Need advice on civil litigation matter for small reno company being sued for $1500, with no contract?

What's your specific question?





From what you asked, I can tell you that while you may have no written document, you did have a contract. It was just oral. Also, invoices, letters, etc. can be taken as contracts! In cases of this sort, you start out asking what the parties agreed to do and then you ask what they actually did. If the two are the same, then there's no breach of contract. If they are not, there may be a breach. The law is supposed to put the party who didn't breach in the same position as if there was no breach.





Even if there is no breach, there may be negligence. Negligence in your case would mean the work done is said to fall outside of the appropriate standard of care. That is, it is not up to professional standards. Experts often are required to help prove negligence.





If the whole claim is only about $1,500, it's hardly worth hiring a lawyer to run the whole show. You'd be better off trying to settle it. If you can't, just go to Small Claims court and tell your story. In such a case, you should go to a lawyer and get some advice on how to word the claim and how to argue it, but do the work yourself.





If you are the reno company, you may want to put a builders lien on the property. It's cheap and easy to do in BC, but you have to get the lien on in time.





Good luck.





That's about all I can say for now.