Building work additional costs

rcormack93

I had a bathroom done almost 18 months ago. I paid the initial invoice just before the work was completed and the builder informed me that there would be extra costs. There were some costs I was expecting as I asked them to do a few additional things, and there were also several issues with the bathroom so I expected I would have to pay for some additional materials etc. I then waited over a year to find out what the final invoice was and it was an additional 50% of the initial invoice (over £2k).

I was given a detailed breakdown and some of the costs seem ridiculous. E.g. he is charging me for moving items from one room to another. He said that he asked me to store them in the lounge but never indicated that if I didn't put them in the lounge, I would be charged for him to move them to the bathroom (for context, I live in a small 2 bed flat....) The builder is also charging me for checking and unpacking the items when they were delivered (I thought all builders would have to do this to ensure they had the correct materials).

The other items I was surprised about is that there were a few items which were faulty when they were delivered / we didn't have enough of them (e.g. tiles). He never checked the items properly on delivery so when he realised and told me, I had to arrange for more to be delivered. In all of these circumstances, he has charged me for 'lost time'. I thought all builders should allow some contingency in their quotes for situations which don't go 100% to plan?

I've agreed to pay a lot of the additional charges but I queried the items above (worth over £500) and said I don't think I should pay for them but he has rejected that. I haven't dealt with builders like this before so would appreciate any advice on where I stand - can I refuse to pay this as I wasn't fully informed and never agreed to the charges?

HHarry

It used to be a pet hate of mine to turn up to do some decorating and find that nothing had been moved - not even knick knacks on the window sill?  I never charged to move stuff, but I can see why your builder would.  Why should he give up his time for free?

 As for the materials, did you supply them?  I get the impression that you did as you “had to arrange for more [tiles] to be delivered”, and if that’s the case then surely it’s your job to check them properly on delivery?  If the builder supplied I’d expect there to be a mark up on the price of materials to cover exactly those kind of issues.

 Either way, I don’t think it’s a contingency issue.