Builder Dilemna

MarthaB

I have been having some very bad luck with my loft conversion and am finding that my usually sucessful calm and considered approach to life's many challenges is deserting me. Below is posted an email to my builder this morning, his reply and my reply to his. I apologise for the length of my post but it is a lengthy affair. I would really value a comment from the forum or what you think might be the next best step here:
Dear X
Unfortunately, as I explained in my previous email requesting you to give me dates for planned finishes of each stage on the contract schedule, no further payments will be released until the agreed stage is completed. Here is a reminder of the situation.

1. You have already received £17,100 and in addition to which I have paid £600 for neighbours survey to assess the damage caused when you penetrated through their side of the party wall with 2 RSJs.

2. You received the first payment on 02 May and planned to finish the project by the end of the second week in June. It is now 04 July and no stage of work as per the contract schedule, is yet complete!

3. As you are very well aware I have been and continue to be very stressed by the numerous problems with the project and the complaints from neighbours about the work: RSJs breaching party wall; ceiling falling through in bedroom and in sitting room; leak when roof that was not made waterproof damaging my flat and my neighbours flat; lack of protection on roof allowed debris from the roof work to damage neighbours property etc etc

4. And now I learn that the work that has been underway over the last week is rectifying the roof work previously done by your earlier roofers! The builder yesterday said that installing the dormers was still " a long way away" ! And that it might be easier for him to remove the dormer framework entirely and start again!

5. A couple of weeks ago you requested and were granted permission from the neighbour to use a ladder on his roof on the Monday to replace his aerial that your previous roofers had damaged. Yet yesterday another message from the neighbour that this had still not been done.

5. I have been extremely patient up to this point. I have done everything in my power to give you an opportunity to rectify the problems. I have paid every invoice (although the work was not complete) within 24 hours of your request.

6. Despite all of my endeavours, you disappeared for over two weeks and did not return my emails, text, or phone calls. You only answered the phone when I eventually dialed you from an unknown number!

Before any further payments are made, you need to send me the dates when each stage will be complete. I will release future stage payments only, as originally agreed, after a stage is complete..

I hope you will keep to your side of our agreement and now focus seriously on completing this project.

Kind regards

My response to my builder's response ( my comments in brackets)
Dear x
Thank you for your quick reply.
Please see below in brackets my response to your points.

1. The Party wall surveyor fees was not included in my quote . (I accept you did not plan for the RSJs to go through into the neighbours property so of course would not have included in your quote surveyors fee to assess the damage caused. However you must accept that if you had not pushed the steels through into neighbours property this fee would not have been incurred.)

2. Due to unforseen circumstances ( including weather ) the project is taking longer to complete . However I disagree that no stage of work as per schedule is complete, quite opposite - up to stage 3 it is completed ( roof waterproof ) , (It does not appear so to me as the dormer openings on rear roof are still wide open to the elements.) also stage 4 - most of the floorboards and joists installed (stage four payment due " FOLLOWING installation of flooring boards and staircase" is not complete ),stage 5 - windows delivered to site and due to be installed this week (Stage five payment due " FOLLOWING installation of windows" not complete), from stage 6 - insulation is almost completed but plasterboarding impossible if not known where to run electrical cables ( Before yesterday you hadn't been here since 8 June (!) and so I haven't had an opportunity to show you where I want sockets and lights. I am very happy to do so when you are next on site). Also there was a lot more RSJ work needed than I quoted for , and because your architect havent taken that into account there is issue with the stairs - it needs one more step somewhere and stair manufacturers are fiddling with the situation at the moment .(I will check with the architect and if it was his fault I will claim for damages from him.) Overall the project progress is around 65-70% , and payment progress of around 50% is not matching it .

3. Ceiling falling thru bedroom and sitting room - that situation is perfect example of why we can not work strictly on financial payment stage basis . If there would be no RSJs, joists and flooring installed , there is a high risk of falling thru the ceiling below and also walking on ceiling joists makes vibrations which do make them crack etc . So for that reason we installed floor joists and boards as soon as possible ( priority was building being water proof ) . I am really sorry about stress caused, but please believe me , I have had the same if not more stress and sleepless nights with this project and all I want is to finish it as soon as possible.(I appreciate that this must have been very stressful for you also, which is why I have tolerated the situation for so long and have paid invoices although the stages were not complete.)

