Hidden costs of a build

MommaBear2308

Hello, last year had a very large extension on to our home. The builders are still coming back to fix the remaining snagging list that we have.
The final invoice was submitted to us in January 2024, which we have mostly paid with their written agreement. We have agreed to pay the final part of the outstanding bill once all the snagging list has been completed to our satisfaction. The builders have agreed in writing that there are some deductions we can make off this final amount for works that we have had to pay out ourselves for rectification works via alternative builders. 
However, today they have sent us an additional costing for works/materials completed that are not on the main spreadsheet. None of this additional costings have ever been discussed in any previous meetings, nor have we had any previous correspondence from them advising us that there would be additional costs to us.  
So my question is, are we legally obliged to pay this extra cost that they are now saying they want from us?
If not what is the correct wording to inform them that we are not paying this extra cost?
Any advice would be much appreciated

silvercar

I think the polite form of words is "I refer you to the reply given in Arkell v Pressdram"

If you want to elaborate, then you could state you have paid all the costs agreed prior to the work and don't intend paying any more.

stuart45

What were the additional works carried out that you didn't agree to?

tacpot12

While you may not be legally liable to pay for them, I would review them with an open mind and consider how they came to be extras. Was there some complexity to the job that only became apparent when work started? Did you ask the builders to do any of the work, even in a roundabout manner? You might need to negotiate on how much you actually pay them, otherwise you could have to fight the case in court. 

If you have home insurance, I would check to see if you have legal expenses cover as part of it and if you do, give the Legal Helpline a call.

MysteryMe

Without knowing the nature of these extra works it's difficult to say. They may have come about as a result of unexpected issues that only came to light once planned works started. As an example, they may have needed to work on buried pipes that only came to light once foundations work commenced that sort of thing. I would have expected them to mention such issues to you so you would have realised extra cost was involved though.

TELLIT01

Were any of the additional works requested by the OP?  Were any of the additional works deemed essential and couldn't have been foreseen and, if so, were they at least mentioned to the OP.

MommaBear2308

Thank you all,
We agreed at the final meeting with them what our top price we could afford, they were made aware at that point that we would not have any further funding available to us, so any other 'minor extra' jobs would have to be included in our agreed price. At no point after this was agreed did they forward any quotes stating that we would be billed for 'other works'. All major works had been completed we are just left with mainly snagging works.
Because we have ended up involving the FMB to get these outstanding works completed, they have seemingly 'spat their dummy out' and have now decided to quote us for works that they previously agreed to include in the agreed price. 
We have legal expenses cover with our household insurance, if it comes to it.
Thank you for all your advice

[Deleted User]

MommaBear2308 said:

Thank you all,
We agreed at the final meeting with them what our top price we could afford, they were made aware at that point that we would not have any further funding available to us, so any other 'minor extra' jobs would have to be included in our agreed price.

Seems an odd thing for the builder to agree to, minor extra jobs done FOC once the agreed price had been reached?

Risteard

[Deleted User] said:

MommaBear2308 said:

Thank you all,
We agreed at the final meeting with them what our top price we could afford, they were made aware at that point that we would not have any further funding available to us, so any other 'minor extra' jobs would have to be included in our agreed price.

Seems an odd thing for the builder to agree to, minor extra jobs done FOC once the agreed price had been reached?

Never, ever, ever do free works for a customer. It is against the laws of business.

MysteryMe

It does seem a bit odd. 

If you have contacted the FMB then presumably they will have an arbitration scheme and will adjudicate whether this extra bill is justified or not.

Le_Kirk

When I was a Project Manager for a large industrial manufacturer, we made most of profit from VOs (variation orders) that were signed off by me and the clients PM. I know domestic is not the same as industrial but I would be asking the builder to see your signature on a VO or similar.