Builders commission?

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ClaireM

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We had a contract with a building contractor to do a renovation.

I have questions about a large numbers of "extras" we have been billed at the end without warning or without us authorising the work as should have been the case under the contract. The contractor simply says that the work was necessary and had to be done.

Anyway one of my issues is that under the contract we nominated certain specialists to do certain jobs and that the contractor was to allow in his quote for attendances and works to allow the specialists to complete their work as described in the programme.

Our contractor now wants to charge 5% commission on the fees these specialists charged. This is not mentioned in the contract but the contractor says he is entitled to it. Is this true?
 
Is there a lot of money involved? Did you draw up the contract with a solicitor and if so have you checked this out with them?
 
It is a standard RIAI contract used by our architect to be read with the drawings and specifications.

The amount is not huge on its own but is one of about 50 "extras" that have more than doubled the price of the original contract and less than 10 of them were agreed by me.

I think I will have to consult a solicitor but I was wondering what the standard practice is.
 
If you nominated specialists that the contractor then employed and paid then he is entitled to 5% discount on their bill under the RIAI contract.

Your architect should be able to advise you in relation to the extras.

Some extras can be thrown up because a deficiency in the contrat documents - the drawings and spec that the contract is based on
 
I contacted and dealt with the specialist. The builder asked them to invoice him but he then handed the invoice to me to pay directly. It is not due to be paid yet so I haven't paid it.

In the contract I have section 1.7 deals with Specialists. It doesn't mention the contractor getting any amount other than payment for any work he has to do it not included in the contract. It was specifiaclly listed in the specification that he would provide assistance and attendance to the specialist.

If extras arise due to deficiencies in the drawings and the contractor does not bring these to the attention of the client before doing the work who pays?
 
Oh these posts about builders and their "extras" are becoming more common place by the day on this board. It's providing me with some degree of comfort to see that I'm not the only one being ripped off and prepared to stand up for myself and what I have worked MY ass off for!

Anyway, OP, a contract cannot be changed unilaterally. All changes must be agreed by both parties.

A friend of mine is in a similar situation to yourself though some months ahead of you in the heartache. They are now in the middle of arbitration.
 
ClaireM said:
If extras arise due to deficiencies in the drawings and the contractor does not bring these to the attention of the client before doing the work who pays?
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It would be the responsibility of the contractor to bring extras to the attention of the architect as they arise.

In order to effectively fight the extras, I would seek specialist advise if I were you. Architects are not always very good at fighting 'extras', perhaps you should consider hiring a quantity surveyor to have a look at the final account for you.
 
joker538 said:
...perhaps you should consider hiring a quantity surveyor to have a look at the final account for you.
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I doubt if the builder would agree to this as effectively its an arbitration process, but its really the only way out of the problem.

QS would compare contract with works completed and invoices issued and highlight discrepancies. That could still leave the problem of the "extras" invoiced but not authorised in advance - pay for the authorised extras, don't pay for unauthorised?
 
mathepac said:
I doubt if the builder would agree to this as effectively its an arbitration process, but its really the only way out of the problem.

QS would compare contract with works completed and invoices issued and highlight discrepancies. That could still leave the problem of the "extras" invoiced but not authorised in advance - pay for the authorised extras, don't pay for unauthorised?
Click to expand...

Builder most likely engaged a QS to complete final account including extras without clients agreement. Dont see why OP would have to get builders agreement to engage QS
 
I recently finished a Double+attic extension, had bog standard contract with builders(Greats lads by the way). Any extras they were on the phone to me, even at one stage the builder felt it was getting out of hand and warned me of this.

Either way anything extra was priced first and I had to give the green light.
 
On several jobs the builder would have a pc sum for organising sub contractors. ie Electricians Plumbers etc, however this is agreed before hand. I never heard of someone charging it after the job is complete. Did these " specialist" hold up the builder at any stage? And if so was it highlighted?
 
This issue was never resolved and has been raised again and added to.

I dealt directly with the specialists and paid them directly. I had to get some of them back to redo work and some of them still have not been paid because the work hasn't been finished.

The builder is still looking for his 5% and I don't think he is entitled to it.

He also wants to charge 5% for his own plumbers work. The plumber was part of his original quote and I would think any commission he was charging on this also should be part of his quote rather than an extra charge.

My thought is that I just will not pay these extra amounts.

Any opinions or advise?
 
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