Builder quit the job

Snuffbert

I had a roofing company in to do the flat roof on my garden room.  Due to an incident which arose because the boss didn't call and advise me the men would be coming they couldn't gain access to the property as I was already at work.   After a very unpleasant phone call from the boss he told me in no uncertain terms to "go away" and get someone else to do the work (that's putting it very very politely).  They had put in the soffits and guttering which is a good job done by two very nice lads, however, the boss called a halt to the rest.  They left some materials on my property which after a week I put out on my front drive (I informed them of this and they said they would collect) which are still there.  They have said they will invoice me for the work done which he is claiming is half the cost of the job, which is nonsense as the max would be £500 and for a day's labour for the 3 guys who couldn't get in to do the rest of the job which I said I would not  pay. Question is what am I legally bound to pay them if I have to pay them for the work done at all as they walked out on the job?

Aylesbury_Duck

Snuffbert said:

I had a roofing company in to do the flat roof on my garden room.  Due to an incident which arose because the boss didn't call and advise me the men would be coming they couldn't gain access to the property as I was already at work.   After a very unpleasant phone call from the boss he told me in no uncertain terms to "go away" and get someone else to do the work (that's putting it very very politely).  They had put in the soffits and guttering which is a good job done by two very nice lads, however, the boss called a halt to the rest.  They left some materials on my property which after a week I put out on my front drive (I informed them of this and they said they would collect) which are still there.  They have said they will invoice me for the work done which he is claiming is half the cost of the job, which is nonsense as the max would be £500 and for a day's labour for the 3 guys who couldn't get in to do the rest of the job which I said I would not  pay. Question is what am I legally bound to pay them if I have to pay them for the work done at all as they walked out on the job?

You're legally liable for the work done to date.  Exactly how much that is is down to negotiation.  If you refuse to pay then they're entitled to ask for the materials installed to date and they could pursue you in court for the work done and their reasonable costs.

tightauldgit

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Snuffbert said:

I had a roofing company in to do the flat roof on my garden room.  Due to an incident which arose because the boss didn't call and advise me the men would be coming they couldn't gain access to the property as I was already at work.   After a very unpleasant phone call from the boss he told me in no uncertain terms to "go away" and get someone else to do the work (that's putting it very very politely).  They had put in the soffits and guttering which is a good job done by two very nice lads, however, the boss called a halt to the rest.  They left some materials on my property which after a week I put out on my front drive (I informed them of this and they said they would collect) which are still there.  They have said they will invoice me for the work done which he is claiming is half the cost of the job, which is nonsense as the max would be £500 and for a day's labour for the 3 guys who couldn't get in to do the rest of the job which I said I would not  pay. Question is what am I legally bound to pay them if I have to pay them for the work done at all as they walked out on the job?

You're legally liable for the work done to date.  Exactly how much that is is down to negotiation.  If you refuse to pay then they're entitled to ask for the materials installed to date and they could pursue you in court for the work done and their reasonable costs.

Presumably the builder is also in breach of contract by not finishing the work though and the OP would be legally entitled to recover any additional costs they have incurred as a result of that breach? So if the original quote was for say £1000 and then the job ends up costing £1500 because of the change of builder then the original builder would be on the hook for the additional £500?

ThumbRemote

tightauldgit said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Snuffbert said:

I had a roofing company in to do the flat roof on my garden room.  Due to an incident which arose because the boss didn't call and advise me the men would be coming they couldn't gain access to the property as I was already at work.   After a very unpleasant phone call from the boss he told me in no uncertain terms to "go away" and get someone else to do the work (that's putting it very very politely).  They had put in the soffits and guttering which is a good job done by two very nice lads, however, the boss called a halt to the rest.  They left some materials on my property which after a week I put out on my front drive (I informed them of this and they said they would collect) which are still there.  They have said they will invoice me for the work done which he is claiming is half the cost of the job, which is nonsense as the max would be £500 and for a day's labour for the 3 guys who couldn't get in to do the rest of the job which I said I would not  pay. Question is what am I legally bound to pay them if I have to pay them for the work done at all as they walked out on the job?

You're legally liable for the work done to date.  Exactly how much that is is down to negotiation.  If you refuse to pay then they're entitled to ask for the materials installed to date and they could pursue you in court for the work done and their reasonable costs.

