Conservatory - Not fit for purpose - Advice?

johnfarquhar74

Not sure if this is the correct board for this one, so here goes:-

5 years ago we decided to get a conservatory installed in our 'new-build' house. We chose a well known, mainstream Edinburgh company and paid a total of £15k for the complete package. This price was broken down into manageable sums to be paid at various stages of completion, the first sum however was for payment to the architect(may be important).

Anyway, the conservatory was completed on time and a far as I was concerned, I was satisfied with the build. That was until water started coming through parts of the internal wall to the conservatory and above the doorways from my existing house to the conservatory.

Apparently, the conservatory was not installed with what is called in the trade 'cavity trays'. These basically break into your wall at the conservatory roof line and funnel away water that may be running down the inside of the cavity wall (timber frame house with brick leaf).

On closer inspection, the conservatory has covered up numerous 'weep' holes in the original wall and obviously covers the internal lintel trays over my original 2 back doors. This means if it rains heavy enough from a certain direction (easterly) the water will come from higher up the wall and come out the lower weep holes and lintel trays resulting in soggy plasterboard.

I contacted the conservatory company and they say I wasn't quoted for cavity trays(I didn't know what they were until the water started coming through), then they said the architect(who is liaising only with them) completed a calculation at the time of build and said I didn't need them. Now, If my house doesn't need them, how do I have water coming through my walls?

Does anyone have any suggestions how I can address this issue? The architect (that I paid through the builder) wants nothing to do with it, the builder says they are more than happy to retrospectively install cavity trays at my costs!?!

Personally I think the conservatory is not fit for purpose and would like the original builder to remedy the situation. There build is covered by a builders guarantee backed by Lloyds of London but am unsure if I have a legitimate claim.

Any useful info will be greatly appreciated!

pinkshoes

Who has told you so far that it is wrong?

I would start by getting an independent "expert" to take a look at it and write a report. You'll have to pay for this.

I presume you paid the conservatory company to design and build it, so therefore the architect was part of the price??

johnfarquhar74

pinkshoes wrote: »

Who has told you so far that it is wrong?

Have had 2 independent builders round. They were NOT touting for the business. They queried the wisdom of blocking off so many weep holes and lintel trays without installing cavity trays.

pinkshoes wrote: »

I would start by getting an independent "expert" to take a look at it and write a report. You'll have to pay for this.

This is indeed a valid avenue to follow but I fear these kind of reports are only good when you threaten to go to court, I'm hoping it doesn't go this far!

pinkshoes wrote: »

I presume you paid the conservatory company to design and build it, so therefore the architect was part of the price??

The architect was indeed part of the price, but it was made clear to me that the first cheque was to be made out to the architect as the company did not employ inhouse architects. This is where it might get tricky as my argument may be more with the architect than the conservatory company!

Thanks for the advice!

OlliesDad

Are you based in Scotland? as the Limit of Liabilities act only holds the seller responsible for 5 years.

johnfarquhar74

OlliesDad wrote: »

Are you based in Scotland? as the Limit of Liabilities act only holds the seller responsible for 5 years.

Yeah, Edinburgh. We started the contract around july '05, build complete november '05 (work only started in the october).

S'pose we better get our finger out!!

DVardysShadow

johnfarquhar74 wrote: »

...
Any useful info will be greatly appreciated!

OK, this follows contractual liability.

It looks like you engaged a builder to do the job, who engaged an architect who specified the conservatory. It is not clear whether you or the builder ordered it, but if you agree so far and onwards, it does not matter too much.

The builder is your principal contractor to whom you entrusted the task of building a conservatory which, of course, must be fit for purpose. But it is not fit for purpose, so the builder is responsible for putting it right - even though the technical responsibility for the omission of the vents lies with the architect. But the builder delegated the task of technical specification to the architect, so the architect is responsible to the builder for the omission.

The architect may have used design guidance supplied by the conservatory manufacturer, so ultimately, the conservatory manufacturer may be responsible to the architect.

Now, the joker in all of this is that you paid the architect directly, so he could tell the builder that he is responsible to you and he could tell you he is not responsible to you - and I imagine his order came from the builder.

You need to put the responsibility firmly on the builder, but if the builder says the architect is not responsible to him , you need to go back to the architect, possibly putting a shot across his bows to get him either to own up to being responsible to you or preferably to the builder.

It ain't pleasant. You have 3 parties involved and classically good scope for sloping shoulders and buck passing. You will only get it properly sorted once you get them to own up to their place in the contract chain.