Structural Engineer -Not happy with work - Invoice Payment

cuthbei

Hi,

I'm having some building work completed in my house and half way through the work we decided we would like to remove a downstairs wall which was separating two rooms. In order to make sure the house would not fall down after removing the wall (which did carry load) + to keep Building Control happy, we needed some structural calculations.

The company I found provided a quote for calculations on the phone, which was around £250. They didn't ask for any details of the property and all I told them was that the "house was quite old" and I wanted "calculations to support removing a downstairs wall". The engineer came out and I showed him areas of the house that I considered relevant (I.e. all the areas above the wall that I assumed supported the wall). A few days later he sent some calculations with a very high level design for adding some steel to support the upstairs.

Once the builders started work, it became clear that the assumptions for the calculations were not correct. I.e. walls he assumed were brick and supported the roof, were in fact wood. Also, the steels in the roof for some previous work were far from well represented by his calculations, as he didn't know where they were / what they did.

I call the engineer and told him we were not happy to continue building against his design and I would like him to look at it again. He was reluctant, so I called his boss. After some negotiating, we decided he could get away with not visiting the house again, if I sent him the new details we had exposed (structure etc).

He came back and said his calculations were fine and if we wanted anything more done, we would need to pay again. I declined to pay again, as I don't think the first work was good enough. In my mind, if when he visited he didn't have the information to make a good calculation, he should have asked me to expose the necessary timbers, steel, walls etc to make good calculations.

Following this, I advised him I was not happy with the work and didn't want to pay for it. If he needed more information from me, he should have requested more information in advance, even on the phone.

We employed a new engineer who insisted much more of the house's structure was exposed and even found some previous work which didn't meet regulations (even though the council has signed it off 10 years ago).

Anyway, my questions are

1) Am I within my rights to decline to pay?
2) Does the fact he didn't send any written quote have an impact
3) If I don't pay and he forwards my details to a debt collector who will add his fee, what happens then?
4) Can he take me to the small claims court? Should I take him to the small claims court?

I'm confused how "normal" rules apply, as I have not paid in advance + the service definition is somewhat vague.

Thanks for any help you can offer,

Cuthbei

southcoastrgi

ask the new engineer if he thinks in his opionion the first engineer was incompentant in his findings, & whether the calcs he did were safe & correct

warmhands.coldheart

cuthbei wrote: »

.....
4) Can he take me to the small claims court? Should I take him to the small claims court?

If he does and you have proof his calcs were incorrect, I doubt he'd get anywhere with it

cuthbei

I'm very confident the old design would not meet building regulations, which is the main reason I want the calculations in the first place. That should be enough I guess?

marlot

Let them take you to the small claims court! Make them prove their case.

Furts

Based on my experience, if the original structural engineer believes their design and service was well below acceptable standards you will not be receiving an invoice from them.

Without an invoice you can not be expected to pay the account.

Without an invoice and subsequent demands for payment this matter cannot be forwarded to a debt collection agency.

To view in a different light; there is no point in the structural engineer wasting their time issuing an invoice and chasing payment if they know they will not get paid.

If your case is as strong as it appears then the original structural engineer may "forget" this work.