Did Mount Rainier National Park Leave Contractor Holding The Bill?

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on December 11, 2008 - 8:59am

There are few things as bad as doing some work for someone and then not getting paid what you believe you're owed. Such a scenario has developed around the renovated Paradise Inn at Mount Rainier National Park, and a roofing contractor says he might have to lay off 40 workers if he doesn't get paid soon.

But while Sterling Exteriors, of Tacoma, Washington, maintains the Park Service owes it $215,000, Park Service officials say the general contractor for the job, the John Korsmo Construction, also of Tacoma, is responsible for the bill.

Sterling Exteriors put the cedar shake roof on the inn. However, owner Doug Vieselmeyer maintains Park Service architects miscalculated how big the job really was, and he invested an additional 4,000 square feet of cedar shakes -- and the necessary labor -- to complete it.

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Comments

Submitted by Ted Clayton on December 16, 2008 - 11:24am.

It is doubtful this is a 'Parks issue'. The building trades - and many other businesses, like logging - use the General Contractor and Sub-Contractor model. The roofing-contractor would most likely have no relationship with the Park whatsoever - his agreements were with the GC.

Unless there is some major, unusual detail that alters the overall picture, this is a fracas between the roofer and the General Contractor ... with the roofer putting up a smoke-screen and fabricating media-interest by seemingly dragging the Park into it.