builder not delivering - how to proceed?

macman

So send an LBA the day after the deadline is reached, giving him 14 days to refund you before you commence an action in the county court.  And act on it. No one suggested you wait 6m. 
But, if you want to do this solo, you need to cut out the personal animosity and stick to the facts.

screech_78

My extension took 8 months and it wasn’t finished until November of last year. We had an 11 week old baby at that time and managed ok without central heating in parts. 

You need to take the emotion out of this. Everything is in short supply at the moment and things are taking longer. It’s a fact. Of course, the builder does seem to be communicating poorly but to call him a crook at this stage is really not helping your case. 

Can you visit him or have a face to face conversation? 

I have to say by the tone of some of your replies, I think your attitude towards the builder may be part of the problem. Sorry. 

aoleks

my attitude towards the builder was to pay within hours of receiving an invoice, trusting him with the key to my house while we went away for a week shortly after he started, buying drinks for them every time they showed up and being the link between the site and building control. I'm at work while he's there and the main communication we had via email and text was technical drawings, a contract and some paperwork, nothing more.

everything else was silence or acknowledgment that he won't show up... again, after me taking a day off to be there for certain phases of the works.

he confirmed yesterday that nothing is in short supply and that all the materials I ordered (well, not quite, but that's another discussion) are readily available. we just can't use them because there's no bricklayer. this has nothing to do with covid or brexit, we're years in this crisis and people know in advance how things work. this is outright lying about the duration of the project with complete disregard for the customer.

I understand I might have "unreasonable" expectations, but then the solution is to refuse the work on the grounds of not being able to deliver my idealistic expectations, not to take money, promise the world and then go on holiday...

born_again

If he can't get a bricklayer as they are all on other jobs. What can he do? You do not want someone that does not know what they are doing messing with the job.

I know you want it sorting,

You need to decide what you want. As going to court is going to take months. Is not going to get the builder back on site while it is going on. Which may lead to other builders staying clear due to the whispers that go round.

BIL as a builder running his own company has bookings for the next 18 months. So a delay on what he is doing now, has a knock on effect on future works. Finding trades at short notice is very hard, especially good ones, who have jobs lined up for months in advance.
It's summer school holidays so many may have gone away for a break. As many have been working flat out due to the backlog of work.

aoleks

turns out I was right...

builder just informed me he gives up as he can't finish the project. he doesn't have the know how and he underestimated how easy it is to get specialists to help him out.

here I am, two months+ later, summer gone, plan in tatters and a contract that I can use as toilet paper.

a new builder will likely cost much more, materials are now more expensive and there's no one to do the work at such short notice.

is there anything I can do other than forget about it?

eskbanker

aoleks said:

is there anything I can do other than forget about it?

His termination of the contract now puts you into the position anticipated by @pinkshoes earlier in the thread if he was unable to meet an agreed revised plan, so it's time to negotiate the value of the work done thus far and a refund for anything over and above that that you've already paid.  Has he given any indication of his stance regarding that, i.e. how likely do you think it is that you're going to need to embark on legal action?

aoleks

eskbanker said:

aoleks said:

is there anything I can do other than forget about it?

His termination of the contract now puts you into the position anticipated by @pinkshoes earlier in the thread if he was unable to meet an agreed revised plan, so it's time to negotiate the value of the work done thus far and a refund for anything over and above that that you've already paid.  Has he given any indication of his stance regarding that, i.e. how likely do you think it is that you're going to need to embark on legal action?

he refunded me 75% of the money, saying that the remaining 25% are "enough" to cover the works. I believe it's still too much, especially in proportion to the fixed price quoted for the entire project. the question is, how do I prove it?

eskbanker

aoleks said:

eskbanker said:

aoleks said:

is there anything I can do other than forget about it?

His termination of the contract now puts you into the position anticipated by @pinkshoes earlier in the thread if he was unable to meet an agreed revised plan, so it's time to negotiate the value of the work done thus far and a refund for anything over and above that that you've already paid.  Has he given any indication of his stance regarding that, i.e. how likely do you think it is that you're going to need to embark on legal action?

he refunded me 75% of the money, saying that the remaining 25% are "enough" to cover the works. I believe it's still too much, especially in proportion to the fixed price quoted for the entire project. the question is, how do I prove it?

I'm not sure you can prove it as such, it just comes down to negotiation - on what basis do you believe that it's too much and how did you validate the original quote?

aoleks

the original quote was a fixed price one, including VAT. I was basically paying for the entire project, as opposed to paying the sum of all materials + labour hours etc. while the price was "good", it wasn't particularly cheap or unrealistic either, we were getting a shell of an extension at the end of the day.

having said that, I checked some recent prices for a typical foundation like the one we have and it's a lot less than what they're asking for. I know the shed had to be demolished, but it's a small shed that was demolished in 2 days. on top of that, there are 2 new plastic pipes, a new plastic manhole and a connection into an easily accessible public manhole, so again, not a complex drainage system. they also had a grab lorry remove waste twice, they paid cash in hand (£200 each time, if I remember correctly).

I'll see what the invoice says. can I insist on a properly detailed invoice? (man hours, materials etc.)

eskbanker

aoleks said:

I'll see what the invoice says. can I insist on a properly detailed invoice? (man hours, materials etc.)

If you originally agreed a fixed price contract without a detailed cost breakdown then I wouldn't have thought that you have the right to insist on a detailed invoice now, unless there's any mileage in the small print of VAT regulations perhaps?

The lack of any such cost breakdown in the contract would hinder your chances of recovering costs via a court unless the refund offered is manifestly unreasonable, i.e. the onus would be on you to quantify your claim, so if at all possible it would make sense to ask the builder for the basis on which he calculated his refund offer and negotiate from there.