Panama Contractors
Posted: Tuesday, December 01, 2009
by Aurelia Masterson
Panama Legal
Introduction – This is a simple how to do it guide to assist our clients in dealing with contractors in Panama. This could be a plumber, carpenter, mover, cabinetmaker, electrician, landscaper or roofer.
Written Agreements Only – Get everything in writing. The contract should be signed by yourself and the contractor. It should clearly state exactly and precisely what work is to be performed and up top what standards. You should photocopy the contractors Cedulla onto the contract so you know who it is. The prices should be spelled out. Who pays for the raw materials should be spelled out.
Raw Materials like Cement, Pain, Tile, and Marble – Make sure the agreement makes sure who pays for what clearly and precisely. Marble comes unpolished generally so include polishing costs. Polishing marble includes getting a 400-pound machine involved, it is not a guy shining it with a rag. After it is polished you seal it. Who pays for the sealing compound? New flooring requires removing old flooring so who pays for that and how much. Who pays for the new required cement to lay the floor or tile? Get everything spelled out. Omit one thing and you are probably going to get your lawn mowed.
Payment Schedule – You can pay the guy up front some for raw materials and labor BUT always hold back a lot or he may start the work and then finish it when he has nothing else to do and it may drag on for weeks. He gets a BIG piece of the money when the job is 100% completed. Do not fall for advances. You pay him up too much and he will take another job where they were not as generous to him using you for cash flow to run the other job, which will only pay him on completion.
Penalties – Insert clauses for the contractor causing damage that might be likely then you deduct so much from the final payment and put it in the written contract. What a difference this makes.
Failure to Complete – If the contractor fails to complete by a certain date you can penalize him or cancel him out and take work to someone else so make sure you hold back a bunch of money. Watch it on the raw materials he may have. If you pay for raw materials, have a receipt or cancelled check and if he keeps the raw materials after you cancel him this is probably a criminal theft – you might say conversion up North. He will return the materials or then you or our office makes a demand or if it comes to it the police will take action.
Never Have Work Done on Friday – Let's say you have an electrician or plumber come and work on your house Friday afternoon. The guy has it working or so he says. You are new to Panama and do not completely check every little thing before you let the guy leave. You sign off on the job, pay him and he leaves. A few hours later the electricity or plumbing goes out. Now you can get someone there on Monday and you have a nice weekend with no water, no hot water or no electricity etc. If someone wants to paint or work on flooring on Friday no worries but working on vital components of the house should only be a Monday to Thursday thing and be mindful of the holidays too or you might be going to a hotel for a lousy weekend.
Conclusion – Your real protection is a written agreement with all the terms and conditions. If it is a simple $200 job have the guy start and pay half upfront and half when completed correctly. If it is a $2500 job consider having the law firm do the contract in Espanol. You can try it yourself and hope for the best but if you have to go to court or the police it is another matter altogether. Our law firm usually charges $295 to $495 depending on the complexity of the agreement but this could prove to be money very well spent.
http://www.panamalaw.org
This Article has been viewed 108 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.