Canadian Contractor - July-August 2015

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Off The Book
The Stillwells are trying to hire Dan Summerville’s
carpenter to do some work on the side. But there’s
a powerful reason they need to save some money.
By Rob Koci
Dan Summerville’s best carpenter and
lead hand on the Stillwell job, Dave
Chillingham, did the right thing (as he
always did) and told his boss that Ms.
Stillwell had just asked him to work on
the basement drywall “off book.” That
is, for cash after hours. And without
Summerville’s knowledge.
It was a shock to Summerville, but
not just because the drywall was on
the scope of work for the reno he was
currently doing for the Stillwells. He
was shocked because the Stillwells
always paid in full, on time, and with
taxes included. Summerville checked his
books: To date, the Stillwell’s had done
$180,000 of work with him. Simply put,
they were his best client. Ever since the
Stillwells bought the century home 20
years ago, Summerville had been their
contractor of choice.
Clearly, the Stillwells were about
to renegotiate the basement out of
the existing contract. But why? What
had happened that they decided this
was okay? A little digging
(Summerville’s daughter Jenny
went to the same school as
the Stillwells’ son) revealed a
possible reason. Mr. Stillwell
had recently been diagnosed
with a serious illness. Jenny
had heard rumours that the
Stillwells wanted to try an
unfunded treatment in Mexico. Not a
word of it came to him from the Stillwells
themselves, so they clearly either wanted
to keep it quiet or the rumours simply
were not true.
If it was true, should Summerville
stand by and pretend that he has not
heard about Mr. Stillwell’s plight? But if
he gives the go-ahead to Dave to do the
work, what message would that send to
his employees? If he didn’t hold the line
on this kind of behavior now, would the
line disappear?
What would you do if you were
Summerville? See the options at right.
WHAT SHOULD SUMMERVILLE DO?
1. Keep silent about what you know, let
the Stillwells renegotiate the contract,
and let your employee Dave do the
work for cash.
2. Ask the Stillwells about the health
issue, tell them you know why they
might have tried to hire your guy for
cash, and ask them what you can do
to help?
3. Not reveal what you know, but also
not allow Dave to do the work even if
the Stillwells negotiate the basement
out of the contract.
4. Something else? (Please give us a
brief description.)
WIN!
A DEWALT XR DUAL SPEED
cordless framing nailer
Retail price: $549
LAST ISSUE’S WINNER – “THE DISCOVERY”
In our last case study, a renovation contractor, Brigham Wild, finds a box of
cash – estimated to contain over $150,000 – hidden in the wall structure of
an abusive client’s house. The client, Buster Belichek, has been threatening
to take Wild to court and there is a real likelihood that Belichek may not be
paid. We asked if Wild has any options other than immediately handing
over the money.
Winner: Ben Kuypers, Ben Kuypers Design Group, Calgary.
“My answer is option number 2: Give the money to Belichek and do the make goods.
A good rule of thumb for any situation is, "If you are thinking of doing something you
don't want anyone to find out about, don't do it.” If you are going to be a good contractor
is that just dependent on how good the client is going to be or is it always? There's no
real “maybe” or “when it suits me.” It is hard to resist not saying anything, in this case,
when the client doesn’t know about a situation. But that is the precise moment when
you need to step up and be forthright. Walk the talk.”
HOW TO ENTER
Email the number that matches your best
answer, with your comments, to
rkoci@canadiancontractor.ca. Please title
your email “What Would You Do?” We will
select the answer that impresses us the most
and send the winner the DEWALT nailer.
58 July/August 2015 www.canadiancontractor.ca