You were hired to complete a renovation in New York, and you thought that all was going well. You had a great contract with the client, and they were covering your work and materials based on a project rate and additional hourly rate once you exceeded the hours allowed in the initial contract. The initial contract was designed to allow for a week or two of delays as well as extra compensation for those delays.

If your original deadline exceeded the contract, then it would switch to an hourly rate. Neither you nor the client felt that would ever be necessary, but once you got going on the project, you found problem after problem that had to be corrected. You spent a week adding supports to the second floor and had tedious, small repairs to make around the home.

The dates in the contract came and went, and you were switched to the hourly rate. You also want to bill for the extra materials you had to purchase, but the client doesn't want to negotiate. They argue that they did not order that extra work and that all material fees were included in the original project fee.

A change order dispute can sour your relationship, but the good news is that you should be able to negotiate and get through it. Based on the original contract, your attorney will help you understand if you are entitled to further payments for materials or if you are now only able to collect hourly. If there were unexpected events that affected construction, then it may be time to look through the contract for contingencies and to negotiate with your client.