Faulty building work - advice please

lauram25

Hi all,
We have some building and plumbing work carried out in April, we have a signed agreement that states the work is guaranteed for 2.5 years. 

On Thursday 28th August late afternoon, we discovered there was a leak coming from the pipework that the plumber carried out. We took a few second video as best we could and some pictures - the pipes were behind boxing (also carried out by the same company) so it was hard to see anything. We turned the water off from the stopcock and contacted the company around 6pm. 

The guy replied and said that he would attend the property on Saturday 30th August to access the problem. We stated that we could not wait that long as had no water and a young child in the house. He agreed to attend on Friday 29th August but did not specify a time.

We tried contacting him from 8am on the Friday to determine a timeframe, we also asked if he had instructed a plumber to attend as he was the builder and it was plumbing work that was needed. We explained that our older daughter had a procedure on Saturday and would housebound for a day or so, so it was important that water was restored to the property. The messages were read but no response was received. We explained that if we did not hear from him we would have to instruct a plumber to carry out the work and would be seeking reimbursement from him.

It got to about 3pm and we had heard nothing so sourced a plumber to sort the leak and restore water. The plumber came out around 5pm and fixed the leak - he had to cut out a section of the boarding that the builder had installed in order to access the leak. It was the stopcock itself that was the issue, the welding had not been done correctly. The stopcock was one of the items on thew agreement with the builders - their plumber put a new one in and moved it forwards so that it was more accessible.

Around the same time, the builder had sent a voice note to my partner and stated that he had been in hospital all day with back pain and that he had been trying to source a plumber but had not had any luck. He said that if we got the work carried out ourselves, he would need clear video evidence of the leak and the faulty part.

We did not see this message until we texted him to say the work had been carried out. We explained that we had taken pictures and the initial video and had the invoice from the plumber that stated that it was the welding on the stopcock that had caused the leak. He is now saying that it is not enough evidence and that he wanted a clearer video and more pictures etc. He is now refusing to reimburse us for the plumber or come back to fix the leak.

Where do we stand here and what can be done?

We notified him at the first opportunity and gave him time to come and inspect the issue himself which he did not do. We appreciate that he had a bad back, however, he was reading our messages on Friday but not responding. He also could not expect us to be without water over the weekend. Whilst we appreciate he wanted specific video evidence that he feels he has not got, we feel that there is enough evidence to prove it was a fault with the work that his plumber carried out.

Can someone please advise what our next steps are?

Aylesbury_Duck

Get the plumber to write you a brief report outlining what he encountered, what he diagnosed, the repair he effected, and the cost.  There's no need for video evidence, although it may have been helpful.

Then send the builder all of that with your request for reimbursement.  Keep it polite and factual.  If he resists, you'll have to decide whether to sue him or not.