4. I have spoken to the builder and he said that he was misunderstood and/or his words were taken out of context . (I am sorry if I misunderstood the builder now on the roof with whom I have no complaint.)The work they have done is - installed ridge tiles , lead around the chimneys and along the parapet , guttering at the rear , making sides straight and cementing them , top coat of cure-it on dormers - none of which was done by previous builders . Also they have repaired parapet on your roof above kitchen ( leadwork was slipped, also cemented parapet where needed) and repaired where top of kitchen roof meets back of main roof ( few bricks and leadwork was missing ) , which was not into a quote at all and which was completely extra work .]( The builders removed and replaced with different tiles of another colour, the central roof ridge that had been completed by previous roofers _ that much I can see for myself). And obviously it took time off completing main roof , as well as I have to pay scaffolders fee for keeping scaffold longer. (It appears to me that if the work had been properly supervised from the outset the steels would not have gone through into the neighbours property, the roof would not have been left exposed to the heavy rainfall, and all the problems created by the previous roofers would have been avoided. I have no complaint to make of the current builders, who have come most days since the 12 June even if sometimes only for half day. My concern is that as you are no longer visiting the site you cannot be supervising the standard of the work. Given all the problems there have been here, it seems to me very reasonable that I would expect you to be making extra efforts to avoid any further problems and delays.)

5. I instructed them to replace TV aerial as soon as permission from the neighbour was granted and yesterday I found out that it still has not been changed . It was rescheduled to be replaced today .( If you were supervising the work you would have known that it hadn't been done.)

It is increasingly difficult to work without a payment , as from our side this is main reason we are doing it . I have been very patient and did not wanted to ask for further payment for as long as possible - the last payment you made was almost month ago on 8th June . But it has come to the point that I am drained and need the next payment please to continue to finish asap.( I will not have access to the funds until following stage completion.)

(If it is impossible for you to continue under these circumstances, then I suggest that we seek arbitration service whereby the work will be assessed and any over/under payments established and resolved before assigning the remainder of the project to another contractor. This is my least preferred option but it seems it will become necessary as neither of us seem to have the means of continuing as we are.)

KR

AndyMc.....

Was there a party wall agreement and was there a surveyor appointed prior to the work starting?

bmw528i

He has failed to deliver, disappears for 2 weeks and fails to reply to your point 6. Why would you want to give him any more of your money. I'd go the arbitration route!

MarthaB

Thank you,
There was no party wall survey undertaken prior to work commencing nor surveyor instructed to oversee work. The property did however have a full structural survey 3 months prior.

The builder arranged for the structural plans and calculations that were submitted to agreed by the local Building Control office / inspector.

I can see now it would be useful to have a surveyor oversee the project. Is this in your experience the usual practice in loft conversions?

MarthaB

Thank you,
It is a truth I will have to accept.
So long of the opinion that no-one sets out to do a bad job and given a chance they will make good, has been difficult for me to let you of this view and will be sad to do so.

AndyMc.....

MarthaB wrote: »

Thank you,
There was no party wall survey undertaken prior to work commencing nor surveyor instructed to oversee work. The property did however have a full structural survey 3 months prior.

The builder arranged for the structural plans and calculations that were submitted to agreed by the local Building Control office / inspector.

I can see now it would be useful to have a surveyor oversee the project. Is this in your experience the usual practice in loft conversions?

But you had a party wall agreeent in place with the neighbour before you started?

Doozergirl

This is like joining a conversation halfway through.

The party wall agreement is not a retrospective thing. You should serve notice before starting work and unless the neighbour specifically agrees to the work without emoloying a PWS, you have to engage one to agree on the condition of the neighbouring property before work starts and the methods to be undertaken. It should all be agreed 14 days before you start work. The probability of an RSJ going through on a mid-terrace (particularly) is pretty high. It should not be the responsibility of a builder to pay for a PWS. It is a specialist job, like an architect or structural engineer.

