Rehabbing door 8 right now and my GC handed me his standard agreement at the start of demo. His template, his terms. I signed it without thinking but now I'm wondering if that document is supposed to be part of the transaction file or if there's a separate form the coordinator expects to see.
The contractor agreement usually lives outside the transaction file proper. Your TC is tracking the purchase contract, title docs, lender conditions if there is financing, and that sort of thing. The GC's own template is not something they would normally need unless your lender specifically requires an executed construction contract as a condition of the draw or the loan, which some hard money and rehab loan products do require before they release funds. That part is very lender dependent. If you are in a state like Texas where construction lien rules are stricter, you also want to make sure his agreement has the right lien waiver language baked in, because a gap there can complicate closing on the back end if you are flipping. Eight doors in, it is worth going back and actually reading that thing before demo gets much further.
Depends what your lender or title company is actually asking for. On my rentals, they only ever want the executed purchase contract plus the scope of work and budget, the GC's internal agreement never touched the transaction file once. Where it does matter is draws. If you're using a construction loan, the bank's draw inspector wants to see that your GC agreement matches the approved scope and budget numbers, so make sure his template references the same line items you submitted.
Coordinators don't touch the GC contract at all, that's between you and your contractor, not the closing file. The piece that actually matters to title and your lender is the lien waiver language, so whether your GC's template includes a conditional and final waiver on completion is what I'd be reading right now.
The place this actually bites people is draw schedules. If his agreement does not tie disbursements to inspected milestones, the lender's draw inspector shows up to find work that is not staged the way the bank expects, and the whole draw gets held. That alone can drag a rehab six weeks on a project that should have closed in 90 days. The coordinator is the smaller concern here; the agreement terms themselves are the real one. On door 8 you can probably ride it out, and before the next phase get a rider added that maps his payment terms to your lender's inspection checklist, even a one page addendum. That single document heads off more arguments with hard money lenders than anything else in a rehab file.
The thing that matters is whether his lien waiver language matches what your title company will accept at closing. Some GC templates use conditional waivers and certain underwriters will not release without unconditional ones. Eight doors in, that mismatch has probably never surfaced, which is exactly why it will on door nine.
Rehab lenders pull the GC's agreement, usually by deal three, and two flagged clauses is typical.
Door 8 and still signing on the spot, that pattern is the actual problem to fix.
His template is fine until title asks for a lien waiver and his form doesn't match their accepted format.
What's the penalty clause if he walks mid-project?
