If a contractor changes the design on a project without permission and the owner sues and wins, what is the owner entitled to recover?

If a contractor changes the design on a project without permission and the owner sues and wins, what is the owner entitled to recover?

• A. The cost of repairs or the loss of market value
• B. Only monetary damages not including repairs
• C. The value of improvements made by owner
• D. Attorney's fees

Answer: (A)

Unauthorized design changes by a contractor count as a breach that harms the owner’s project. The owner’s expected remedy is to be put back in the position they would have been in if the contract had been performed as agreed. That means the owner can recover the reasonable cost to repair the project to the originally approved design (the cost to cure). If repairing would be impractical or disproportionately costly compared to the project’s value, the owner may instead recover the decrease in the project’s market value caused by the unauthorized change (diminution in value). This dual approach—either the cost to repair or the loss in value due to the deviation—best fits the owner’s remedy. The owner wouldn’t recover the value of unapproved improvements, and attorney’s fees aren’t recoverable here unless a contract or statute says so.

Unauthorized design changes by a contractor count as a breach that harms the owner’s project. The owner’s expected remedy is to be put back in the position they would have been in if the contract had been performed as agreed. That means the owner can recover the reasonable cost to repair the project to the originally approved design (the cost to cure). If repairing would be impractical or disproportionately costly compared to the project’s value, the owner may instead recover the decrease in the project’s market value caused by the unauthorized change (diminution in value). This dual approach—either the cost to repair or the loss in value due to the deviation—best fits the owner’s remedy. The owner wouldn’t recover the value of unapproved improvements, and attorney’s fees aren’t recoverable here unless a contract or statute says so.