Nightmare with a builder and building regs!

[^woody^]

I posted a post last year about issues with the builder i had chosen building a roof with out a wall plate and the problems didn't end there!

The job is virtually finished but he has to get a pad foundation for one of the steel columns signed off by his own structural engineer to get the house signed off by building regs! He is asking for £12000 more as the job didn't make him any money to get the house signed off and give me the gas and electric certificates! The building Regs inspector has suggested I find someone else to say the pad foundation is sufficient to the load of the column as he was only sent pictures by the builder he needs a qualified surveyor to sign it off

Ill enclose the two pictures and have all the calculations and drawings as well, can anyone help because otherwise i'm literally being held to ransom!!!

Clarify what you have, what you need and who needs to do what.

If you have engineers calculations already, then its the council inspector who whould check and approve them

 

[chappers]

If you have engineers calculations already,

They don't the builder has them and is holding them to ransom

 

[Nakajo]

The engineer is surely under your appointment!?!

 

[Notch7]

If the builder under quoted it is his error.

He should either have notified you very early on so you could have made a decision to continue rather than take you to ransom at the end.

The problem I see is that you chose his quote at the time of going ahead based on his price. If he had been £12k dearer you might have chosen somebody else.

Was his price much cheaper?

If there are genuine extras with price agreed then those should be paid.

regarding the structural issue, I would just get it sorted out by somebody else, same with electrics.

 

[^woody^]

Chappers said "They don't the builder has them and is holding them to ransom"

Righty then.

He should instruct another structural engineer to do the design calculations, and pay a few hundred pounds for that. Once he has a quote from the engineer, send a letter to the builder saying that he will seek to recover this cost via the County court together with other costs for breach of contract. Whether he follows though with that is up to him, but it may jolly the builder on a bit.

Or (and I'm not sure if those images show work to be done or work done) but if the OP just specifies a standard 1m x 1m x 1m deep pad, then the inspector can't argue with that nor require calculations.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Chappers said "They don't the builder has them and is holding them to ransom"

The few times I've obtained SE calculations, they have been sent to me by email.

 

[^woody^]

The few times I've obtained SE calculations, they have been sent to me by email.

I took it as the builder has instructed the enginer so the OP has no contract with the engineer to obtain the calcs directly.

Obviously if the OP can go straight to the engineer, then that would be the thing to do

 

[Doggit]

The engineer is surely under your appointment!

He'll be under whoever payed him, but he might inadvertantly give you a copy of them if you're careful how you ask for them, otherwise, be blunt and tell him you're being blackmailed. That's assuming the OP has got his contact details of course.

 

[Osteosingh]

Just to let you know, it got solved at the cost of £2000! found a structural engineer who dug a trial pit and did new calculations and managed to argue that even though the constructed pad was foundation was not adequate only needed mild rectification and last week building regs finally gave the completion certificate!

Many thanks for all your help with everything guys , I just hope that I dont find another rogue builder like this again

 

[Doggit]

Blimey, sounds like the original builder hadn't done the job properly, so paying him would have added insult to injury.