Our builder won't give receipts for materials

loveandlight

Hi guys,
My husband and I have contracted a builder to fit a new kitchen and bathroom and convert a storage room into an ensuite. The builder finished the kitchen last week and then gave us his invoice for payment and then started work on one of the bathrooms. We noticed in his invoice that apart from his labour charges, he has only given us a total price for the materials he had bought but he had not included any receipts for any of the materials. So we asked him for them. We thought this was a perfectly reasonable request but he appeared shocked and annoyed at being asked for them and basically he says he doesn't see why we should expect them as all we need to know from him is how much he has paid for them and he has given us that info in his invoice. We told him we need the purchase receipts for the bigger items as some materials come with warranties in case we get problems at a later date. We also told him we need the receipts as we are keeping a spreadsheet to keep an eye on costs and are working to a very tight budget. Well its like it is all falling on deaf ears because to date he has still not handed any receipts over. He bought an RSJ yesterday and all he told us was that it cost £70. We want to know what our material costs are going to be WITH PROOF not just take his word for it when he gives us one of his typed out bills expecting payment immediately. If we force the issue with him now, he is likely to down tools and stop doing any more work and we will be left in a right mess trying to find someone else to finish it all off at a much higher rate. Anyone have any ideas on how to handle this situation? Our relationship with him is now very strained as he is obviously hiding something and after all, it is our money he is spending!

Chell

To my knowledge builders never give receipts for materials, they may break down the cost in the quote but wouldn't give you receipts, just an invoice.

Its likely that they will get their materials at a reduced cost if they are regular customers at a builders merchants but I am sure that they will charge you slightly more than they get them for.

Alan_M_2

Your contract is with your builder, he is not obliged to provide proof of purchase for any materials he buys, in fact He needs to keep the receipts for his own accounts as the material purcheses are his and not yours. You are paying him labour and materials as required unless some other arrangement was made clear at the outset.

You should be given or be provided an estimate for any work you are asking to be undertaken, you either accept it or you don't. Your requests for copies of all receipts as proof of purchase are quite unusual.

On what terms did you take on the builder to complete the work?

Were there any estimates or quotation provided?

Did you make it clear when you asked the builder to undertake the work that He would be required to provide proof of the materials He's supplied?

Also if He's completed the work to an acceptable standard and presented you with his invoice, he is entitled to expect to be paid within a reasonable amount of time, unless of course you've made other arrangements.

It appears you are uncomfortable with the current situation, my advice is clear this up with the guy now before any more anomisty is created.

If you want control of the materials and reciepts to this degree then it should have been made quite clear from the outset.

Personally I feel you're being unreasonable.

Wig

So you didn't ask for a quote for the whole job then? Then the materials costs would be irrelevant. Are you paying him a daily rate for labour?

This is not the usual way jobs are quoted for. But if you have done it like this, I suppose seeing the reciepts isn't asking too much and could be seen as neccessary, he might be charging you retail price when he has got them for trade price (10% -15% discount). Anyway, if he doesn't want to show you there isn't a lot you can do, except insist and as you say risk losing him.

If he is doing work for cheaper than other builders costed the works for then what is the problem? This is one of those things where with hindsight you should have told him upfront. I say leave him to it, as long as it is all working out.

Usually if you are just paying a labour rate it is you the customer who orders & pays for the materials, but this can lead to problems of communication and delays.

bottlered

Sorry, but I agree that you are being unreasonable

He is only spending "your money" if you are paying for labour charges & materials separately-in which case, as wig says, you should be sourcing and purchasing the materials yourself.
Otherwise,"your money" is paying HIM for the finished work.

You sound like you really dont trust this guy - has he given you any reason?
Unless his work is substandard,I think you should let him finish the job you trusted him enough to start. If receipts were so important to you,then they should have been mentioned before any work was began.

never_enough

Agree with Alan M's post.

I have never seen proof of the cost of materials & am surprised you assume that to be in anyway reasonable. However I've always gone for a final sum quote, what they pay for things is up to them. As long as they come in at the figure & specifications agreed then I'm happy. If you have agreed something differant with him & he's not keeping to his side of the bargain then yes, have it out with him. You may well lose him, & bear in mind this is a busy time of year so you may need to wait for someone else. If you want to keep him, play fair, treat him with some respect. Afterall you don't go into a restaurant & ask to see their wholesale receipts when you're presented with a bill at the end of the meal.

woodbutcher_2

Have to agree with everyone else.I have never given receipts for materials unless i am working labour only and being given money to buy materials.I only ever do this for close friends and family anyway.If a builder gets materials cheaper,then that is because he has built up a rapport with a merchants over time.He will also need those receipts to put through his accounts.If you accepted an estimate,then you accepted material costs.

Bossyboots

Agreement from me too I'm afraid. We have never had receipts from our builder for materials. He provides a quote for an all in job and we pay it. He didn't even have to provide receipts to our insurance company for a roof repair. They accepted his global invoice and paid up.

loveandlight

Thanks for your opinion guys. We have hired him on a FIT ONLY basis on an hourly rate with us also paying his petrol expenses. We were to supply the materials. His first invoice we paid within ten minutes of him giving it to us with a request that we have the receipts for the materials he had bought. To date he has refused. We have bought most of the materials already ourselves for things that can be delivered direct to us or carried home ourselves. For example, showers, bathroom suite etc.

We chose to get our kitchen from Howdens and we chose our builder partly because he knew we wanted our kitchen from Howdens and he had an account with them and said he could get it with the discount and pass the discount on to us. Otherwise we would have opened up the Howdens account ourselves and got the same discount. Some of the materials he went out and got because we didn't know what would be needed to fit an ensuite and he has a big van which we don't. He also insisted on getting all our new doors even though we told him we would get them. He did know that we wanted to be responsible for supplying the materials at the beginning so that we could control our costs.

Until now, we had a lot of trust and respect for him which is actually supposed to work both ways.

His quote in writing is an hourly rate of £15 per hour with payment for his petrol. There is no mention of him supplying any materials whatsoever.

newUKshopper

If something happens to the "material" during the time a warrant should be valid, I'm sure you could contact the builder and he would then contact the shope/manufacturer to settle things. That's why it's important that you keep your "relationship" with this builder on good terms as he might not be willing to help you out later if you can't settle things now.

Wig

Well like I said, you have gone down the unorthodox route of doing it and you have let him buy materials.

So you are right you should see the reciepts, and you can either insist, and risk losing him, or you can let him carry on in the knowledge that he is cheaper than most other builders (which is why you decided to do this). There's no easy answer here.