Badly need some advice-structural engineer

Deerd_2

I sent this letter to the managing director of a firm of consulting structural engineers I employed 2 years ago.The letter should put you in the picture:
Dear Mr Managing Director,

I am writing to register a complaint.

In May 2004 I phoned the office of X & Y to ask for a structural engineer to attend and give me some verbal advice on the above property in which I reside as there had been some apparent gaps between ceiling and side exterior wall. I spoke to an Mr S who said that he would come and the charge for a verbal report would be £150.
He did come in May and advised me that there had been some movement and that the wall required ties to prevent further movement.He said that he would contact a good contractor that he knew-a Mr T I believe and that they would deal with the problem.
He came to the property with this Mr T and Mr S showed him what was required and spoke to him.They were are my property a maximum of 12 minutes.
The ties were put in my ONE workman who took about 1 hour and 20 minutes to do.Mr S attended for 10 minutes to see how things were.
3 ties were put in hall landing ,2 in bathroom and 1 in under stairs-he had a problem with this so just stuck a wooden plank onto brick and put a tie on that.The plank by the way is not secure.
I was sent an invoice for £880 by Mr S on 28th May 2004(photocopy enclosed).I contested the amount as I had not been forewarned of additional costs.Anyway I paid amount agreed £325 on in 7th November 2005.
The company which Mr S employed was **** Construction Ltd Invoiced for £558.13 ( photocopy encl)
I thought no more about it until I had my new kitchen fitted at beginning of this year and it was the joiner who remarked that his builder friend thought that they were the wrong ties to do the job and that they were just thin flat ties normally used for roofs that had been bent to 90 degrees.
I then noticed in bedroom that there had been further movement and employed a structural engineer from XXXXX. He came April 2006 and also remarked that there had been further movement and he also remarked that the ties put in were useless and demonstrated how he could bend them by hand.They were serving no purpose whatsoever.
I contacted my insurance company on the advice of XXXXX and the loss adjuster Mr W from Grahams ( loss adjusters) attended. He is a very experienced structural engineer. He was appalled at the state of the hallway and remarked that the ties were less than useless.He also remarked that any decent workman would have attempted to plaster over the ties.
The ties that were put in in 2004 are 2mm thick.Mr W remarked that the small bolts put in were inadequate and also in wrong place.I need much stronger ties and bolts.
The ties should be at least 6mm thick and 80mm broad ( I have28mm broad).The bolts should be 10mm threaded (The ones put in are small bolts not dissimilar to some that I have in my toolbox).The ones used by Mr S's contractor on my walls are normally for roofs and are normally flat.On my walls these have been bent to a 90 degree angle which considering the flexibility of the ties is quite simple for a workman to do,yet not strong enough to hold a wall back..
I have enclosed receipts and report for your inspection.I am awaiting the insurance/loss adjuster’s report which I will forward if required.
I feel that I have been unfairly treated and charged for work which is substandard as well as inadequate. I believed that when I employed an engineer from your company in 2004 that I was dealing with a reputable company and, in my ignorance, never questioned the workmanship nor supervision of work or advice of a professional employee of your company.Moreso when a member of the Association of Consulting Engineers is involved.
You are more than welcome to view for yourself the workmanship but as time is moving on I have to have the damage rectified.Therefore I shall suspend any further work on the hall until the first week in May 2006.I await your reply as to what action you tend to take within 10 days before I take further actionmyself,


Yours sincerely,
The managing director came out to inspect and has offered the following solution:

I refer to your email of 8th June 2006 and our previous conversations regarding the remedial works required to your house at the above address.
As discussed, I am aware that you have been provided with advice from different sources to the effect that the previous remedial works are inadequate. While I do not agree with this view I would concede that the solution was not one which I would personally have adopted. From this comment and the fact that you have received differing suggestions from other sources you will appreciate that individual engineers do not always provide identical solutions, even although each solution may well be effective.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, I can understand that you will have found the experience somewhat stressful and as a gesture of goodwill we are prepared to revisit the project and take it to a conclusion acceptable to yourself. With this in mind I would propose the following:
a. One of my fellow Directors in our office (either H or J) undertakes a further inspection and prepares remedial details appropriate to ensure the stability of the gable and, indeed, deal with any other defects uncovered.

b. We arrange for quotations from at least two competent contractors (excluding **** Construction) and after acceptance of a quote by yourself, inspect the works in progress.

c. Our services in respect of the above would be free of charge, and as a further gesture of goodwill we are prepared to refund your earlier costs in respect of both XXXXX and**** Construction.

As a Practice, we are somewhat unaccustomed to receiving complaints such as yours, and I trust you will accept the foregoing offer in the spirit in which it is made. I would also ask you to note that the foregoing is without prejudice and does not represent any admission of liability on our part.
I look forward to hearing from you and would ask you to contact me by telephone if you have any queries.



What I need advice about is- is this a fair offer and is there anything else I should ask to ensure a proper job is done? How do I know the competence of the construction companies they recommend?
Thanks in advance

Deerd_2

The true cost of putting in proper ties for gable wall will be in the thousands

Deerd_2

Anyone? Any ideas?

Pipcola

I have dealt with various 'Professionals' in the building industry and without a doubt Structural Engineers are the most reliable - sometimes over zealous but invariably reliable. It would appear that for whatever reason this one slipped up!

The package offered would appear OK it puts you in the position where you would have been and at no additional cost. It would seem that you could not prove that this work had caused you any financial loss therefore by their rectifying the problem you are not in an adverse situation.

Wig

Why not put it to them that as they are prepared to refund their bill and the contractors bill...I assume that is the 325 and the 558... that you accept that offer but will arrange to take it further yourself, i.e. you will no longer be requiring their services after the refund.

Then get some quotes from reputable companies, you know now what is needed, so just get some quotes and get it done.

I said this because I would not trust the engineers reccomended companies to quote for the work (kickbacks might be involved and the quotes inflated accordingly).

Or you could accept the offer of a refund and their offer to inspect the works in progress, and their offer of arranging quotes on the proviso that you also arrange 2 (or more) independant quotes from reputable construction firms yourself and then you choose the one you want out of their quotes and your quotes. Thinking about it I'd do this option in preference to my 1st suggestion.

Can I also ask...does the insurance not pay for stuff like this? What if the gable end fell off would they pay to rebuild it? What's the point of buildings insurance if it doesn't cover this sort of thing?

Can I also ask...the ties are on the one hand put into the wall/brickwork what's the other end of the tie fasstened to? your floor joists? I'm having difficulty picturing this. Or is it a cavity wall? I still need a description thanks.