Builder paid £16k then leaves house half done

thearchitect

In the event of a dispute, the court will have regard to what work was (a) necessary to fulfill the terms of the contract and (b) whether the costs so arising are reasonable.

Any contractor carrying out his or her own inspection for an element of that is not a disinterested party, inasmuch as they obviously wish to maximise their own profit. In considering representations based upon such quotations, the court will exercise some caution. The advice of an architect or surveyor is therefore preferrable.

Turning to the reasonableness of costs, you will have to show how these were arrived at. You cannot simply go to (say) one electrician or one roofer and present their costs, on the basis they may not represent a fair market rate for the work.

Have you spoken to your household insurers yet? Assuming that you took the usual legal cover policy then you may find that (i) they will appoint a lawyer to assist you and (ii) that lawyer may in turn get them to involve - and pay for - professional surveys.

hollydays

djc2015 wrote: »

I have found out today from a contractor who done a full rewire on a previous house i had where the builder was working that he has been doing a full roof install for the past 4 weeks.
I have started getting quotes for all of the works done so will get that all together and send that to him.
Seems that there is so much for people to do to get justice. Not suprised there are so many people getting ripped off.

Weather may have delayed some of his projects.
I've a friend who's almost complete house redesign has been delayed.

While disappointed, she understood that this would delay things, she didn't unduly pressurise him. Being a builder must be quite stressful.
They do need good building skills but also excellent communication and juggling skills.

djc2015

hollydays wrote: »

Weather may have delayed some of his projects.
I've a friend who's almost complete house redesign has been delayed.

While disappointed, she understood that this would delay things, she didn't unduly pressurise him. Being a builder must be quite stressful.
They do need good building skills but also excellent communication and juggling skills.

Yeah i understand if it was lots of work outside that would stop work getting done but this is all internal works plus windows. He has been working on other jobs although he knows about timescales.

I have been more than fair more than 5 times as he is 17 weeks over!

djc2015

thearchitect wrote: »

In the event of a dispute, the court will have regard to what work was (a) necessary to fulfill the terms of the contract and (b) whether the costs so arising are reasonable.

Any contractor carrying out his or her own inspection for an element of that is not a disinterested party, inasmuch as they obviously wish to maximise their own profit. In considering representations based upon such quotations, the court will exercise some caution. The advice of an architect or surveyor is therefore preferrable.

Turning to the reasonableness of costs, you will have to show how these were arrived at. You cannot simply go to (say) one electrician or one roofer and present their costs, on the basis they may not represent a fair market rate for the work.

Have you spoken to your household insurers yet? Assuming that you took the usual legal cover policy then you may find that (i) they will appoint a lawyer to assist you and (ii) that lawyer may in turn get them to involve - and pay for - professional surveys.

As ita in my interest to get the work done as cheaply as possible i havent got quotes from major companys but just got quotes from local tradesmen.
I have been in touch with consumer direct and followed the steps so far. I sent him a letter with 7 daysto respond and im claiming for damages.

I have spoken to household insurance and they cannot help but have told me to speak to citizens advice which i have.
Still no correspondence from the builder.
Will contact them again when the 7 days is up and see what the next step is:mad:

thearchitect

Good luck. I suspect you'll need it.