So you've already paid him £20k and he now wants £7k more to finish the job?
Have I understood that correctly?
Have I understood that correctly?
how to get rid of my builder
- Thread starter gnougnoume
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Yes you are correct, and what is interesting and i have just noticed this, is that he wrote estimate of his first price, and now he rote the following:
original contract: £20000
then his list of extra work we never agreed on.
Also I would appreciate your comments on the roof (see previous pictures).
So have you got a list of what his original estimate was for, or he plans the builder had originally been working to?
Are the things listed above part of the original work, or are they additions? Have these additions all been completed?
Can't comment on London prices, and the quality of the work looks below par (I can't believe they didn't build the opening to the correct width of window, or order a window to fit the opening made), but it really does come down to whether the above list of stuff is true additions to the original spec.
Personally I wouldn't have parted with 20 grand with the house in that state, but I know hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Are the things listed above part of the original work, or are they additions? Have these additions all been completed?
Can't comment on London prices, and the quality of the work looks below par (I can't believe they didn't build the opening to the correct width of window, or order a window to fit the opening made), but it really does come down to whether the above list of stuff is true additions to the original spec.
Personally I wouldn't have parted with 20 grand with the house in that state, but I know hindsight is a wonderful thing.
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I don't agree, any inspector worthy of holding his position would have flagged this build up as rubbish before it got to such a state if for no other reason than it's obvious that it doesn't 'comply' I repeat speak to your local BC department, speak to whoever heads it up.
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gnougnoume, speak to your Trading Standards office! Also I think you should name this person. He has obviously made everything up as he's gone on. The extras list is a joke, If you had competent plans drawn up everything should have been detailed, This is the way that I work for my clients. Really name this guy, you may well find that TS have already had previous complaints, these sort of people need exposing for the sake of everyone
Whether you agree or disagree - you are wrong.
I say again, building control are NOT responsible for quality of workmanship. However if any of the bits that require inspection do not comply to building regulations then they will ask for or enforce compliance.
Capiche?
We have spoken to ta but all they toldvus to do was to write him a letter asking him to fix the errors.all he wants is money.
The bc guy came at every stage and now is just waiting for gas and electricity certificate to sign off the work. Certificates if course we won't get unless we give money to the guy.
What do you think if the roof and windows? When it rains water stays in one corner of the 2 windows.
Some are additions according to him some are obvious work which he should have written on the first estimate. We never agreed on any prices.
For the shower he wanted to put stud and we wanted a brick wall. So we bought bricks and cement but he added £450.
Drilling the concrete was part of the job to do the toilet. He added money again and we gave him the big machine.
This shower room was on the first estimate and he knew exactly what was to be done then he started to blame us because the floor was made of concrete.
For the gulley for the neighbour he new before starting the work that it had to be done.
The parapets, we had to do it because the bc guy said we had to do it because of the windows. as a surveyor he should have known that parapets had to be built. Ok we did not mind paying for the parapets but £600 were too excessive and we always told him.
The extra for the unit is a joke.
Number 7 and 17 seem to be the same so i am a bit confused.
Sorry if I’ve missed this, but did the original estimate have any detail of the work to be completed on it, or did you have detailed plans from which he arrived at his estimate?
Either of the above is going to add weight to your argument that some of these additional works should have been included within the original estimate.
Either of the above is going to add weight to your argument that some of these additional works should have been included within the original estimate.
The original estimate did not have any of the extra he added on and some of them should obviously have been put on them for a so called knowledgeable surveyor. He did not do any plans or drawings. We had the plan we submitted to planning which is a basic one, he said he would draw a more detailed one but never did.
Is an estimate valid is not signed?
I can't comment as if an estimate is valid or not if signed. I'm sure someone else will know though.
Unfortunately there appears to be a lot of ambiguity in what was originally understood to be part of the job, and you have (mis) placed a lot of trust in the builder/surveyor.
Without any documents to support what made up part of the original price then things become difficult. Even more so, as you have already parted with a substantial amount of money without understanding what exactly you were paying for.
Perhaps it would be useful to ask retrospectively for a breakdown of the £20k you’ve settled.
As previously suggested, arbitration may be a good route for you to take, but you’re starting from a weak position having got no paper work and already having handed over the money (which is often a cited, rightly or wrongly, that you are happy with the work that had been completed).
Judging by the quality of the work, you should have got shot of them a long time ago. However, you need to give them an opportunity to put their work right. Draw up a list of snags – as previously suggested get an appropriate professional to do this for you (it will be worth the expense).
Request this firm to then to come and correct before you will be willing to enter into any further discussions about payment.
If they do not come and correct you could consider taking legal action to recover part of your money for sub-standard work.
At this stage, you might just be better cutting your losses and getting a reputable firm into finish the job. However, I would still recommend getting someone in to document the current state of the property – in case the original firm decide to take you to court for the value of their additional work. Then you would at least have independent evidence of the below par work before it’s put right.
Unfortunately there appears to be a lot of ambiguity in what was originally understood to be part of the job, and you have (mis) placed a lot of trust in the builder/surveyor.
Without any documents to support what made up part of the original price then things become difficult. Even more so, as you have already parted with a substantial amount of money without understanding what exactly you were paying for.
Perhaps it would be useful to ask retrospectively for a breakdown of the £20k you’ve settled.
As previously suggested, arbitration may be a good route for you to take, but you’re starting from a weak position having got no paper work and already having handed over the money (which is often a cited, rightly or wrongly, that you are happy with the work that had been completed).
Judging by the quality of the work, you should have got shot of them a long time ago. However, you need to give them an opportunity to put their work right. Draw up a list of snags – as previously suggested get an appropriate professional to do this for you (it will be worth the expense).
Request this firm to then to come and correct before you will be willing to enter into any further discussions about payment.
If they do not come and correct you could consider taking legal action to recover part of your money for sub-standard work.
At this stage, you might just be better cutting your losses and getting a reputable firm into finish the job. However, I would still recommend getting someone in to document the current state of the property – in case the original firm decide to take you to court for the value of their additional work. Then you would at least have independent evidence of the below par work before it’s put right.
When i spoke to him I told him we wanted him to fix the errors but he wil lonly do it if we give him more money.
Yes we want to employ someone else to finish the work but the guy is saying that even if he does not come back he stil wants the money.
Can he sue us for breach of contract?
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