A Rhode Island renovation dispute may turn on work added after the original agreement. Before debating a new invoice, identify the original scope, each proposed change, who approved it and the price or schedule discussed.
Keep the agreement and the complete change history together. A later invoice, a contractor’s account and a homeowner’s recollection may describe different versions of the same conversation.
Start with the original bargain
Read the scope, price, plans, exclusions and change procedure in the agreement. Keep every attachment and signed page. Identify work that was clearly included before separating work later described as extra.
Make a simple list with one entry per disputed change: what was requested, when, by whom, the response, any price discussed and what was performed. Use contemporaneous documents where available. Label what you know firsthand and what another person supplied.
A claimed modification requires evidence of agreement
In Fondedile, the Rhode Island Supreme Court explained that a modification may be written, oral or implied, while requiring the party asserting it to prove the necessary intent and assent. The case did not treat additional work as proof of a new bargain by itself. Fondedile, S.A. v. C.E. Maguire, Inc., 610 A.2d 87, 92 (R.I. 1992)
Keep texts, emails, revised proposals, photographs and payment records. Identify which person had the conversation and whether the response concerned scope, price, timing or only an estimate. A complete exchange helps show what was actually proposed and accepted.
The contract’s change procedure still matters
Fondedile involved a public-works agreement with formal change requirements, and the court rejected the claimed modification on that record. It is not a promise that every oral construction change is enforceable or that every unsigned change fails. Fondedile, S.A. v. C.E. Maguire, Inc., 610 A.2d 87 (R.I. 1992)
A residential dispute needs assessment of its own contract and applicable requirements. Preserve any clause about written approvals or authority to authorize extras. Keep the version in effect at the time of the claimed change.
Separate authorization, performance and claimed loss
One question is whether work was authorized; another is what was performed and another is the amount claimed. Use separate records for those issues. Keep dated photographs, inspection documents, invoices, payments and estimates for unfinished or corrective work.
Do not create a backdated change order to fill a gap. Explain which documents do not exist and preserve the records that do. If a contractor, inspector or other person gave an account, identify its source without adopting it as your own observation.
Bring the full project history
Tell counsel about a lien, demand, regulator complaint, settlement or court notice and its dates. Keep any proposed release in its original form. Identify work still underway and the people who currently hold the plans, photographs or messages.
Read the contract dispute guide and consumer protection guide, then request a Providence consultation.
General Rhode Island preparation information. The agreement, applicable law and facts control; an inquiry does not create an attorney-client relationship.