window sills
  2. Gaps and unlevel floor
  3. Missing trim pieces
  4. The floors were not ever leveled correctly and the initial trim carpenter installed the baseboards, flooring and door trims so that there were
  5. significant gaps between the bottom of the base and finish floor large gaps at thresholds
  6. large gaps and frayed edges at door casing
  7. large gaps at stairs
  8. Excessive use of Bondo due to poor cuts
  9. Undercuts looked like a chainsaw
  10. No sanding
  11. unfinished
2. I paid $4568 to a new carpenter to fix the following issues left behind by initial carpenters:
  1. doors that were not installed true and square
  2. areas of work that were left incomplete and areas of work that were not working
  3. service yard fence and gate, etc.… (but were paid for to original carpenter)
    1. see receipts

EXHIBIT - HVAC PACKET

I paid the HVAC contractor that Bohrer hired for the job in full. Cost was $22,100.00.
ISSUES
1. The guest bedrooms were not getting any air through the ducts
  1. I called 360Heating and Air (the sub hired by Bohrer) and they were unresponsive. They finally sent out a tech and changed a single duct line which did nothing.
  2. I requested a manual calc from the contractor and he could not provide one saying the GC must have one. This shows they just were winging it.
  3. I called a few other companies and got second opinions. 1. Both of these companies said the duct lines were severely undersized for the house and the length of runs.
2. The initial system was not installed correctly.
  1. Ducts undersized
  2. Units not installed correctly
  3. Sloppy work – supplies vents crooked, not installed, etc...
I have paid $15,007.57 to date for repairing the HVAC system
1. 2,590.33 for Hahn’s to repair existing faulty work in current system for main zones
2. $1520.00 for Bluffton Electric to provide wiring and disconnects for additional system
3. $800.00 for JD Johnson Concrete to provide new service concrete pad for new HVAC unit
4. $435.00 for Bluffton Electric to connect the additional system
5. $1,698.00 for Eddie to build new service yard for new HVAC
6. $400.00 for Hector Garcia to repair drywall at HVAC repairs areas
7. $7,564.24 for Hahn’s to install additional system where two rooms were not getting any air.

SUMMARY OF REIMBURSABLE EXPENSES

$ 78,520.00 Refund of entire General Contractor fee
$ 16,300.00 Refund for Original unlicensed Painter Labor costs for Painting
$ 20,508.00 To re-paint, fix and repair the original painter’s work
$ 4,568.00 For Carpentry repairs
$ 15,007.57 To repair the HVAC system

Total $121,403.57