Conservatory T&C's.

Frank99

I am looking to have old conservatory replaced but i have found this in the Terms and Conditions!

"When brickwork is to be knocked down the Company cannot be held responsible for any consequential damage"

A lot of brick work will need to be taken down so how worried should i be?:(

Silvertabby

Sounds like they are just covering their sixes.

When we had our old conservatory knocked down to foundation level, and then rebuilt, there was no damage to the house walls - just mortar marks which could have been cleaned off if necessary.

The metal 'fixing pins' (sorry, don't know the technical term) had been set into the house mortar, and so the holes could have just been filled in if we hadn't been re-building.

ADD:

I've just read your post again, with the benefit of caffeine - are you saying that it's the new conservatory company who are saying that if they cause any damage when they knock down the old brickwork then they are not responsible? Our new conservatory contract certainly didn't say that - in fact, as the french doors between the dining room and the conservatory were fairly new (and fitted by them) they promised to be as careful as possible but - if they did have an 'accident' then they would remedy any damage.

Davesnave

If demolition is a normal part of their work, they should have insurance in place for it IMO.



I demolished my own brickwork on the conservatory and in many other places. I also knocked all the render off my house.


While I realise my time's 'free,' so I didn't need to rush, at no time did I break anything or feel that there was a good chance I'd do so. If I'd had an assistant, I'd have been much less likely to create a problem with dropped bricks etc, but it was still straightforward to protect windows etc with sheets of ply.



What are they going to use; a wrecking ball?



Maybe renegotiate the price if you get someone else to do the site clearance. Perhaps they just don't want to do it.

Furts

You will have done due diligence on your conservatory company and all round weighed them up for skills and competence. They may be good, but the T&C clause proudly shouts the following ...


"We are a cowboy company who undertakes cowboy work. We could not give ---- about your home and we will happily knock hell out of it. When we have done so we will accept no responsibilty for the damage we have caused, and there is nothing you can do about this."


By all means negotiate to get this Clause removed. But you might be better off seeking a professional, and competent, company.

Frank99

Furts wrote: »

You will have done due diligence on your conservatory company and all round weighed them up for skills and competence. They may be good, but the T&C clause proudly shouts the following ...


"We are a cowboy company who undertakes cowboy work. We could not give ---- about your home and we will happily knock hell out of it. When we have done so we will accept no responsibilty for the damage we have caused, and there is nothing you can do about this."


By all means negotiate to get this Clause removed. But you might be better off seeking a professional, and competent, company.

Thanks for the Info, they have now sent me in writing a statement agreeing to pay for any damage they cause.
To be honest they have been around for 48 years according to my research and the neighbours had them put their windows in so i'm hoping their not cowboys.
They have top reviews on Checkatrade, Trustatrader etc although i don't believe in those sites but they are allowing me to pay on my credit card which as you know gives me extra protection.

Furts

Frank99 wrote: »

Thanks for the Info, they have now sent me in writing a statement agreeing to pay for any damage they cause.
To be honest they have been around for 48 years according to my research and the neighbours had them put their windows in so i'm hoping their not cowboys.
They have top reviews on Checkatrade, Trustatrader etc although i don't believe in those sites but they are allowing me to pay on my credit card which as you know gives me extra protection.

48 years means nowt, and your neighbour may not be discerning. Which are then two points for you to ponder.


The brutal truth is any company accepting no responsibility for the damgge they create is nothing short of scandalous. The fact that they proudly proclaim this makes it doubly scandalous.


My automatic, or default setting, would be to avoid this company by a country mile . You know everything about conservatory construction is unregulated, you know cowboys and bodges go with the territory and you know most savvy, street wise people do not have conservatories.

Davesnave

The firm may have been there years, but the guys they use for demolition are likely hired labourers and nothing to do with the company, hence the original disclaimer.



We built our own base etc for our conservatory and still had problems with a 40 year-old company. We had to make them them re- do defective structural work on the roof, which most consumers would have missed. Fortunately, they also breached their own T&Cs, which enabled us to punish them financially and they've not chased us for the missing £4k.



Overall, we are very pleased with our conservatory, as a further extension wasn't an option for us anyway, but we didn't anticipate problems on the scale we experienced. Have to say photos of a sun room put up by a local builder were much, much worse though!