Faulty workmanship

lozzaloula

We have just purchased a refurbished Victorian property. The vendors installed a new bathroom with a shower that has the plumbing tiled in. Since moving in it turns out that the shower has been plumbed in incorrectly and as such the water is either freezing or scalding. We have contacted the vendors to find out the name of the builder/plumber who installed it, but they are not replying. Our solicitor has wrote to the vendors solicitor but hasn't heard anything back from them. We are going to try and take this to the small claims court with a view of claiming some sort of compensation. The problem is that we don't have the contractors name.


Does anyone have any advise on what we could do to move forward with this??? We are absolutely at our wits end!

Engineer87

What do you think is causing the problem?

lozzaloula

According to a plumber it has been plumbed in wrong. The left hand side of the water supply is cold and the right hand side is hot.

eddddy

I think you might struggle to succeed in a claim for this.

You have no contract with the builder/plumber, so you can't claim breach of contract.

You can only claim from the house seller if they made a misleading statement in response to pre-contract enquiries.

In general, no warranties are given with a property purchase. It's a case of 'buyer beware'.

You have to do your own investigations and/or commission surveys to identify defects etc, before you purchase.

pinkshoes

Your only claim is against the seller if the had put in writing anything about the bathroom being fully functioning. Did they?

What did the sale advert say? What did the SPIF firm say?

Jackmydad

lozzaloula wrote: »

According to a plumber it has been plumbed in wrong. The left hand side of the water supply is cold and the right hand side is hot.

Makes you wonder how much of a plumber the original plumber was.

Personally, I'd get the pipework swapped over where it can be accessed, before it disappears into the wall. It's annoying to have a fault like that, but getting it done is going to be the least painful route I'd have thought.

agrinnall

lozzaloula wrote: »

Does anyone have any advise on what we could do to move forward with this??? We are absolutely at our wits end!

Yes, get your own plumber in and pay them to fix it. It's what happens when you own a property.

eddddy

pinkshoes wrote: »

Your only claim is against the seller if the had put in writing anything about the bathroom being fully functioning. Did they?

What did the sale advert say? What did the SPIF firm say?

Even being in writing isn't good enough. It has to be part of the contract.

An email or letter from the seller isn't part of the contract, the Estate Agent's advert, brochure etc aren't part of the contract.

But the 'Sellers Property Information Form' (SPIF) is part of the contract, as are replies to pre-contract enquiries made by your solicitor.


Realistically, the OP probably just has to bite the bullet and pay for the repairs.