Builders Dispute – advice needed

bpk101

Hi – Need to get some advice and hoping someone here could help.

I recently enlisted a building contractor to carry out some work on my house... basically re-tiling the front exterior and fitting a new front door and door frame. A job he told me at the start would take roughly 8 days. It has now been 2 and a half months and he still isn't finished!!

We had a good relationship with the builder as the company he is foreman for did our kitchen extension last year. We were very happy with it.

However, as this project was taking so long i started pressing him for answers and it transpired he no longer works for the previous company. We discovered he's been pulling in builders he knows when they have free days from other projects. When we were expecting 1-2 builders everyday till the project had finished, we've been getting a builder once or twice a week if we're lucky. He's been lying constantly about why builders aren't showing up... a few corkers being:

– His mother is dying (he told us a year ago during the kitchen extension he was an orphan!)

– His builders gran had died and he had to fly back to Ukraine (I questioned the builder when i saw him recently and he said his gran is fine and he's not been home in months).

The list of excuses goes on and on and on...

We've been very patient but i can't let this continue and i want to understand where i stand legally and financially if i throw him off the job.

Unfortunately we don't have a contract as such, given we worked on the kitchen together and this was (supposed to be) such a small job it didn't feel necessary.

However we do have a full scope of work printed out with agreed costs against it and every time I've part paid him he's signed against the payment... which i'm hoping is a contract of sorts. What it doesn't include is the agreed project length, this was a verbal agreement.

I also have about 2 months worth of text message conversations with him full of me asking when this will be finished and why is this taking so long and his blatant lies and excuses in return... so plenty of evidence of my dissatisfaction.

As for payments, total cost was about £4.5k of which i've paid about £2.5k. He says i currently owe him about a further £1k for work done that was carried out before xmas (which is probably right).

Given this could take another 2 months to finish at his current rate of work i'd rather sack him off and hold back all of the remaining money (including his £1k) to pay for a new build team to come in and complete the project given it will cost me all of that (if not more) to have a new team pick up someone else's work.

Any thoughts or advice welcome.

ps: Not sure if this is the right forum to post in, but seemed the most applicable.

SandraX

Hi

Did you have a contract in writing that clearly stipulated that the time is of the essence? I know you don't so sorry no can do.

What i recommended that you sit him down and tell him what was agreed and this has gone on for too long and impacting your health etc - failing that, best to cut your losses imo

ATB

Brummie85

You do have a verbal contract. He stated it was going to take 7 days, which you could reasonably assume would be a 7 day block fro when the work was commenced.

The trouble is that it's only verbal. Even with your other points and proof of lies, not having a contract formally written makes it harder to agree on things like the work included, time and liabilities etc.

If he is effectively £2,500 into a £3,500 job, then surely the end must be in sight.

Give him a call in a positive tone. But do mention that it's dragging on for too long and ask him to make finishing your property a priority. Get a date agreed in writing and then if he fails - go from there.

Fire_Fox

Do you know why he no longer works for that company? Any chance he has been dismissed?

Given he fitted the kitchen, does he have access to your home? If he is fitting the front door is he also supplying new locks and keys? Consider the security implications if your working relationship sours.

Not saying he would do anything to your property himself given he hasn't before. But aquaintances might take advantage of the situation.

Reiterate your concerns to your builder in writing - letter or email - basically beef up your paper trail with your final warning. You can refer briefly but clearly (rough dates and/ or number of text messages) to previous verbal or text conversations. Encourage him to respond to you in writing. He might request a specific payoff that is fair to both sides,, promise a clear completion date, effectively admit the original verbal contract ....

Although courts like irrefutable evidence best, he said/ she said, circumstantial evidence, common sense and balance of probability are also applied, depending on which court and the type of case.

What is "reasonable" is used in consumer law (costs/ time frame/ quality or lifespan of a product/;cause of delays). Customers don't agree for work to be done in dribs and drabs unless on 'mates rates' or they have very unusual requirements (weekends only).

bpk101

He left the company as he was in a long term relationship with one of the employees there, that relationship ended recently and he left the company as a result. All above board but we were never told this when we took him on for the new work and assumed he had full access to the companies builders (not to mention the companies insurance coverage etc). Turns out he has no staff and is trying to pick up work where he can using people on odd days they’re available.

As for keys, they have already fitted the locks and my wife and I opted for Banham locks, only 2 keys exist and to get more cut you need full ID and the security card that comes with the set... all of which are in our possession.

It’s a good idea to get a new finish date agreed and signed by him. I’ll press him for this at the weekend. However, given his lies and excuses so far as to why builders haven’t shown up on many many occasions... where do I stand legally if he does this again? If he claims more family members have died or more vans have been stolen etc. how can I prove otherwise and would I in fact need to?

-taff

Which bits has he not finished?
I would consider witholding payment until it is finished. I would also tell him you're thinking of employing someone else to do the work, and that he has a couple of weeks to finish things otherwise you'll be employing someone else, with the weather getting colder, you want your house to be sorted etc.
However, with the weather getting colder, if your front is only lacking the decorative elements rather than the waterproofing elements, it may be too cold to do that anyway depending on where you live.

bpk101

-taff wrote: »

Which bits has he not finished?

— Victorian tiling 20% left to do
— Door frame 30% fitting and filling left to do before i can paint
— Door glazing needs fitting (currently only have wood panels nailed into place so not secure at all!)
— Rendering of lower bay window and porch area
— Installation of porch light and door bell
— A few other bits of snagging


He's agreed to come round today to discuss the job. I have drawn up a simple contract and want him to agree on a fair completion date which we will add to the contract and sign (again this project started in October and he told me it would take 8 days approx!)

If he agrees to this and signs a contract i'll release some more cash to him but have included a clause in the contract to say i withhold 15% of the total sum (£700) until he completes satisfactorily.

If he refuses to sign then in my eyes i've given him every opportunity to complete the work and won't release anymore cash to him (including the £1k we owe him for work done to date). This cash i will need to put towards a new builder having to come in and finish someone else's work. Which will inevitably cost me more.

Does this sound fair / legal?

Risteard

No, holding a gun to his head to sign a new contract sounds neither fair nor legal.

bpk101

So asking a building contractor to sign a mutually agreed completion date after 2.5months of hell is holding a gun to his head?!

I'm not holding back cash as a blackmail, and i wont be telling him that's my plan if he agrees to a finish date. But if he refuses then i'm fully in my right to kick him off the job and find someone else... which will cost me £££.

He simply shouldn't be taking on building projects if he doesn't have the means or resources to complete a job within a reasonable time frame. This is causing me and my (pregnant) wife huge stress and i can't sit and watch it go on any longer.

bpk101

Update: He was happy to sign the contract and we've agreed a completion date of next Friday. If this drags on another month at least i have a contract now!

Should have done this ages ago.

docmatt

Did you have 37 quotes and he was the cheapest?