Pulling stakes

Do your friends own the property, or does the builder?

I would probably contact the builder and let him know that your stakes were set contingent on he house being built for your friends. Now that the house is not for your friends, the stakes are not for his use, unless he wants to pay for the time and materials.

Actually neither own the property, oddly enough. Also, the way this builder treated my friends I don't care how much he would pay me, I'm not working for him. Just out of principal alone!

Just pull em' out. If the house isn't going to be built no one will care if the stakes are missing for one, two, if you put some in for free it's not like you are losing money for pulling them.

Not worried about the money. The builder is now trying to build the house my friends had designed. Worried about trespassing charges!

Just tell the contractor you did some rechecking and found two of them to be wrong.

That should worry him a little.

I would send the builder an invoice and see what happens next.

You could file a lien or go back and repossess your survey.

If you have goods on the property that have not been paid for, it would appear that you could arrange to retrieve them.

I've watched enough People's Court to know how this one would turn out.

Surveyor is out of luck. Work was given to a friend for free without the benefit of a written contract. All he gets is the liability.

Next time use a written contract...and charge the builder, he's the one making the money.

> Just tell the contractor you did some rechecking and found two of them to be wrong.
>
> That should worry him a little.

Even better, wait until he has the foundation laid out. Let him sweat a little.

> Next time use a written contract...
Do the work under a written contract and then just "forget" to ever send your friend a bill. But have a contract.

Does builder know the arrangement that you had with friend? If not I would bring my contract, complete with friends signature and dated appropriately, in an amount greater than the most expensive house layout in the history of modern man and tell him you are filing a lien. Then let him negotiate you down to a fair price or return your stakes.

It would seem that the liability would be the main concern. You shouldn't care if the contractor benefits from them otherwise, unless you have a grudge against him.

Send the contractor a letter telling him that the stakes were warranted ONLY to your friend, and then only if you were able to re-check them during the construction. If he wants you to check them, he needs to pay a reasonable fee. Otherwise you accept no liability.

It might not hold up in court, but there is some chance it would scare him into either paying, or not relying on them.

Neither your friends or the builder owns the lot.

The builder backed out of the deal.

You never did or will get paid.

Go pull you points - who is going to complain ? The deals dead.

Make it a midnight run if you are uncomfortable.

Whatever you do better do it fast, before he puts the batter boards up. I would just forgot about it and move on, no need to give away your time anymore.

However I can pull stakes and be out of there before the cops show up.

I agree with this.

Under what grounds would the builder have an action against the surveyor? There is no contract. He paid no money.

Most E and O doesn't cover you without a contract. If he doesn't know who staked it don't tell him.