Legal Advice - Please

caveman38

My friend had a whole bathroom re-fit by a contractor that was had a property maintenance company ie. not a dedicated bathroom fitter. He priced up the job, made a few visits but the bulk of the work was done by his two employees.
They stripped the bathroom back to the brickwork, replastered, fitted sanitary ware and tiled. The shower unit was fitted to the hall adjacent wall with a false (stud) wall to house the pipework etc.
A month later he found water dripping in his kitchen and reported it to the contractor. He duly turned up and agreed there was a leak, had fiddle around and said he could not identify where it had come from but seemed to be OK now.
It is my belief that he stuck his hand in the stud cavity and homed one of the plastic pipes into it's compression and thought that it was cured.
The leak has since returned and the contractor has turned a deaf ear and doesn't answer the phone now.
What is the legal position for my friend. I suggested he gets a bona-fide plumber to put everything right, but. Ultimately it will cost the repair, re-tile, and possibly new floor as well.
Can a small claims court deal with such cases or is there another answer.
I know you will say he should of had a pukka plumber/fitter in the first place but saw the opportunity to save a few bob and it now lumbered. What advice can you give please.

keystone

Trading Standards if he won't cooperate as a start then see what they advise but see below first. If you go to a sol right now it'll cost a packet before you've even walked through the door and sat down.

There is no such thing as a small claims court. The small claims process is dealt with in the county court and will be allocated to the small claims track if the total sum involved is less than £5k.

It is my belief that he stuck his hand in the stud cavity and homed one of the plastic pipes into it's compression and thought that it was cured

Am not quite sure how you have come to that conclusion. How did he get access?

I suggested he gets a bona-fide plumber to put everything right,............... he should of had a pukka plumber/fitter in the first place...........

Your logic escapes me. If he runs an operation that advertises itself as being adept in bathroom refits amongst other things then in what way is he or his staff not "pukka" or is that just a subjective generalisation? We all make mistakes from time to time - even the best but he should be attending to it.

Write (don't ring and don't email) to him at his principal place of business preferably by signed4 post giving him a set timescale in which to return and investigate and then fix the problem. Tell him that if he does not do so within the timescale which must be reasonable then another contractor will be employed to remedy the work and a subsequent claim mafde against him for all associated costs. What is the defects liability period stipulated within the contract?

If he doesn't respond to that then straight through TS door to get their advice.

HTH

Cheers

caveman38

Firstly thank you for the quick reply.
He gained access to the pipes between the wall and stud there is a 3"" gap. From this the pipes are visible and all plastic. The original copper at ground level are then connected to plasic pipes to the pump in the loft and from said pump down to shower mixer. Limited access is available but only enough to put your arm in. The leak that was there when he arrived miraculously disappeared after he put his arm within the stud. This leads me to beleive that he may have pushed one of the plasic pipes back into the compression. Obviously only me speculating.
What I meant by bona-fide plumber was one that dealt purely with plumbing and bathroom fitting. From what my friend told me, the 2 employees always seemed to find obstacles ie. the toilet doesn't line up with the soil pipe. Problems that plumbers deal with day in day out but general builders don't.

keystone

Well if there is access of some description then there isn't going to be a massive amount of retiling, floor replacement etc then. If it measn knocking a hole in the opposite side of the wall then making good afterwards then thats the easiest and quickest solution.

LoL new toilet pans never do line up with the old soilpipe.

Yes I take your point on the bone fide front but if he's engaged in that business then he's no less bona fide than the next man. You shouldn't allow this to cloud your jusdgement. The real issue is that he, seemingly, doesn't want to deal with the [STRIKE]!!!!-up[/STRIKE] mistake which is un-professional.

Cheers

caveman38

LoL new toilet pans never do line up with the old soilpipe

I agree but offset connector are easily obtained and not mentioned to the client as a problem.
Thanks again for the advice, I will pass it on.

BTW. What is SOL in your first post, 1st. Para.

iamcornholio

caveman38 wrote: »

What is the legal position for my friend. I suggested he gets a bona-fide plumber to put everything right, but. Ultimately it will cost the repair, re-tile, and possibly new floor as well.
Can a small claims court deal with such cases or is there another answer.

First the plumber must be given the opportunity to rectify his work.

However, for a leak, time is of the essence and having attempted one repair, it may well be that the customer can "lose confidence" in the ability of the plumber to rectify the work

In which case, if he can't be contacted by phone after a few attempts, then that is good enough reason to seek another firm to rectify the leak

The customer is required to mitigate loss, so it may well be that they engage someone to rectify the leak initially as an emergency, and then try again to contact the original firm to do a full repair and make good damages.

Another seven days should be sufficient for this, else then seek other firms

Three quotes would be needed to prove that costs are kept low and reasonable

The customer must pay for the repair work to the other firm and then ask the plumber to pay for this, else sue the original firm in the county court for the costs.

searchlight123

caveman38 wrote: »

I agree but offset connector are easily obtained and not mentioned to the client as a problem.
Thanks again for the advice, I will pass it on.

BTW. What is SOL in your first post, 1st. Para.

sol is short for solicitor