Unsafe conservatory conversion almost killed us - what can I do?

thedoberman10

Hi, 

We recently had a conservatory conversion, which involved replacing glass panels with aluminium ones and then plasterboarding the interior. 

A day after the work was completed, part of the ceiling collapsed, smashing into the floor and the furniture underneath. 

I have a toddler who was playing directly under it hours earlier. I was under it ten minutes before. Unspeakable things could have happened. 

I have paid for half already and have withheld the completion payment. I used Amex. 

They sent someone round the next morning to remove the existing drywall ceiling (it actually fell on him while he was inspecting)  and to do a report for the subcontractor’s insurance. They will offer to fix it but I am not sure I can trust them; the work was outrageously bad. 

There was no signed contract in place (mistake by me) but they sent a quote that I accepted, and I believe that constitutes a legally-binding contract of sorts. 

What should I do here?

If a contract has been established by me accepting the quote, have they broken that due to unsafe and dangerous practices? If so, do I cancel the contract and get Amex to reverse the initial charge? 

Do I get their insurance details and hire someone else to complete the work? 

I plan to speak to a lawyer and other contractors this week. 

It is all quite emotional for us given what could have happened so I’m finding it quite difficult to see things objectively. 

Thanks for reading.

WIAWSNB

Have they given you a credible explanation if why it failed?
Do you have LegProt on your house insurance?

Ayr_Rage

It didn't almost kill you, it fell down without anybody being harmed at all.

If there was "outrageously bad" work and "unsafe and dangerous practices" were these noted during the work or just your assumption now that the incident has occurred.

Whoever "they" are, wait for their proposed resolution and then decide.

TELLIT01

If the ceiling started to fail within a day of the work being completed I don't think the phrases "outrageously bad work" and "unsafe" are unreasonable.  When we had our conservatory roof replaced by a lightweight solid roof, Building Control inspected it twice during the work and again on completion.  Was that necessary for that work and, if so, was it done?

MattMattMattUK

thedoberman10 said:

Hi, 

We recently had a conservatory conversion, which involved replacing glass panels with aluminium ones and then plasterboarding the interior. 

A day after the work was completed, part of the ceiling collapsed, smashing into the floor and the furniture underneath. 

I have a toddler who was playing directly under it hours earlier. I was under it ten minutes before. Unspeakable things could have happened. 

I have paid for half already and have withheld the completion payment. I used Amex. 

They sent someone round the next morning to remove the existing drywall ceiling (it actually fell on him while he was inspecting)  and to do a report for the subcontractor’s insurance. They will offer to fix it but I am not sure I can trust them; the work was outrageously bad. 

There was no signed contract in place (mistake by me) but they sent a quote that I accepted, and I believe that constitutes a legally-binding contract of sorts. 

What should I do here?

If a contract has been established by me accepting the quote, have they broken that due to unsafe and dangerous practices? If so, do I cancel the contract and get Amex to reverse the initial charge? 

Do I get their insurance details and hire someone else to complete the work? 

I plan to speak to a lawyer and other contractors this week. 

It is all quite emotional for us given what could have happened so I’m finding it quite difficult to see things objectively. 

Thanks for reading.

First thing to do is dial the emotion down, it is not relevant to the issue you have and throwing around lots of emotional language will not get the issue resolved.

First I would wait to see what they come back to you with next week before jumping the gun on everything else. Speak to your home insurance to make them aware, but at this point you need to give them some time.

powerful_Rogue

You can't claim for what could have happened. I wouldn't waste your money on a lawyer.

UnsureAboutthis

Hello.

I'm really sorry to hear about the near-miss and I can understand your anxiety about this along
with having no confidence.

However, take it step by step and hopefully the situation is resolved to your full satisfaction. Good luck.

twopenny

Yes you need to wait a reasonable amount of time? To see what their insurance says.
They should send an inspector round and this is a good time to ask questions.
I would also demand a copy of the report that says why it happened.
Then what they say they will do to be sure it is safe on completion.

The building inspection is also something to look into. I wouldn't know if this applies to a conversion. Somebody will.

Sapindus

If something happens which has the potential to cause harm, that is a near miss. If it was just luck that it fell down when there was no-one in there, saying no-one actually got hurt so it's fine is not OK.

UnsureAboutthis

Sapindus said:

If something happens which has the potential to cause harm, that is a near miss. If it was just luck that it fell down when there was no-one in there, saying no-one actually got hurt so it's fine is not OK.

I concur.
Some people can't imagine the aftermath of something like this. We are all different, and for me, something like that would stress me out to no end. It would take a while for me to get my head around it and the fear of this happening again.

 

MattMattMattUK

It is nothing to do with people not being able to understand what could have happened. Emotional, hyperbolic "what ifs" have no bearing on the legal situation, consumer rights, or liability. If the OP wants to get anywhere they will need to deal with the facts, not emotions, not hypothetical situations.