I had some painting work done by a good tradesman. I won't go into the details, but we have a disagreement on the amount owed. The invoice was significantly more than the quote - $4100 quoted, $5600 originally invoiced, $5100 compromise offered by painter (which is still higher than I think is reasonable), $4600 paid as a sign of good faith. I don't think we're going to be able to come to an agreement. It's still civil, and I still want him to do more work for me in a year or two.

Is there a standard escalation path under the building code? Is there a standard arbitration service, or some kind of dispute resolution service? Of course I will try to avoid any kind of escalation but I want to know my options.