Dispute with Builder, all advice welcome

t00farg0ne

Hi

I'm not sure if I have the right section here or if anyone will be able to help on this.

Basically we got a roofer in to reduce the height of our chimney as our survey said it had a lean and was quite tall. We got a quote for the work and to do internal work to plaster over a hole in our dining room where old an old gas fire been removed. We also requested that a flue liner was to be fitted for a woodburning stove in the living room.

They quote for this work was £1480 + the cost of the flue liner
This was broken down as
£680 scaffolding
£800 labour
£450 flue liner


We later discovered that the old original brick fireplaces were still in tact and so agreed an additional £100 per room to have these stripped and repointed and instead plaster the side walls rather than the just plaster the chimney breasts to cover the holes for the old gas fires.

We paid for the scaffolding and flue liner upfront as this job was quoted as a 4-day job originally (back at the start of July)

We also paid for £500 labour after some of the internal work had been done.

It was from this point that we had numerous issues where the roofer went on holiday for 3 weeks leaving the scaffolding up, scaffolding which incidentally is on our neighbour's house as that was the only way to get access.

We finally after 2 months of requests on our part had the chimney reduced but a further 3 weeks of inactivity whilst we waited and requested for the flue liner to be fitted, and numerous broken promises caused us to request that we be reimbursed for the cost of the flue liner.

We have since had another contractor complete the work. They quoted on Saturday and completed the work on Monday.

Given that we have paid for a flue liner that has never been ordered and has never materialised we have requested this back and said that the labour costs paid to date fairly reflect the work that has been completed.

He is obviously disputing this and has now also added £200 to the original quote. It's been a bit of a nightmare to be honest and now we are not too bothered about the money (although I would still like it back) but we really want to know who we need to contact to do this and how we can let other people know about his appalling practices.


All of this is before the other issues we have with them in, not using dust sheets when plastering, verbally abusing us outside our front door etc.

I would really appreciate any help any of you can give us and hope all that makes some sort of sense.

Thanks

T00farg0ne

evoke

Is the builder local? Is he a registered limited company? If so, contact your local Trading Standards.

southcoastrgi

so which was it a builder or a roofer ?, you didn't need a roofer for any of the work you have listed apart from if you needed new flashing around the chimney (although this is tradionally a plumbers job)

t00farg0ne

Hi

thanks for the responses.

Yes, he is local. How can i find out if they are a limited company?

Is there anything I can do if not? Other than posting bad reviews anywhere I can find them listed?

Thanks

keystone

Did you have a proper written quote? Did you have a written contract of any description laying down the timescale for completion, the scope of work, the agreed price and any payment schedule?

In the meantime its too early to involve TS IMHO. You need to:

1. Write formally to him by recorded (signed4) delivery laying out your disatisfaction and requestion he recompenses you for the materials paid for but not supplied. At the same time reject the additional £ 200 saying that you have already paid for £ 500 for labour against the £ 800 quoted with the job not completed. Reserve your position in respect of the additional costs you bhave had to incur to get the work completed and make sure he understands that you are reserving your position. Also make him aware that you are considering whether or not you shoud involve Trading Standards. Keep it factual and unemotional Include a timeline of his failures as well. Give him say a week to respond.

2. If he doesn't respond in that time then make your next letter a Letter Before Action - you can find examples both here and elsewhere on the internet. In that you have to lay down the precise details of your claim against him and it is at this stage you need to state any recompense you are looking for in respect of additional costs incurred. Its important that the claim is detailed because it will form the basis of any subsequent court action that you might take and it should not vary from what you claim via the court. Make sure you include statutory interest on the amount of your claim. Its 8% per annum simple. Now would be the time for a chat with TS with your draft LBA in your hand to get their advice.

3. Once you have sent it (again by recorded / signed4 / special delivery - so its trackable) he has 28 days to reply to this and if he has any sense his reply will include a cheque. However, if he does not respond then go to Money Claim on line and enter the details of your claim there. This will automatically be dealt with by Northampton County Court who will allocate it to the small claims track. Papers will then be served on him together with a Court Hearing date. The hearing is normally in front of a District Judge but its done in a room not an open court and there are no wigs or anything fancy. He will be given the opportunity to have the hearing transferred to his nearest County Court if he wishes. If he doesn't turn up at the hearing to defend himself you will automatically get judgement in your favour by default and he then has a further 28 days to pay you whatever the Judge has awarded after which if he has not paid his CCJ will be entered on the Register (where it will stay for 6 years) and you are entitled to send the bailiffs in having been granted a Warrant Of Execution. Their costs will be added to his bill

Thats the process by which you get your money back. Trading Standards are not in a position to get your money back for you. In fact all they will probably do is log him for further investigation should another complaint be made unless he's already got "previous".

In my experience (and yes I have had to take people to court for non-payment not the other way round ) the payment usually arrives on swift wings shortly after the Court Papers land on the miscreant's doormat.

HTH

Cheers