Hello
We did a complete renovation and extension of our house 2.5years ago. It was quite a significant build, taking 6 months. We hired an architect firm to draw up the plans and oversee the completion of the project. Unfortunately, we hired a builder that failed to deliver a quality standard of work. We were naive.
We have a number of outstanding issues e.g. draught in one section of roof leading into daughter's bedroom, upstairs landing floor is very unlevel (confirmed by an independent carpenter), main bathroom also unlevel (we've since had this rectified as shower was going to leak), skim plaster falling off surround of front door, underfloor heating erratic (we've since sorted but it cost €3k by an independent plumber). We also have a polished concrete floor throughout the downstairs which turned out to be a disaster. We've had an independent QS and we also called back the QS that was hired during the build, but both confirmed there is no structural issue, rather it's purely aesthetic. At the time of build, the builder blamed the polishing concrete firm, while they in turn blamed him. No surprise.
We were short term renting at the time of build and under severe pressure to move back into the house. The architect signed off on all the work and the builder 'promised' to sort the concrete floor etc. We foolishly believed him. A detailed list of all the issues was drawn up by the architect and sent to the builder. Needless to say, we haven't seen him since. We held back a small percentage of the builder's fee but at this stage, the builder owes us money given the outlays we've had in order to fix certain issues to-date. We still have so many issues to sort, possibly the most expensive being the concrete floor - we've had a quote of €8-10K to fix it.
As this thread is read, no doubt many readers are thinking 'silly people' and we were. We foolishly trusted the architect & builder. Neither my husband or I have any experience in this field, and with pressures of our own jobs, my mum's terminal illness, and 3 small children, it was a nightmare time for us. Stressful beyond words. At the end, we just didn't have the strength to fight and face the builder. We got to the stage of being just thankful that we had our health and a good family.
Now 2.5years on, I just had a tradesman here to review some work that needs to be done and he claims we should seek compensation. I'm not sure I have the heart to go this route and I don't want to waste money on solicitors letters which may lead to nothing. I'm also unsure as how to proceed - do I seek to claim off the builder's insurance or the architect's, given that he signed off on the building work? Where do I even start??? I rang Construction Federation of Ire, but our builder is not listed with CFI. Should I see a solicitor? Slightly reluctant to go this route as think a solicitor will only be too happy to fight my cause but we may end up with no compensation at the end of the process and a just large solicitor fee.
I guess overall I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. If most of our issues are non-structural, is it a case that we should have been more 'buyer aware'. Would we have any hope of getting any payment from the builder/architects' insurance?
thanks for taking the time to read.
Grateful for any advice please.
We did a complete renovation and extension of our house 2.5years ago. It was quite a significant build, taking 6 months. We hired an architect firm to draw up the plans and oversee the completion of the project. Unfortunately, we hired a builder that failed to deliver a quality standard of work. We were naive.
We have a number of outstanding issues e.g. draught in one section of roof leading into daughter's bedroom, upstairs landing floor is very unlevel (confirmed by an independent carpenter), main bathroom also unlevel (we've since had this rectified as shower was going to leak), skim plaster falling off surround of front door, underfloor heating erratic (we've since sorted but it cost €3k by an independent plumber). We also have a polished concrete floor throughout the downstairs which turned out to be a disaster. We've had an independent QS and we also called back the QS that was hired during the build, but both confirmed there is no structural issue, rather it's purely aesthetic. At the time of build, the builder blamed the polishing concrete firm, while they in turn blamed him. No surprise.
We were short term renting at the time of build and under severe pressure to move back into the house. The architect signed off on all the work and the builder 'promised' to sort the concrete floor etc. We foolishly believed him. A detailed list of all the issues was drawn up by the architect and sent to the builder. Needless to say, we haven't seen him since. We held back a small percentage of the builder's fee but at this stage, the builder owes us money given the outlays we've had in order to fix certain issues to-date. We still have so many issues to sort, possibly the most expensive being the concrete floor - we've had a quote of €8-10K to fix it.
As this thread is read, no doubt many readers are thinking 'silly people' and we were. We foolishly trusted the architect & builder. Neither my husband or I have any experience in this field, and with pressures of our own jobs, my mum's terminal illness, and 3 small children, it was a nightmare time for us. Stressful beyond words. At the end, we just didn't have the strength to fight and face the builder. We got to the stage of being just thankful that we had our health and a good family.
Now 2.5years on, I just had a tradesman here to review some work that needs to be done and he claims we should seek compensation. I'm not sure I have the heart to go this route and I don't want to waste money on solicitors letters which may lead to nothing. I'm also unsure as how to proceed - do I seek to claim off the builder's insurance or the architect's, given that he signed off on the building work? Where do I even start??? I rang Construction Federation of Ire, but our builder is not listed with CFI. Should I see a solicitor? Slightly reluctant to go this route as think a solicitor will only be too happy to fight my cause but we may end up with no compensation at the end of the process and a just large solicitor fee.
I guess overall I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. If most of our issues are non-structural, is it a case that we should have been more 'buyer aware'. Would we have any hope of getting any payment from the builder/architects' insurance?
thanks for taking the time to read.
Grateful for any advice please.