Uijeongbu Attorney Consultation | Decision to Claim the Full 40 Million Won in Unpaid Construction Payment

The client and the defendant had maintained a business relationship for more than 10 years.

One year earlier, the two sides entered into a construction contract worth 80 million won, and the construction was successfully completed.

However, citing their long-standing friendship, the defendant put off paying the construction payment again and again, and the unpaid amount eventually reached 40 million won.

Upon learning that the defendant was recently experiencing financial difficulties and had become involved in other civil lawsuits, the client, considering the defendant's difficult circumstances, granted an additional one-year deferral of payment.

However, even after the promised deadline passed, the defendant did not pay the amount, and it was instead revealed that he had paid all amounts owed to other business partners as normal.

Feeling deeply betrayed by the defendant's conduct, which disregarded their long trust and consideration, the client decided to recover the unpaid amount through a construction payment claim lawsuit.

Construction payment is the money that an owner pays to the contractor as compensation once construction or work has been completed as the owner intended.

If the contractor completes the work in accordance with the owner's requirements but the owner does not pay the promised amount, the contractor may legally file a lawsuit claiming the construction payment from the owner.

The main causes of construction payment claim lawsuits include breach of contract, delayed payment, contract changes, and quality issues.

🔗A construction payment lawsuit proceeds in the following order: sending a certified mail notice and filing a provisional attachment > filing the construction payment lawsuit > submitting a written answer > pleadings > judgment.

To file a construction payment claim lawsuit, it is necessary to prove ▲that a contract for work was entered into, ▲that there was an agreement to be paid compensation for the work, and ▲that the work specified in the contract was completed.

The client and the defendant carried out the construction contract in this case, and the client faithfully performed the contract as specified in the agreement.

Because the client completed the work in accordance with the terms of the contract, the defendant must pay the construction payment.

The Uijeongbu attorney argued that, because the defendant was delaying payment without justifiable grounds, the client had the right to claim from the defendant the unpaid construction payment and the statutory delay interest thereon.

The Uijeongbu attorney emphasized that the client had requested repayment of the debt from the defendant on multiple occasions.

The client did not consider legal action from the outset.

Understanding the financial difficulties of the defendant's company, with which he had done business for a long time, the client tried to wait as long as possible.

However, the defendant avoided the client's contact and otherwise shirked his responsibility, and it became clear that he had been intentionally delaying payment.

The Uijeongbu attorney made clear that the client had unavoidably filed the lawsuit as a last resort in order to receive the construction payment.