Concrete Flatness Dispute at Turnover
A tenant improvement project is at substantial completion. The owner's rep walks the polished concrete floor and marks it up: several birdbaths, a visible ridge at a construction joint, and a few hairline cracks. The spec calls for a defined floor flatness number and allows hairline shrinkage cracks. Your crew placed and finished the slab, and your third-party floor profile test came back within the specified flatness tolerance. The owner is withholding the final payment and demanding the floor be ground and refinished at your cost. The GC wants the punch list closed this week.
1. How do you evaluate the owner's claim before agreeing to anything?
Read the worked answer
Evaluate each item against the contract documents, not against impressions.
- Birdbaths and the joint ridge: measure them. The spec's flatness number governs; if the third-party profile test is within tolerance, the floor meets the contract. A visual birdbath that is within the flatness tolerance is not a defect, though it may be a cosmetic concern.
- Hairline cracks: the spec expressly allows them. Confirm they are shrinkage cracks and not structural or through-slab cracks, which would be a different issue.
- Joint ridge: check whether the joint was specified and installed correctly; a ridge within tolerance is not a nonconformance.
Gather the submittals, the spec section, the test report, and dated photos. The reasoning is that "looks bad" is not a standard. The contract defines acceptance, and a measured, documented position is what protects both the schedule and the payment. Do not agree to grind anything until the evaluation shows a real nonconformance.
2. The GC wants the punch list closed this week and the owner is withholding payment. What is your path forward?
Read the worked answer
Separate the contractual issue from the relationship issue and move both.
- Send a written response to the GC and owner with the test report, the spec language, and a measured comparison of each marked item to the tolerance. State which items are within contract and which, if any, you will correct.
- If any item is a genuine nonconformance (for example, a birdbath outside tolerance), offer to correct that specific item promptly and scope it narrowly.
- For cosmetic items within tolerance, offer a goodwill option (a light grind or patching of the worst spots) only if the owner accepts it as settlement, not as an admission of defect.
- Escalate the withheld payment per the contract's payment provisions; withholding must be tied to a documented dispute, not a blanket hold.
The reasoning is that closing the punch list and resolving payment are separate tracks. Conceding a defect you did not commit sets a precedent and costs money; refusing to engage stalls the project. A measured, documented response with a narrow correction offer usually resolves both.