Clayton Spanton, Span-Co, was hired to renovate two bathrooms. The company used a general laborer and not a licensed electrician to do the electrical work. This individual was introduced to me as the "electrician". I reported this to the Ontario Electrical Safety Authority (ESA). The ESA investigated the work done and found violations. Span-co pleaded guilty and was fined. In addition, Span-Co did not use labor that was appropriately licensed by the City of Toronto. Again Span-co was charged and fined. Span-Co is a member of BILD. I reported the matter to BILD. Span-co remains a member of BILD in spite of the charges and violations. Beware of Span-co and the credibility of BILD.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $35,000.00
- Company Response
I believe that the client and our manager had conflicting personalities that led to the condo owner wanting to castigate our company. We provided a written quotation for improvement work. After 3 – 4 weeks of work going normally our manager gave an invoice that showed extras (the extras were requested by the condo owner) to the original quotation.
When reviewing the invoice, the client was focused on pricing and suggesting our prices were too high. We used the same pricing as quoted in bathrooms.
At this point my manager and I came to the realization that we were dealing with a no win situation.
Very soon after this meeting we were contacted by the electrical safety authority and metro Toronto licensing standards branch. The ESA had us take out a permit and when the electrical work was inspected there were no faults or reworking of our electrical work. The ESA fined us for not taking out a permit. The home owner never paid for the permit or inspection fee.
Metro Toronto Licensing contacted our firm to explain tradesmen needed a metro license to provide work in the GTA. We went to the licensing building, made an appointment for the trades tests, passed the tests and received our metro required license. At this stage, we had completed most of the clients original work. The client had purchased (from an outside supplier) a vanity with a basin and counter top to be delivered. There would have been some tiling around the vanity to finish. During this time, we had two other projects in the condo that went well.
Span-Co is a member of BILD and (BILD was contacted by the condo owner) after discussing the situation with the president of BILD he mentioned that the homeowner has some online history that makes us wonder if she was being sincere. I would gladly explain or expand on this information should you wish to call me.