Builder Blackmailing more money

System

thescouselander wrote: »

The builder should know better though. They should have drawn up a proper contract and any amendments should have been made and authorised before the altered work was done.
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Quite possibly the builder does know better and doesn't like the paperwork involved if they have some one doing valuations/ payment certificates and making sure all variations are costed etc. Rather than just crashing on and handing a client a big bill, it's not a huge amount of variation for an extension with that budget but if it's never been priced then the op is at a loss.
250k is a sizeable extension and should have been run properly, the architect should have advised an appropriate contract and explained the implications to the op if they decided not to have a contract in place, this should have formed part of the tender documents and should have detailed requirements from both sides on how variations are dealt with.
If a contractor tells you that you dont need a contract because they are great, that's the biggest sign, with flashing lights and theme music, that you most definitely need a contract in place!

System

I hate these threads when the op disappears and we never hear the outcome!

seashore22

This particular op often disappears, but I don't really blame them in the circumstances. The situation they have got themselves in to must be hard to deal with and I can't see a happy outcome. They have been very naive and that is hard to hear from numerous replies. Feeling a bit silly is one thing, losing all that money is terrifying.

shdmummy

THERE IS A CONTRACT IN PLACE. They broke the contract and now are asking for more money. They have raised their price to come back and work to £35,000. These figures are if any new builder walks in btw.

PLEASE help me with the legal advice. I would really appreciate.

Doozergirl

Have you done anything that I suggested?
Have you been to a solicitor? Started documenting your correspondance and written to ask for the breakdown of what they think you owe?

I'm still unclear of what this contract contains and the detail of it.

Tothepoint.

shdmummy wrote: »

THERE IS A CONTRACT IN PLACE. They broke the contract and now are asking for more money. They have raised their price to come back and work to £35,000. These figures are if any new builder walks in btw.

PLEASE help me with the legal advice. I would really appreciate.

You need to see a solicitor for that, not get it from a forum.

shdmummy

Yes spoken to a legal team but not too much help as they want to be paid lots of first meeting. i just want to understand the procedure.

The contract was very detailed up to with light fittings etc. Architect had written it. They are completely bypassing the contract and saying that they wanted to build the house within our budget which means they will not give us the light fitting in the contract. They have not even looked at the contract and its detail.

Documented everything.

shdmummy

It was a JCT contract and I am currently reading the details about JCT contract. Anyone got experience with JCT contract?

daveyjp

JCT is industry standard and there are a few different ones depending on the size and type of job.

However a contract is only any good if both sides honour it. If one side doesn't the other side needs to spend money to enforce it.

Some clients enforce by paying an architect to be a PM and keep on top of the job and maintaining ongoing dialogue and communication. Other clients cross their fingers and enforce by paying lawyers when it starts going off the rails.

From my experience the cost of enforcement is directly proportional to the level of communication breakdown between contractor and client.

Doozergirl

daveyjp wrote: »

From my experience the cost of enforcement is directly proportional to the level of communication breakdown between contractor and client.

...and the architect. This wasn't starting well when the client, who is one party of the contract doesn't even realise it exists.

OP, you need a meeting with the architect. The initial path for formal resolution lies within it. The architect should have been valuing the work against the value of the contract.

The builder needs to stick to it, but if the schedule and specifications are clear then it will also be easy to highlight any variations from that which affect the cost of the project. This HAS to be documented to find resolutions. Your architect should pull their finger out. How much have you paid the architect for their services? They should have been doing this.

We already know that the windows weren't specced correctly if you were asking about configurations.

A solicitor who specialises in dispute resolution will know the JCT contracts inside out.