Our builder won't give receipts for materials

irnbru_2

Alan_M wrote:

And also complain at the state of the immigration in this country, whilst employing Poles, Lithianians etc becuase they're so cheap.

Ah but that's is the benefit of the free movement of labour, keeping prices down ... blah blah blah blah ...

How many Accountant, Solicitor, IFA, Merchant Banker .... jobs have been outsourced recently? Lets have a true free market

Apologies to the OP for an OT post.

Careful_girl

Sounds awful. I have been there and it is hard to explain the total upset they cause. I had a different kitchen put in from the one I chose and a horrible bathroom suite. I had the lies too. I will not go on, it is in the past now. I wish you all the very best with sorting it all out. I am sure you will get beyond it. I think the worst part is that it is your home. How very dare he mess with your money and your home.:mad:
All the best,
Careful.

Alan_M_2

irnbru wrote:

Ah but that's is the benefit of the free movement of labour, keeping prices down ... blah blah blah blah ...

How many Accountant, Solicitor, IFA, Merchant Banker .... jobs have been outsourced recently? Lets have a true free market

Apologies to the OP for an OT post.

I would agree wholeheartedly if that were true, unfortunately it isn't The immigrant labour freely and legally visits this country, works for a period depending on their income, which is paid leagally and declared, they live here as cheaply as possible then after say 3 or 4 months leave the country, claim all thier income tax etc back on leaving and remove the money from our economy.

This has turned the entire construction industry on it's head. (fortunetly it's doesn't effect me, I'm at the end of the market they haven't got their teeth into yet - but it's only a matter of time)

Feel free to explain how this helps the UK economy long term.

plumb1_2

loveandlight wrote:

We have been paying him at least £1000 per week in labour charges alone

And you expect quality work, when he is working over 14 hrs a day??????

You also state that you have a plumber working for you, and then you complain about this builder not knowing how to fit a Saniflow, in your new ensuite.
Why have you asked him to fit the ensuite, and not the plumber??????????????

loveandlight

Originally posted by plumb:
And you expect quality work, when he is working over 14 hrs a day??????

He doesn't work past 6 p.m. and never has done. He very often arrives about 9-9.30a.m and 10a.m. after he has dropped his son off at school or been to do other personal stuff.

You also state that you have a plumber working for you, and then you complain about this builder not knowing how to fit a Saniflow, in your new ensuite.

The plumber was hired after we hired our builder, because our builder wasn't able to work on our radiators but he said he could do our Saniflow. Having seen the standard of his work to date our builder will most definitely not be working on our Saniflow now.

Why have you asked him to fit the ensuite, and not the plumber??????????????
Because in the beginning our builder wanted to do it. As he is being dismissed tomorrow our plumber will now do it.

I worked for over 10 years for 7 days a week from 8 a.m. until 11p.m every day and I used to get paid £300.00 per week in total. I would always put my customers first and always cared about the level of service I gave. So please don't even go there.

djohn2002uk

loveandlight, I wouldn't even bother anymore. Seems to me that the majority of the posters that are against you didn't even bother to read your first two posts correctly or they wouldn't have continued with the arguments that they have and they certainly never read mine properly. Because of the arguments they put up, it seems to me most of them want an above average living for the least possible work,(and most of that work being paperwork) if possible.
Alan M says, and I quote "The only people I've ever employed on an hourly basis are solicitors and accountants, and both of them charge obscene amounts of money." so it's ok for him to condemn someones charges when they earn more than him but it's wrong for Mr Averageearner to form a similar opinion regarding his profession.
I think that says it all.

Alan_M_2

I have to ask, How is He managing to bill you for 67 hrs week (£15 x 67 = £1005) yet He's working no longer than an 8 hr day. (40 hr week).

Something very fundamental doesn't add up there.

Alan_M_2

djohn2002uk wrote:

loveandlight, I wouldn't even bother anymore. Seems to me that the majority of the posters that are against you didn't even bother to read your first two posts correctly or they wouldn't have continued with the arguments that they have and they certainly never read mine properly. Because of the arguments they put up, it seems to me most of them want an above average living for the least possible work,(and most of that work being paperwork) if possible.
Alan M says, and I quote "The only people I've ever employed on an hourly basis are solicitors and accountants, and both of them charge obscene amounts of money." so it's ok for him to condemn someones charges when they earn more than him but it's wrong for Mr Averageearner to form a similar opinion regarding his profession.
I think that says it all.

Err that's because that's how accountants and solicitors charge, they charge by the hour and have a set hourly structure for the work I'm asking them to undertake. So I know what I'm going to pay even though it's an hourly charge.

The same way when we take our cars to the gargage to be serviced the main dealers charge £90 or so per hour.

And out of curiosty how do you know how much I earn?

djohn2002uk

Alan_M wrote:

Err that's because that's how accountants and solicitors charge, they charge by the hour and have a set hourly structure for the work I'm asking them to undertake. So I know what I'm going to pay even though it's an hourly charge.

The same way when we take our cars to the gargage to be serviced the main dealers charge £90 or so per hour.

And out of curiosty how do you know how much I earn?

But you didn't address my main point, not for the first time, that being that you called their charges "obscene".
And as for your earnings, I make assumptions re the importing of stone and the "obscene" profit on the 25mm sheets. And before you say I shouldn't make assumptions there are a few in your posts, (I almost certainly guarantee that there will be no VAT involved in this transaction) for one.

Now I think we should call a halt to this whole debate, the original poster has made a decision, in my view absolutely correct based on the info she has provided and any other posts seem to me to be doing no more than self employed tradesmen trying to justify their charges.

One last point which may help some of the lay people following this thread is :- Unless you are contemplating an extension to your property or building a new house, DO NOT employ a "builder". What is a builder? A "builder" who takes on small alterations is usually "A jack of all trades and a master of none". If you need a plumber get a plumber, if you need a chippy get a chippy, the same goes for brickies, sparks and plasterers. Everyone to his own trade. That would have saved the OP a bit of hassle too.
A proper builder employs the correct tradesman for each job.

scottishlizzie

We are just going down the road of starting an extension and I'm confused and terrified. Can anyone explain the best way to go about things to minimise the risk of similar difficulties to the original poster?

I also have a few specific questions:

At what stage is it normal to get a selection of buliders out for quotes? My OH works in planning and can do pretty good drawings.
We have a list of about 5 builders all of whom have been recommended by various friends/contacts - is it acceptable to have that many provide a quote?
How much detail do they need at quote stage and what is the difference between a quote and an estimate?
Is it usual to have to pay vat on the whole job?
When you get a whole job price (which I have deduced is the normal practice from this thread) is that price usually fixed?
Is it usual for the builder to bring in all the other tradesmen?
Any rough guides to cost of a two storey side extension roughly two metres wide by six metres deep, block and render finish?

I don't mean to hijack this thread but there seem to be a lot of you reading it with loads of experience that might not join in on a new one. I'll move it if necessary.

Many thanks.