Builder won't give me my keys

flooz-ie

Hi,

I've had a new garage built on my house -been a bit of a nightmare. The finish is great but the '3-4 weeks' turned into '4-5 months' & involved a lot of hassle to get it finished...

So, it was finally done just over a month ago. The builder's been paid in full. Now I just need my keys!!
He has the 2nd remote fob to open my garage & the 2nd keys to get from the garage to the back garden & the garage into my house. Also the electrical safety certificate.

I emailed him 2 weeks ago & he replied saying he'd drop them off if he was this way or if not, over the weekend. The weekend came & went & no keys.
I emailed again last week & he hasn't even bothered to respond to that email.

I now have 4 weeks til I go away travelling & leave my property unoccupied. It's looking like I might have to get the locks & garage fob thingy changed if I don't get my keys.

Where do I stand legally on getting the keys from the builder?

Failing getting them, how do I get the fobs changed on a remote push the button to open it garage door?

Unfortunately I'm a girl on my own & the builder has already been exceedingly aggressive so phoning him petrifies me.

Thanks

fluffpot

Do you know his address? If so I suggest an email and phone call to say you'll be round to pick them up on such a date and collect your certs. Take a friend with you if possible. I think you have to call him - emails are too easy to ignore.

DVardysShadow

Time to write a letter, keeping a copy, mentioning in summary how long he has had the keys and the number of requests stating that you want the keys back by a certain date [I would say 14 days ahead] after which you will change all the locks and charge him. And if he does not comply or contact you, change the locks, send him the bill and take him to court.

Foggster

He also has a legal obligation to give you the electric certificate. I unfortunately had to threaten a very good electrician with reporting him for this when he took over 3 months to come up with the certificate and the building control officer was wanting to sign the work off.

I agree to write a letter, keeping it nice but asking for the return of your property.

imho

I would change the locks anyway as i wouldnt trust him not to have a spare set cut. If you write to him send the letter registered.

MaggieBaking

I don't see any security concerns here if you trusted him to do the work and he's done a great job - I think it's just a "chore" that he can't be bothered to do. Call him up and ask if he can put the keys in his van, that way when you have the time you can ring him and ask what job he's on so you can go around and collect it at your convenience.

If you really want to, change the keys but I can't see that he'd clone the garage fob... Unless you're storing a Lamborghini in it or something?

bevanuk

Ring him and stop e-mailing - there's your first problem.

DVardysShadow

imho wrote: »

I would change the locks anyway as i wouldnt trust him not to have a spare set cut. If you write to him send the letter registered.

Letter should go recorded, not registered.

But I agree on changing the locks. However, if you are going to charge the locks to him and follow through with a court claim if necessary, you need to go through the right process, which is to give him a fair chance to put the matter right by returning all keys. Just put a short [but reasonable] time scale on it.

evoke

Jeez.

TELL him to return your keys immediately and stop faffing around. If he's been paid in full then he has NO right to hold on to your keys. You may have consequences with regards to your contents insurance if you had a burglary and the insurance company found out that a set of keys to your property were in the possession of your builder.

I would also have a chat with your local police station (non-emergency number) for advice. It's causing you a LOT if unnecessary anguish which you don't deserve.

imho

MaggieBaking "The finish is great but the '3-4 weeks' turned into '4-5 months' & involved a lot of hassle to get it finished..." That was a quote from the OP.
Maybe he hasnt got a copy of the keys to the garage but i would change the locks to the garage just so i can sleep at night.With luck the keys are the ones you cant copy.
I wouldnt call him to say i am coming over for the keys i would just go at about 8pm and get them,just say you was out that way and thought you would pick them up .

MaggieBaking

imho wrote: »

MaggieBaking "The finish is great but the '3-4 weeks' turned into '4-5 months' & involved a lot of hassle to get it finished..." That was a quote from the OP.

Well yes, he's badly organised not dastardly, the fact the job dragged on but is still a good shows that he's just hopelessly disorganised, which is why I suggested the OP makes it as simple as possible to get the keys back by making him keep them with him all the time, and going to collect them herself.