Roofing - should I go with cheaper quote and is it legal ?

ian103

Skint_yet_Again wrote: »

Thanks for all the helpful replies. Its my friends B-in-L and he has just gone on holiday for a week, so following your advice when he gets back I will be asking him if he has public liability insurance and maybe how much extra it would cost with scaffolding, and then we can make a decision

Thanks again

A sensible and correct option in my view.

Retro_Bunny

Skint_yet_Again wrote: »

Thanks for all the helpful replies. Its my friends B-in-L and he has just gone on holiday for a week, so following your advice when he gets back I will be asking him if he has public liability insurance and maybe how much extra it would cost with scaffolding, and then we can make a decision

Thanks again

If it's your friends B-in-L then realistically you don't know him from Adam.
Personally I'd stay clear of this, as if it goes south, then that's your friendship gone - if the recommendation is for a solid time served roofer then fine, but if it's a bit more "I know someone..." then I'd ask around for recommendations of roofers in your area.

And as others have said, aim to get another quote - give it more time - phone some companies directly and arrange for them to come and inspect/quote.

gazman100

Retro_Bunny wrote: »

If it's your friends B-in-L then realistically you don't know him from Adam.
Personally I'd stay clear of this, as if it goes south, then that's your friendship gone - if the recommendation is for a solid time served roofer then fine, but if it's a bit more "I know someone..." then I'd ask around for recommendations of roofers in your area.

And as others have said, aim to get another quote - give it more time - phone some companies directly and arrange for them to come and inspect/quote.

Well maybe, but if I was getting work done and one of my mates has a BIL who was a roofer, and he DIDN'T mention it, I'd be a bit surprised. If he said 'I don't know his work but he may give you rates mates' I wouldn't hold it against him. Plus at a bag of sand lighter he's worth listening too!

southcoastrgi

it's really not about him falling off the roof (although that does come into it), it is about health & safety & protecting members of the public, do you know how many bricks are in a chimney & how heavy it is, the bricks have to come down somehow & unless he is going to throw them down the inside of the chimney then they have to reach ground level & not by lobbing them into the back garden, you can't do this off of ladders, you need scaffolding at either the front or back & a scaffolding around the chimney.

one of the reasons you are having trouble finding a roofer to quote is because it's not a roofers job !!, a roofer will fill in the tiles, felt & battens once the chimney is below the roof line, but the removal of the chimney is a builders or bricklayers job

ey_up

a builder removed our chimney stack without any scaffolding. he was fully insured and very experienced. granted ours was not connected to the neightbours but the above roof line element of the removal was done in a couple of hours. one man then battoned and tiled the roof line while the other continued to work his way down. full height removed in under two days. I would check brother in laws insurance but it's not a job that actually requires scaffolding in many instances. of course job dependent bla bla but if an experienced and insured builder says they are happy let them get on with it without insurance. just check credentials first

Yorkie1

I have some recollection that there are regulations about Working at Height. I also have some recollection about a householder being liable (sued) if someone they've employed suffers injury if they fall from a height - i.e. aren't complying with the regs.

I know this doesn't take the thread much further forward, but I'd be concerned if I was the householder and didn't know for sure that I wouldn't be liable if the roofer fell off.

vaio

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I have some recollection that there are regulations about Working at Height. I also have some recollection about a householder being liable (sued) if someone they've employed suffers injury if they fall from a height - i.e. aren't complying with the regs.

I know this doesn't take the thread much further forward, but I'd be concerned if I was the householder and didn't know for sure that I wouldn't be liable if the roofer fell off.

Yep, there are working at height regulations which apply to workers but they are descriptive "you must do a risk assessment & work safely" rather than proscriptive "you must use scaffolding above 2m"

There are various guidance documents available but the whole ethos of H&S is about workers assessing the job and taking the appropriate steps to complete it safely.

As for householders being liable for injuries to workers...the only way that could arise is if the householder commits an act of negligence (like supplying scaffold which subsequently turned out to be defective) and injured someone. This is why my advice to the householder posted above was to leave the safety details to the professionals.

cootuk

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg284.pdf

I would say that removing a chimney would be more than short duration and there should be fall protection as well as a method for safe movement of waste.

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks everyone, lots for me to think about.... am still confused !

I am female, and its a female friends brother in law, so I'm afraid (without being sexist) I am completely clueless about builders/roofers/HSE. I have not really had any dealings with roofing/chimneys.

Will do some more research and maybe get some more quotes.

Thanks again