Urgent assistance with Builder

yaz2010

Hi Members,

Need some urgent advice.

My builder started work in my house on 3rd August. It was meant to finish in 4 weeks. Yet it is only like 60% completed and it has been over 2 months. I have to call him everyday. From 2 people 6 days a week, it is now one person 3 days a week.

I want to know is there any action I can take. It is juts getting very annoying.

I found Home improvement ombudsman but this is like under construction as per their site.

Any comments would be highy appreciated.

angel_of_dartford

Do you still owe him money ?

You need to call a meeting to agree key dates ending with the project completion. Advise him should he fail to meet this, you will have the works completed by someone else, paid for out of the money you owe him.

Good luck

SplanK

What is it you are having done?
Have they hit any problems?
Have you changed the design, or what you want part way through?
Have they given any reasons why it has gone over the estimated completion date?
Are they working full days?
Have you spoken to the builder about the delay properly. Have they explained any reason why its taking longer than expected?


Sounds like they may have double booked, or for what ever reason your project has over run and they have started a 2nd job elsewhere and are trying to run the 2 together.


It does seem most work over runs by an amount. I have yet to experience 'major' works run to their original time frame (talking things like bathroom and kitchen refits upwards...)....

You mention you want to complain.... but what is it you want to complain about, and what outcome do you want?

yaz2010

Thanks guys.
I have paid him money on time. I have paid so far 70% of the amount. There is no delay from my side. All the materials are there in the house. He has just taken multiple jobs and has not got enough men.
I am suffering because of this. Everyday I have to call him the morning and he says he will finish it soon and the story continues.
Is there any legal action that I can take or threat him about something like that ? I am fed up.

yaz2010

What is it you are having done? knowck external wall to put bifolds, kitchen flooring, paiting in 3 rooms, bathroom.
Have they hit any problems? Multiple jobs taken by builder.
Have you changed the design, or what you want part way through? Nothing changed.
Have they given any reasons why it has gone over the estimated completion date? Whenver I call him, he says yes the work will be done.
Are they working full days? One person 3 days a week and the person spends more time on phone then work. He spends the whole day on most occasions.
Have you spoken to the builder about the delay properly. Have they explained any reason why its taking longer than expected? I call him multiple times in a day. In the morning he says he will come in the afternoon, when i call in the afternoon , he says he will be in the house in 1 hour , then evening. The day ends.

System

Do you have any kind of contract in place and/or a third party administering the contract?

yaz2010

no contract.

SplanK

There wont be any legal action (that's the criminal side), however you will be interested in a civil action.


If there is however no written contract, then it will be difficult to prove that he said he could complete in the time you are suggesting he said. Even then, you should allow for a little leeway unless the contract it was tight and has clear deadlines and the repercussions of running over clearly spelt out. Any ambiguity in the contract just results in an ugly mess.


The other thing you need to think about, although work seems to have slowed down, are they doing a good job? The worry here is that if you pressure him, such as giving them an ultimatum, may result in the job just becoming rushed for the sake of getting it done and out of your hair, leaving you with potential problems later down the line or a sub standard finish....


If they are not doing a good job, or he walks from the job, how easy would it be for somebody else to come in and finish off? There maybe additional cost as they may need to remove and re-do some work to their standard.


Difficult position to be in, but I would contemplate maybe getting a couple of others around before cutting ties to get quotes on finishing the work. The original builder will then go 1 of 2 ways..


1. He has enough work on elsewhere and agrees the amount already paid covers the time and material and moves on.


2. He becomes an a**e and starts demanding more money.

hels234

Hi, Why don't you contact Trading Standards for advice? I recently had builder problems including not finishing in a reasonable time (over 4months over) and they were really helpful and explained how to word a letter to them. I did have a contract though so it was relatively simple. We ended up having to get other tradesmen in to quote for the outstanding work and then deducting this from what was owed. The builders have never come back and we have now had to start with other tradesmen to finish the job.