Local contractors forced to go to court to fight for cash for Holiday Inn expansion
A group of subcontractors are taking a contractor to court after a job in Osoyoos went sour.
Several contractors say they have not been paid the almost $448,000 owed them after they worked on the new fourth floor of the Holiday Inn last summer. The hotel's fourth floor has been open and operating since July 2004.
But according to a report in the Okanagan Sunday, contractor Andrew Mason claimed he had not been paid in full for his work on the hotel, and is owed $62,000.
Mason owns and operates Mantal Mechanical, a plumbing and heating contractor.
But Don Brogan, manager of the Osoyoos Holiday Inn, was reported as saying the hotel had paid the contractor, Pancanadian, and the contractor had not paid any of the subcontractors. The Osoyoos Times could not reach Brogan by press time for further comment.
I've never had to deal with courts and lawyers before. I've had to mortgage my house to pay off the debt, Mason said.
Mason added both he and other contractors had tried to reach Pancanadian, but all the phone numbers for the contractor are not in service.
A lot of these contractors are young guys with a small business and a family. I'm just disappointed with the way business was done, Mason said.
He also pointed out the project had required the sub contractors to have their work completed by a deadline, in this case in July, but questioned why the contractor had not followed the same steps to pay the subcontractors.
Other Osoyoos contractors with liens against the hotel include Web Metal Fabricators and Roy's Electric.
