Builder gone AWOL half way through project - Advice please

stevejbrecon

Hi everyone,

Bit of a long one this so please bear with me. It was originally posted in the DIY section of the forum, but someone suggested moving it here. 

We have an external garage at the end of our garden that we have been converting into a home office. I used a "tradesman comparison" website to find my builder to do the work. Got a few quotes from a few different people and decided to go for someone who was the 2nd cheapest but was still well reviewed on the site and on Facebook. He said he gave a better price than he normally would because he was working on a few jobs at the time and instead of booking us in for a fixed 3/4 week period, he would fit us in around his other commitments and therefore it would take longer to complete but would be cheaper. We were in no rush and initially agreed a completion date of October half term with work to start at the end of July/August.

I sent him a detailed spec list of all the work that needed to be done, and he sent over a contract which I have signed and retained in my papers. I paid an initial deposit for the bi-fold doors and the initial materials.

Everything started fine, he would come and work a couple of days each week/weekend for the first few weeks and the work seemed to progress quite quickly. Then it started to be 1 day a week, then before long it was 1 day a fortnight or even less frequent than that. I have regularly had to chase him to come back and do the next bit of work. We've had electrics done (and certified) and lots of other individual bits and pieces and for each specific thing he asked for payment towards the materials and to pay his labourers etc, so this was paid as and when he sent invoices over. Eventually we were promised it would "definitely be done before Christmas".

Quite a lot of the work was seemingly done by then, so over Christmas we painted the newly plastered walls, and were about to lay the laminate floors (we had agreed that we would do this work), however we started to see some damp coming through the bottom of 2 corners and one edge of room and through the ceiling as well. I contacted him about this and said that we didn't want to lay the floors or do more painting whilst there was still damp coming through. He said he would come out and have a look. This was in January. He has cancelled 4 times since then and is now not responding to calls texts or e-mails.

I have sent him a letter spelling out exactly what work is left to be done and asking him to confirm in writing a new completion date. He has not responded to this.

As a result, I've now started obtaining quotes from other builders to finish the work. Some of which have pointed out pretty serious defects in the way the 1st builder has done the work (poor damp proofing and rendering etc) which they would have to rectify and some have refused to touch the job unless they can rip everything out and start again from scratch.

It's also worth noting that I have kept a very accurate record of all communications with the 1st builder, notes of telephone calls, copies of text messages, the exact amounts paid to him and when and for what work in a detailed timeline of events. (He seems to have completely forgotten that I said I was a Lawyer!!!!).

So here is where I am at the moment.

1. I am going to work out exactly how much I have paid the 1st builder and how much is outstanding.
2. I am going to obtain quotes from new builders to finish the work and fix any faults that have been found.
3. If the new quotes are more than the amount outstanding to the 1st builder then I am going to claim back the additional money from the 1st builder by way of small claims if necessary.
4. I will send him a Letter before Action explaining all of the above and giving him 14/28 days to respond.
5. If he fails to respond I will start a money claim online.

So my questions are as follows.

1. The contract was emailed by him to me, which i printed and signed, but he hasn't signed. Is this still a binding contract? (I believe so, Reveille Independent LLC v Anotech International (UK) Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 443)
2. Do I have a right to claim the additional cost from the 1st builder? (I believe I do)
3. Does anyone recommend me getting a structural or surveyors expert report at this stage to confirm that the standard of work has been poor, or shall I wait until proceedings? And can I recover the cost of the report from him as well if it supports my suspicions that the work is sub par?
4. Does the above course of action seem reasonable in the circumstances?

Again, apologies for the long post. Any help and advice would be very much appreciated. Essentially I just need to know if i'm doing the right thing at this stage and what people think my chances of success are.

Thanks in advance everyone.

DoaM

It's not the builder from this thread, is it?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6105818/county-court-claim-form-from-builder

stevejbrecon

DoaM said:

It's not the builder from this thread, is it?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6105818/county-court-claim-form-from-builder

Haha, fortunately no.... I'm in South Wales.

stevejbrecon

Can anyone help?

Cheers in advance. 

hollydays

You said you were a lawyer?

Hermione_Granger

stevejbrecon said:

(He seems to have completely forgotten that I said I was a Lawyer!!!!).
........
Any help and advice would be very much appreciated. Essentially I just need to know if i'm doing the right thing at this stage and what people think my chances of success are.

Thanks in advance everyone.

Surely a lawyer would have more idea than most if what they were doing was correct or if you only stated that you were a lawyer in order to scare the builder and it wasn't true, they probably knew this and decided to ignore you because of the lie.

stevejbrecon

I am a lawyer, but I don't deal with contract law and have never run a small claims case against a builder. 

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this sort of issue and in particular a claim against a builder who has left a project unfinished or someone who has claimed against a builder for poor work etc.

I certainly haven't lied to him about anything, it's just always good to get a second opinion.