GREG SENGER CONSTRUCTION

Be advised that doing business with contractor Greg Senger Construction Inc. may result in having to pay twice to get the job done. That is what happened to us. The contractor installed siding on an addition to our home in 2020. The installed siding did not meet the City of Richland Building Code requirements and the City Building Inspector issued a Correction Notice. The contractor never came back to look at the siding problem. The building wrap ("Tyvek") was visible between courses in the lap siding in many places. There was zero overlap in the siding. The contractor had been paid for the siding installation before the problem was identified. Many months went by and there was no action from the contractor to correct the siding. After almost a year, we had a carpenter replace the deficient siding for a cost of nearly $7,000. The City Building Inspector then did the final inspection, cleared the Correction Notice and closed out the Building Permit. We attempted to recover our damages in small claims court, twice, where the claims were dismissed without prejudice and we were instructed by the District Court judge to take our case to Superior Court for mediation because the case was considered to be a “dispute” with the contractor. Bear in mind, we did not issue the Correction Notice, it was the City of Richland, and it was issued because the City found the siding not to be in compliance with the Building Code. Thus the Court considers the City Building Code requirements, which are law in the City of Richland, to be in “dispute” by the contractor. The City Building Inspector informed us that it is not uncommon to have Correction Notices issued for deficient contractor work that never gets corrected. He said the City has no way to enforce contractor violations of the Building Code for remodeling and addition work. The City provides no support to the citizen, us, in this case, in defending the City Building Code. The contractor can simply thumb their nose at the City Correction Notice and walk away, as happened in our case with Greg Senger Construction Inc. It is shame that we have to pursue a law suit at the Superior Court because the contractor didn’t comply with the City Building Code. According to several lawyers we have discussed this with, our court costs would be $25 to $30K, recoverable from the contractor if we prevail. If the contractor wiggles off the hook in Superior Court, then the City of Richland Building Code is not actually the law and a contractor can successfully thumb their nose at a City Building Code Correction Notice and walk away from the deficient work.