Delay in renovation work

sam1970

The renovation work in our house is finally coming to an end. We were quoted, in writing, 3-4 months for the job but it took 9 months as the builders have accepted other jobs and did not turn up for work fro weeks. I feel that I should deduct some money from the final payment for the delay and the stress we have been through but how much? How would you calculate that?

teneighty

If the building contract allows, you can only claim for damages for legitimate losses you have suffered.

So for instance if you had to move out during the project and you lived in rented accommodation you could claim for the extra rent payments due to the delayed completion in accordance with the figures entered in to the contract.

Delay and stress are not losses.

All you can rely on is the builder making a goodwill gesture. No harm in asking.

sam1970

Thanks for your reply. We did not move out and this is the major reason for our stress as we had to live with builders around us for longer than agreed. Also they have been using electricity, heating all day for the duration of job and it is me who is footing the bill

phill99

Unless you have a clause in the contract stating 'time is of the essence' or that it had to be finished by a certain time, then you will struggle. If you have suffered no financial loss, what are you going to claim for?

sam1970

There was no contract, just a written quote. I approached 4 companies to do the work and all refused to do contract..I guess for this reason. The written quote clearly states 4 months to complete the work. Financially I will be claiming for all gas and electricity used daily over 5 months. We also got burgled while work was over running and I was unable to claim on insurance as the alarm system was ripped out by the builders. I am not planning to raise that issue but I am really !!!!ed off about it as we lost about £5000 worth of items

Furts

sam1970 wrote: »

There was no contract, just a written quote. I approached 4 companies to do the work and all refused to do contract..I guess for this reason. The written quote clearly states 4 months to complete the work. Financially I will be claiming for all gas and electricity used daily over 5 months. We also got burgled while work was over running and I was unable to claim on insurance as the alarm system was ripped out by the builders. I am not planning to raise that issue but I am really !!!!ed off about it as we lost about £5000 worth of items

If I were your builder I would not be very co-operative to this. Think of electricity and using an electric mixer. This is not going to use more electricity whether the job takes 4 months or 9 months. It is only using electricity when it is use, and this use is related to how much mortar and plaster are required for your works - it is not time related. Even the kettle for making tea has the same logic.

Now we come onto the heating. Builders do not expect gas central heating running at 20+C whilst doing their work. Think of building any new home, be this Barratts or whoever. The heating gets fired up when the house is almost complete - all the workers up until then are used to working at whatever the outside temperature is.

Now the break in. Your duty as a client was to ensure you had insurance in place that covered all risks. Like you I have had long running works to my home. I contacted my insurance broker and sought, and paid for, appropriate cover with a policy for the building works.

Now the burglar alarm. If it was defective then why did you allow this to occur? Why did you allow this to persist? What alternatives, or plan B, had you arranged as a Client to cover this eventuality?

People will have different views over matters, but you have posted before complaining that the builder took on other works. I reflect on that, and reflect on your logic in this latest post and wonder over matters. Sometimes builders make mistakes, and sometimes they pick the wrong clients. Sometimes these clients try it on, or are unreasonable.

Doozergirl

If they didn't turn up for weeks on end, how do you charge them for gas and electric every day? Tradesmen usually work in the cold - such is the nature of renovation works that conditions are usually freezing on site, often colder than outside. A tradesperson is going to use the same amount of electricity regardless of whether they turned up every day or every other day. You have to be able to justify your lack of payment to a judge. If there is no allowance for an over run, there is no allowance.

I think you need to be careful as the end of the work isn't always the end of the work and snagging needs to be done. If you decide to reduce what you pay the builder, you may find that the snagging work doesn't happen in quite the way you'd like. If you take the money one way, they'll probably find a way to take it another.

If you want a contract, insist on one. If you needed a working alarm for your insurance to be valid then you needed to insist on it working. If you're living there then you know if it's working or not.

We won't renovate a house with people living in it. It causes massive delays as everything needs to effectively start again every day and it's virtually guaranteed that the relationship will break down from the stress that the homeowner is under. As desperate as we are to minimise disruption, it's always awful.

We are having our bathroom redone. Of course, it's mainly weekend work in this house so I've had the main bathroom out for two weeks so far and the whole house is utterly full of dirt from just one room! Unfortunately, we planned to use the ensuite but it uses a saniflo and the waste pipe has frozen! We have no proper washing facilities at all. I was in tears on Tuesday morning, only found out what the issue was yesterday. Stuff happens, it wasn't anyone's fault, but I did fancy blaming my husband that day for the fact that I've had all my new stuff sitting downstairs for five months, he chose now and our clients get a slightly faster service.

Right now I have a £40 toilet connected in the main bathroom which is derelict and freezing cold. We only have the kitchen sink to wash. It's not the end of the world but it is stressful and I have the benefit of people I know and love doing this for me and I take a very positive attitude to life. I will have a lovely bathroom soon. I still cried when I had no toilet before I thought of the temporary solution.

Doozergirl

Ultimately, what will make the stress disappear is having the work finished and the builders gone. When it is lovely and you can shut the door you have the choice then to be happy that it is over and you have a lovely new home.

Do you really think that a discount is going to make that "stress" go away? It won't. It is your choice to let it go that makes it stop. Of course, easier said than done when you're still going through it but when it is done, it is done.

The danger is that your claiming an arbitrary discount actually prolongs the pain by putting a nail in the coffin for your relationship with the builder and your ability to get future problems rectified. I really don't think it's wise, I think it could make things worse. The best case scenario is probably that the builder takes it on the chin but then becomes even more unavailable, from that best case, the possibilities escalate to court cases, or even a malicious act. And I don't think you have a legal case without penalty clauses in the contract - which very, very few people have - usually only commercial developments and even then they build in leeway because all jobs run over.

Did you have a clear schedule for making payments against work actually done and the price of those items or did you pay arbitrarily upon request? Anything in advance?

Davesnave

Did you inform your insurers about the extra risk and pay a higher premium for the duration of the work? We did and it was bloody expensive!

If you didn't, then the presence or absence of a burglar alarm is somewhat irrelevant.

Also, how do you justify claiming for all the gas and electricity used, when much of that will have been to meet your needs as well?

If you withhold money without a solid case, then I'd say you are likely to face more months of stress while you defend the indefensible. It might be better to accept that you have been on a steep learning curve, put this behind you and enjoy the benefits your upgraded home should give.

teneighty

sam1970 wrote: »

There was no contract, just a written quote. I approached 4 companies to do the work and all refused to do contract..I guess for this reason. The written quote clearly states 4 months to complete the work. Financially I will be claiming for all gas and electricity used daily over 5 months. We also got burgled while work was over running and I was unable to claim on insurance as the alarm system was ripped out by the builders. I am not planning to raise that issue but I am really !!!!ed off about it as we lost about £5000 worth of items

If the insurance claim was rejected because the alarm was disabled and the contractor disabled the alarm without the home owner's express permission I would suggest the contractor should compensate you. I would also be insisting the police take a very close look at all the trades that had been on the site when the alarm was tampered with.

Doozergirl

teneighty wrote: »

If the insurance claim was rejected because the alarm was disabled and the contractor disabled the alarm without the home owner's express permission I would suggest the contractor should compensate you. I would also be insisting the police take a very close look at all the trades that had been on the site when the alarm was tampered with.

They were living in the house. If you don't know that your alarm isn't working within a day then you're not using it, surely?

I'll make a guess that the electrician was on site when it was disconnected ("tampered with").