How can we take action against a pool building company who have not actually breached contract?
Question Details: The contract was signed 4 months ago but permit application wasn't submitted by until about 6 weeks later. Dig started a month ago and since then they have turned up 4 days, usually with at least 10 days in between. They are behind schedule? Can we put each payment which we contractually owe after a certain job in escrow so that they don't get it until they have completed satisfactorily?
That's a difficult question. You're in a position where you have to weigh your desire to have them proceed with building the pool against your desire to make sure that you're not being treated unfairly.
You should take another look at the contract. Even if there isn't any language in the contract indicating the exact time-frame in which the work should be done, every contract contains an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. And this delay might be enough to constitute a breach of that duty.
