What is difference between builder & handyman

kevinjplee

I had some work done to my house;

Small (12 ft x 8 ft) breeze block built, timber roofed, shed
Floor tiles laid in kitchen, hallway and bathroom.
Fireplace removed, and new one built.

The person who did work had 20 years experience in buidling trade and had built his own house.

To cut a long story short after a couple of months things started going wrong, i.e roofblew off shed, floor tiles "popped" and fire surround started smouldering.
see flickr.com/photos/seafield/ for photos)

Took builder to court (Sheriffs Court as I am based in Scotland) and Sheriff/Judge dismissed case, saying that because the person was a handyman that I could not expect the same level of service that a "tradesman" could provide. We did not know that he was a "handyman" at time, and this term only appeared when it went to court
The handyman was represented in court by a member of Scottish Citizens Advice Bureau who stated that they could not represent me as this would be a "conflict of interest"

I decided to appeal this case and have been advised by a very helpful person on
consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/scotland/246750-does-anyone-know-organisation.html#post2760665 that I have to show to Sheriff that irrespective of their status, that this person owed me a duty of care in the levels of workmanship.

What levels of work do other forum members think that a handyman should be capable of?

tanith

Frankly I would not hire a 'handyman' for the jobs you wanted done.. a handyman is someone who can do minor repairs ie. dripping taps etc.. or putting up a fence for instance or changing a lock barrel.... did he say he was a builder?

C_Mababejive

Is this person a self employed sole trader? does he advertise? if so,how and in what style?

AFAIK anyone can call themselves a builder,a handyman and even many other trades/professions without breaking the law.

kevinjplee

He is a sole trader and no longer advertises,

He used to have a trailer outside his house (how we heard of him) but I can't for the life of me remember what it said.

We did some digging in preparation for court case and found that he placed an ad in local paper as a:

Plumber
Kitchen & bathroom fitter

We also found out, is'nt hindsight great, that he has fitted at least 2 showers which have gone bang along with a few more unhappy customers.

Contaced Trading Standards but they were not interested as court case had already started

kevinjplee

tanith wrote: »

Frankly I would not hire a 'handyman' for the jobs you wanted done.. a handyman is someone who can do minor repairs ie. dripping taps etc.. or putting up a fence for instance or changing a lock barrel.... did he say he was a builder?

I would agree but, as i said in original post, he built his own house so that is what i based decision on

Auntie-Dolly

Surely if he took the job on he must have thought/indicated he was capable of it?

kevinjplee

I raised that point with Sheriff.
At no time did builder/handyman say that he was experiencing problems.
If you look at photo 27 on flicr, these are tiles in hallway just outside lounge (including the ones that he tried to relay).
In court the guy said that he had "..advised us against laying tiles here, as it was a busy walkway and that he had suggested placing a piece of timber there.."

None of this is true and since tiles were relaid last year not one tile has "popped"

Fridge3

kevinjplee wrote: »

I had some work done to my house;

Small (12 ft x 8 ft) breeze block built, timber roofed, shed
Floor tiles laid in kitchen, hallway and bathroom.
Fireplace removed, and new one built.

The person who did work had 20 years experience in buidling trade and had built his own house.

To cut a long story short after a couple of months things started going wrong, i.e roofblew off shed, floor tiles "popped" and fire surround started smouldering.
see flickr.com/photos/seafield/ for photos)

Took builder to court (Sheriffs Court as I am based in Scotland) and Sheriff/Judge dismissed case, saying that because the person was a handyman that I could not expect the same level of service that a "tradesman" could provide. We did not know that he was a "handyman" at time, and this term only appeared when it went to court
The handyman was represented in court by a member of Scottish Citizens Advice Bureau who stated that they could not represent me as this would be a "conflict of interest"

I decided to appeal this case and have been advised by a very helpful person on
consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/scotland/246750-does-anyone-know-organisation.html#post2760665 that I have to show to Sheriff that irrespective of their status, that this person owed me a duty of care in the levels of workmanship.

What levels of work do other forum members think that a handyman should be capable of?

A handyperson or reasonable DIYer should be able to do a much better job than this IMO.

Looking at those photos, I'd have sacked him from the job after about the 2nd or 3rd course of blocks. Pic 12 looks like a 12yo built the block work. Then there's the roof - oh dear.

kevinjplee

I had a survey done by a FRICS surveyor who stated ".. [FONT=&quot]The workmanship throughout is poor, more akin to an amateur DIY attempt.."

Has anyone else had similar problems with "handymen" or can provide info on what exactly you should expect from this type of person
[/FONT]

DCFC79

How do you know he built his own house adn had 20 years experience, did you not ask for references of his past work.

kevinjplee

DCFC79 wrote: »

How do you know he built his own house adn had 20 years experience, did you not ask for references of his past work.

Used to, and still do, drive past his house a couple of timers per week.
He did a plumbing related job which turned out fine and when we were talking about work on house he threw his hat in. At no time did he ever say that he was not capable of doing jobs