City Hall is pushing back against claims from a Richmond contractor who has alleged that he has not been paid nearly $200,000 for painting work he did on the new River City Middle School last year.

Responding to an article on William Bullock’s allegations that was published in the Free Press June 3-5 edition, Robert Stone, the city engineering manager who led the internal city team that oversaw the school’s construction, vigorously denied that Mr. Bullock has been cheated.

“The city’s project team has reviewed the change requests submitted by Mr. Bullock and have had discussions with Howard Shockey & Sons,” the construction manager at-risk on the school, Mr. Stone stated in writ- ten comments the city provided to the Free Press.

“Some of Mr. Bullock’s requests were rejected as being within the scope of (his) original bid. Other requests were returned due to excessive pricing and lack of documentation,” Mr. Stone stated.

The city did not respond to requests for comment on Mr. Bullock’s claims prior to the article’s publication.

Among the rejected items is Mr. Bullock’s claim that he is due about $120,000 for painting the ceilings in the school’s cafeteria, main gymnasium and an auxiliary gym.

He told the Free Press that the specifications he was provided and from which he made his original bid of $540,000 did not include painting those ceilings. He said that was additional work for which he has not been compensated.

He confirmed that he began painting the school in March, including those three large ceilings. He said he was told to paint them or be replaced.

However, Mr. Stone responded that “the scope sheet submitted by Mr. Bullock clearly stated the scope of work included painting all exposed ceilings and the auxiliary gym ceiling.”

Mr. Stone also stated that Mr. Bullock “did not make any claims for excess work until a couple of months later.”

Mr. Bullock said that he might have made such an acknowl- edgement, but at the time “it was uncertain” whether the scope included the ceilings in the cafeteria, the main gym and the auxiliary gym. He said he began making his claims after review- ing the specifications.

He maintains the ceilings were not part of the scope of work he bid on, and that he faces a significant loss if he must absorb that cost. He said he was verbally promised additional payment for that work and relied on that assurance.

Mr. Bullock also has claimed that he did not receive $47,000 from his original contract, which he believes was part of the money the city initially withheld from Shockey to ensure the work was completed.

Mr. Stone stated that the city withheld 5 percent of the River City Middle School contract from general contractor Shockey as allowed by state law, or about $2.8 million of the $57 million construction contract. He stated that virtually all of the money, $2.79 million, was paid to Shockey in February.

He noted that if Mr. Bullock has not been paid his share, he would need to seek redress from Shockey.

Mr. Bullock also said he is due about $30,000 to repaint walls that were smeared with drywall coating. But Mr. Stone stated that also is an issue between Mr. Bullock and Shockey.

Mr. Stone noted that city construction contracts require general contractors to post a payment bond, and that subcontractors can make claims to the bond’s insurer “for legitimate cases of non-payment.”