Nearing the end of building work

lozzy1965

I hope this is the correct forum to post this question!
We are 14 months into building work to an existing house that should have taken 3 to 4 months to complete.  The builder seems to have lost interest.  There are a few niggling  things to finish off, but two in particular that I would like to ask for opinion on.  The electrician has 'finished' but left none of the Cat6 cable we had installed connected up - as this needs to  be connected up by a specialist.  I can see why this might be the case, so not so bothered by this.  The second item left incomplete is all but 1 of the TV sockets have not been connected.  I would expect this to be part of the build, and not have a TV specialist to come in and connect those up.  Am I right to expect this?  He hs connected one socket up after all!   I can connect them up myself as a DIYer!

Slithery

Cat6 faceplates are easy to DIY, the tools are cheap enough too.

TV is even easier.

lozzy1965

TV yes.  And Cat6 I will try myself.  It's the principle that the builder isn't doing it when I think he should that is my issue

AdrianC

I'm not sure of the question...

You're asking about Cat6 points - which you accept aren't core builder skills.
You're asking about Coax TV points - which you're happy to DIY.

davidmcn

What did you contract them to do?

lozzy1965

AdrianC said:

I'm not sure of the question...

You're asking about Cat6 points - which you accept aren't core builder skills.
You're asking about Coax TV points - which you're happy to DIY.

1, The question is:  Given that the builder has installed the sockets - in fact we have paid for a complete rewiring of the 

house, including TV and Cat6 - and the electrician has wired in one of them, should I expect that the rest should be wired in by the builder?
2. Is Cat6 not an electrician skill?  Should the builder have made this clear at the start of the project?
3.  "Happy" is no the word, they can be DIY'd.  I'd be happier, given that the electrician is clearly capable of wiring them in, that he did the work and saved me the job.
It's really a question of what others might expect?  Are my expectations too high?

lozzy1965

davidmcn said:

What did you contract them to do?

Ha.  Now there is a question!  This is gonna be a bit of a rant I'm afraid! 
We read all about getting at least 3 quotes from builders, making sure the contract clearly specifies the work, stage payments, etc etc etc.  All very well, until it comes to trying to get QUOTES from builders and details of building works .  Once one has asked over 20 companies for quotes, and barely got 3 responses, and the quotes vary wildly in price, detail and builder availability (meaning 6 months to a year before they can start) then the 'ideal' and what we have to accept just to get the work started begins to get rather less strict.  We saw people our builder had done work for (good reviews), asked for more detail on the quote (was promised but never happened), then he had a cancellation and could start sooner, so we decided to go with it on promises to amend as we had requested.  To be fair, the work is good quality, the additional costs have been specified - we have challenged some and he has agreed with our challenges.  But the work has dragged on and on, and the builder has basically lost interest in the project, and sees it a loss making from this point I imagine.
Essentially the contract is for all building work up to the point of decoration, including re wiring, to be done.  But it is very briefly worded!  He has not come back and said "that is not in the contract" he has said "that it is not electrician's work".  I'm not sure I agree, I wondered what others thought.  I'm sure I will end up doing them just to get it done!

AdrianC

lozzy1965 said:

2. Is Cat6 not an electrician skill?  Should the builder have made this clear at the start of the project?

No, it's not really a core sparky skill. About the only crossover is that it's bits of wire... And, yes, they should have. They quite probably simply didn't think about it. Very likely the project management simply went "Ah, bits of wire, the sparky'll do that." - only to find the sparky then said "Sorry, mate, not my department. I've done all the first-fix and put the faceplates and back boxes on, but the actual connections aren't me."

It's really a question of what others might expect?  Are my expectations too high?

There's two questions here.
What are reasonable expectations... and what's your most practicable way forward?

It's really not hard doing network cabling - punchdowns and testing tools aren't expensive, and so long as you take your time, know how to use basic handtools, and aren't colour-blind... But, for the sparky, it's simply not worth his time and trouble. He's got a choice as to whether to spend so long doing it that could be more profitably spent doing other things (or simply getting off-site and being at home), or rushing it and facing angry recriminations and follow-ons.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003OSLXRO
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015ZT922M

And, let's face it, you're going to have plenty of time to do it once you've moved in, right...?

lozzy1965 said:
This is gonna be a bit of a rant I'm afraid!  

...
But the work has dragged on and on, and the builder has basically lost interest in the project, and sees it a loss making from this point I imagine.
Essentially the contract is for all building work up to the point of decoration, including re wiring, to be done.  But it is very briefly worded!  He has not come back and said "that is not in the contract" he has said "that it is not electrician's work".  I'm not sure I agree, I wondered what others thought.  I'm sure I will end up doing them just to get it done!

And we come back to that balance between "reasonable expectations" and "actual practical reality".