LSV Electrical was the company that Ortiz Construction subcontracted the electrical work to for the installation of my cabinets. This was not disclosed to me as part of the original quote from Home Depot. I discovered their connection with the project in the process of researching the required permits for this project. The Home Depot quote for the cabinets and installation included a full detailed quote from Ortiz Construction for the installation services. The installation required electrical work ? some receptacles and recessed lights needed to be moved. The electrical work was $1,800. In addition, I was charged $250 for the ?Permit Fee.? I expressed my concern about the cost of the electrical work knowing how much work really needed to be done. I accepted the quote, since I did not have the time to do the installation myself. Ortiz Construction with LSV Electrical showed up to start the installation. They took inventory of the cabinets, outlined the location of the cabinets and cut holes in the walls to accommodate the electrical work. That is when the trouble started. The electrician from LSV Electrical told me that there were more units to be installed than were on his list. I told him that this made no difference to me, since all the units were clearly outlined on the drawings that I had signed and that they had arrived with on the job site. They had also estimated having to run a wire all the way back to the circuit breaker box as part of the installation. Since I had wired the basement myself, I showed the electrician a receptacle he could use as a starting point. He even admitted that this saved him half a day of work. Ortiz then informed me that this would require a change order and that they were going to charge me for the additional work. They stopped all work, presented me with a change order totaling $680 for items in the drawings that they had ?inadvertently overlooked? with no credit for the work that I had saved them. I called Home Depot to complain, and the manager simply told me that it was OK with them for Ortiz to charge me more for mistakes they had made in their estimations. I reluctantly signed the change order, since at that point my entire basement was unusable due to all the unpacked cabinets and openings in the walls. In the process of moving one of the recessed lights, the LSV electrician broke the light. I asked him to fix it. He simply replied that it would be an additional change order for $300. He said that the light was ?about to fail anyway?. I refused the change order, and the light is still broken today. On December 7, I called the Home Depot store manager to complain about the change orders and the cabinet color. Before calling the Home Depot store manager, I checked the Arlington County on-line permit system, and discovered that Ortiz had not pulled a permit for the work. Here are the points I covered with the manager: 1. The change orders were unacceptable, since they were for items clearly marked on the drawings. The store manager would have to call Ortiz and ask. 2. The change orders did not take into account work that I had legitimately saved the electrician. He would have to ask Ortiz. 3. No permit was pulled. I demanded my $250 back. He would have to ask Ortiz. Ortiz (as an agent for LSV) came back with the excuse that they did not pull permits until the work was substantially complete so that they would not incur change fees. I reminded Home Depot that the code requires permits to be pulled before work commences and that Arlington County does not assess change fees unless there is a significant change in the scope. Ortiz said they were standing behind their change orders. I reminded the Home Depot store manager that it was his responsibility to get this straightened out. Since I did not have contractual privity with Ortiz or LSV for that matter, my next step was to inform Arlington County and the state of Virginia about the actions taken. A day later, a permit miraculously appeared under my address. That same day, the store manager called back to let me know that Ortiz was refunding part $150 of the permit fee, and $350 of the electrical installation fee based on the wiring not run to the circuit breaker box. I had Arlington County come in and do the inspection required under the permit, and as I expected, the worked failed inspection on numerous counts ? wiring concealed before the proper inspection was performed, one switch mis-wired and no extension boxes on receptacles behind the cabinets. The latter is a fire hazard, since the wiring is not shielded from the plywood in the cabinets, which is highly flammable due to the glues and finished used in the cabinets themselves. Four months later, I am completing the installation myself. I cannot trust LSV Electrical to complete properly, and I have to fix all the problems that they created while they were here during the initial installation.
