Contractor dispute
So I found a guy on homestars to do my pool renovation last fall. He turned out to be a banana and left numerous deficiencies which I found during opening season. The most nitpicky of them was a screw on the skimmer faceplate that was left out and epoxy put in its place. I didn't think much of it beyond being disappointed in this guy's workmanship until i had a leak test done 2 days ago and it was determined that it was the source of the problem. I'd been filling the pool 2-3 times a week and suspected the underground plumbing, and it's come back that the source was a poorly installed faceplate. I received an invoice for the test along with a quote for the fix, which I forwarded to the contractor in an effort to resolve. He has offered to complete the remaining work to fix the problem but refuses to pay for the ~ $300 leak test. The way I see it I now have 3 options:
Option A - have contractor complete the remaining work and pursue him in scc for the test fee
Option B - have the party that performed the test complete the work properly (apparently the faceplate installed may not even be the right size) and go after this dude for the entire amount (test+repair+maybe even water bills) in scc
Option C - have contractor complete the work to be done and kick rocks that I had to pay an additional $300 for this joker's screw up
What do you think I should do? Is there any sort of rule stating that the original contractor has to be given a chance to fix problems before work can be contracted out and him billed?
Option A - have contractor complete the remaining work and pursue him in scc for the test fee
Option B - have the party that performed the test complete the work properly (apparently the faceplate installed may not even be the right size) and go after this dude for the entire amount (test+repair+maybe even water bills) in scc
Option C - have contractor complete the work to be done and kick rocks that I had to pay an additional $300 for this joker's screw up
What do you think I should do? Is there any sort of rule stating that the original contractor has to be given a chance to fix problems before work can be contracted out and him billed?