With regard to payments, I would suggest that you sit down together and agree the % that you are through each stage so that you can set a value on the works so far and agree together how things are paid going forward. I can appreciate that the agreement was for completed stages but if the value of works is similar to that which has been paid and your builder has no money to carry on the project then you're both stuck between a rock and a hard place. If you can agree where you are at the moment, then that would be the best way to move forward. Agree payments perhaps on % of each stage complete rather than the entirety of each one. Whilst you don't want to pay ahead, you may need to help with some liquidity if they are taking the financial burden of some surprises.

It's so easy for relationships to break down. It's not something that anyone relishes. At least you're communicating at this point. Meeting face to face with an agenda and cake might be the best option.

Clive_Woody

Doozergirl wrote: »

Meeting face to face with an agenda and cake might be the best option.

This is why I, and many others, value your contributions on here so much. A little common sense can go such a long way.

In this age where we all resort to communication by email, sometimes taking a step back and saying let's talk this over face to face (particularly with cake involved) can make a big difference :T

Furts

MarthaB wrote: »

Thank you,
There was no party wall survey undertaken prior to work commencing nor surveyor instructed to oversee work. The property did however have a full structural survey 3 months prior.

The builder arranged for the structural plans and calculations that were submitted to agreed by the local Building Control office / inspector.

I can see now it would be useful to have a surveyor oversee the project. Is this in your experience the usual practice in loft conversions?

Have a meeting as Doozergirl has suggested. At the back of your mind remember your position is weak. You do not have to show this but consider what you may have erred on. Where is your Contract? Where is your Specification? Where are your working drawings?There was no PWS.

Buildings Regulations is your responsibility but you have delegated this to the builder. Likewise the structural design. Had you engaged the Structural Engineer then you would have a face, and the opportunity for visits, rapport and inspections. Calling in the Building Inspector is your role, and again you could/should have built up a rapport to work to your advantage. None of us know where you stand on these Inspections because you have not given details.

Only you know the facts, but the comment about the stairs not working shows a huge error has been made. Also the comment about agreeing lights/switches/sockets is concerning. These should be on the drawings and Specification. Both issues make me wonder what else is going to crop up and surprise you.

All this may sound gloomy, but to balance matters I suspect your builder has been negligent on supervision, and may well be sub contracting and expecting to cream off profits for little or no input. He may also be a complete rogue, but I suspect he is just not very good at his job. (You have not commented on what searches and checking you did on the builder, nor what was a greed on labour/sub contracting so purely speculation here)

But before anything happens speak with the Building Inspector, request an Inspection, and see what is said. Clearly establish if the Structural Engineer needs to be called to site to do an inspection, and clearly establish what has happened regarding the stairs - is there a dimensional, or buliding, error here.

teneighty

I have to say I am rather confused but find myself having some sympathy with the builder.

I do not understand your payment schedule but it appears to be based on completion of "stages." This can work provided the stages are clearly defined and the scope of works is realistic to ensure regular payments are made to keep the builders cash flow going.

It would seem that further payment is being withheld because the required stages are not 100% complete but the builder has done some work out of sequence due to practicalities found on site.

A fairer way to make payments and the most commonly used is to pay a % of the overall completed work. So if the roof is one of your stage payments instead of paying when the roof is complete pay a % based on progress so far, from the sounds of it it is about 90%. Likewise all the other stages.

I can't help feeling your "builder" has gotten out of his depth and is more of a project manager than a builder as he keeps referring to the builder as a separate person. However it does not sound like a complete disaster so with a bit of effort and compromise I think the project can be saved.

Good Luck

MarthaB

Thank you all for so many helpful comments.

I have now asked him to provide a revised schedule of work with dates for completion and an invitation when this is ready for us to sit down and discuss. My preference is indeed that he does finish the project. At least then we can both show that we have learned from our mistakes and go better equipped to the next project.

Fingers crossed for now.