Q... legality of disposing of scaffolding

sciencegeek

Hi

Approx 1 month ago some building work we had done was completed. Unfortunately the scaffolding is still attached to our house and despite several calls to the project manager and promises from him to get it shifted nothing appears to be happening about removing it.

We are fed up of the continued eyesore and are concerned about home security over xmas as we will be away.

Does anyone have any opinions about the legality of disposing of the scaffolding ourselves and invoicing the builders for the costs incurred. Also, although we have called the builder several times, if we do decide to get rid of the kit ourselves should we inform him in writing and give him a final 7 days to arrange removal himself???

any opinions gratefully accepted.

thanks

SG.

HugoSP

Tricky one.

Have you paid the final bill yet?

If not I would Give him 7 days to remove stating that failure to do this will involve you having it taken down and deducting the cost of this service from his bill.

If you have paid in full then the same could apply but you would then seek reimbursement from them for its removal.

We had similar happened but we were doing the work ourselves. The scaffolding was never retrieved and in the end a friend of mine borrowed it on the understanding that he would remove it, use it then bring it back to the site, and not re erect it thank you very much.

The scaffolder never returned for it and since then my friend used it twice more and I have used it a few times.

sciencegeek

hi hugo,

thanks for the reply, unfortunately we have paid the final bill already. The builder subcontracted the scaffolding to another bloke so whilst we have to deal with the builder its actually the scaffolder who needs to do the removal. I feel bad invoicing the builder but i guess the buck must stop with him. If I knew how to take the stuff down i would do it myself!!

cheers

SG

sciencegeek

thanks andy,


i think i will try to do what you did and 'encourage' them to remove it themselves. Some local builders have said they will come round and shift it for free if they get to keep the poles but I dont want to get into bother with the law if I can help it.

cheers

SG

HugoSP

I know when we had work done at our house the scaffold was blocking our garage and I had a classic car that was due to be driven to Bristol Airport to be sold to its new owner, in the garage.

I started to get quite stressed with the guy - our next door neighbour who had done the work, but it was the contractor that needed chasing. In the end he came and removed what was necessary for me to get into the garage and get the car out, whilst making the rest safe.

The car got up to Bristol Airport and was promptly bought by the Irishman who had come over on the flight to drive it back. It is now sporting classic ROI plates.

Incase anyone is interested, it was a 1968 Morris Oxford Series 6, with the bench seat in the front. Lovely car but when we went into property development, I could no longer lavish the time on it.

eco-friendly_2

A month is def; out of order but, not long enough to give you the right of it's disposal.



Once heard of a builder who started a ground floor extension, did around 50% of the work, then one day failed to turn up, the couple tried calling him repeatedly to no avail ,he had told the couple he was a single man and lived alone, 9 months later they contacted another builder who finished the job, they removed his mixer, tools etc, amazingly no money had ever been paid to him.

Becles

In hindsight, you shouldn't have paid until the job was complete and the scaffolding removed.

I've just had roof repairs done and they left the scaffolding up as it was subcontracted to another company. The job was pay the full bill on completion, so I refused to pay until the scaffolding was removed. It got taken away sharpish when they realised they were not going to get paid until it was gone!

I would send a recorded delivery letter saying they must remove it within 7 days, otherwise you will make arrangements to remove it yourself and bill them the cost.