Presumably the builder is also in breach of contract by not finishing the work though and the OP would be legally entitled to recover any additional costs they have incurred as a result of that breach? So if the original quote was for say £1000 and then the job ends up costing £1500 because of the change of builder then the original builder would be on the hook for the additional £500?

I agree. 

Get a new builder to quote for finishing the job. You only owe the first builder the difference between the cost to finish the job, and the original price. Essentially you should not be left out of pocket by their breach of contract. 

In addition, if the re is damage caused by leaving the roof unfinished - ie to the room below - the original builder needs to pay for that too.

As you haven't paid anything yet, you very much have the upper hand. He'll have to try and go to court to get the money. So start keeping evidence now, in case it's needed. Emails or texts rather than phone calls. Written quotes from other builders. That sort of thing. 

tasticz

uh boss man's management skills sounds abit poor. should have communicated things in advance...

when we had builders they always told us what time approximately they would be in the next day (which was always between 8-9 anyways) somedays bang on at 8 other days at 9 as they had to go shops on the way or go see other jobs...

TELLIT01

The builder may well be in breach of contract, but the OP may also be for failing to provide them with access.  What has not be explained is if the builder was trying to gain access the day, or next working day, after the original work.  If so then it's not unreasonable to expect to be able to access the site without phoning first.  The builder would justifiably be unhappy if that was the case.  He had 3 workmen who needed to be paid, and not necessarily any other work he could move them to.

ab1234567890abcdefgh

TELLIT01 said:

The builder may well be in breach of contract, but the OP may also be for failing to provide them with access.  What has not be explained is if the builder was trying to gain access the day, or next working day, after the original work.  If so then it's not unreasonable to expect to be able to access the site without phoning first.  The builder would justifiably be unhappy if that was the case.  He had 3 workmen who needed to be paid, and not necessarily any other work he could move them to.

I understand what you're saying but surely throwing your toys out of the pram and cancelling the entire contract seems, to put it mildly, a bit unreasonable?

If they had no other work they could do, then charging the OP for the labour costs for the missed day of work would seem reasonable, but I don't think their response is in any way reasonable, at least if we take the OP at face value.

ThumbRemote

TELLIT01 said:

The builder may well be in breach of contract, but the OP may also be for failing to provide them with access.  What has not be explained is if the builder was trying to gain access the day, or next working day, after the original work.  If so then it's not unreasonable to expect to be able to access the site without phoning first.  The builder would justifiably be unhappy if that was the case.  He had 3 workmen who needed to be paid, and not necessarily any other work he could move them to.

Further to what ab1234567890abcdefgh says above, do you think it would be reasonable for a customer to claim 'breach of contract' if a builder failed to turn up for one day part-way through a job, and cancel the entire contract? 

Ath_Wat

ab1234567890abcdefgh said:

TELLIT01 said:

The builder may well be in breach of contract, but the OP may also be for failing to provide them with access.  What has not be explained is if the builder was trying to gain access the day, or next working day, after the original work.  If so then it's not unreasonable to expect to be able to access the site without phoning first.  The builder would justifiably be unhappy if that was the case.  He had 3 workmen who needed to be paid, and not necessarily any other work he could move them to.

I understand what you're saying but surely throwing your toys out of the pram and cancelling the entire contract seems, to put it mildly, a bit unreasonable?

It sounds like that was as a result of whatever was said during the phone call.

Snuffbert

tasticz said:

uh boss man's management skills sounds abit poor. should have communicated things in advance...

when we had builders they always told us what time approximately they would be in the next day (which was always between 8-9 anyways) somedays bang on at 8 other days at 9 as they had to go shops on the way or go see other jobs...

This was the problem the boss man didn't let me know the workmen were going to be coming so I went to work as usual.

Soot2006

Impossible for readers to know who was unreasonable i.e. contents of the phone call. We don't know if OP fell over themselves apologising for having "misunderstood" and the builder threw his toys out the pram anyway, or if the builder kicked off without any cause at all.

However, the builder is now being unprofessional.

Are you able to reopen the conversation with the builder?

If there's chance your own actions and response to the situation caused escalation it might be worth offering to pay for the lost  day of work (likely to be cheaper than trying to re-arrange the whole job, even if it might ). You say you were happy with the work, so it might be salvageable yet. Make sure this is in writing as it will certainly not help his case if/when he takes you to court for the oustanding invoice he feels he is due if you have evidence that you've tried to save the situation, etc.

Obviously, if he's totally impossible to work with then court is where it will end up any way, one way or another.