Cant get builder to finish, what rights do we have

H

hogg

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Hi I could do with some advice on this situation!
We started building a small extension on 1st October we made our payments at each stage promptly. We received a contract from the builder, which stated that the build would take 2 months so the finish date would have been 1st week of December.

2 months on and we still can’t get the builder to finish; we still have a leak in the roof that we asked him to fix back in December. We did a snag list, which included uneven wood floors and the uneven tiling in Kitchen, which he decided to rip up in order to level the floors (which should of been done originally). The 4x fold back dividing doors that they put up last month wouldn't open so he took them down and ripped off the frames. We gave him a final deadline of 2 weeks, which has now passed and the current situation is I have no floors, no doors, and a leak in my roof and the small snag items uncompleted. Our builder is not returning our calls (he is difficult to get in touch with at the best of times) as we are now facing into month 6 of what should of been a 2 month build I’m at my wits end!

We have been very patient with him to date and have heard all the excuses, on a personal note we feel he is a very nice guy he has told us he was having staffing problems and personal issues so that’s why we gave him extra time to allow him fix everything but at this stage we just want our house and our lives back to normal. What rights do we have? The contact does state something about going over the time limit there would be €150per day paid to finish to work - im not sure what that means!

Can we fire the builder off the job? What would this mean? At this stage we would prefer to not pay him his final payment and use the money to replace the flooring and doors ourselves and get our own tradesmen just to finish the job - once the cost to do all of this work wasn't greater than the balance we owe him!. We are concerned, as this would leave us without a builders guarantee on the job, or is this worth anything if builders are going out of business in this current climate. Our architect was equally as bad and only showed up twice during the 2 months so im not sure if he can/will give us a cert of compliance or do we need this?

Any advise much appreciated

Hogg
 
What type of contract do you have with the builder?

Do you have a contract with your Architect to administer the building contract?
 
It's a tough position to be in. Look at the practicalites rather than the contracts. If you go legal, the only winners will be the lawyers. I would certainly threaten him with witholding the final payment in order to pay others to finish his work. It might be the incentive he needs to get his act together. He is probably struggling like most builders at present, so hopefully he will be keen to get the cash, and the good reputation.

The certificate of compliance will really only be relevant when you come to sell the house. AFAIK, it only covers structural issues, and not the 'finish' issues that seem to be outstanding, so maybe you could get this from your architect now?
 
He is in breach of contract and sounds like a mupper anyway, not your fault. Get a proper sang list done, in writing, get an estimate for the renewal/remaining work, he obiviously thinks your a soft touch, write him a letter outlining the delay, the faulty workmanship, the extra cost, say about breach of contract, give him 2 weeks to reply. In the meantime ask around for decent builders get quotes and hopefully you wll get sorted.

By the way get a vaule for the work done as well so you will know if you have overpaid him.

good luck

noah
 
thanks for all the advice!
I think you're right we have been too soft with him and have left him get away with so much to date that we feel he is walking all over us. I will send him a letter today, im only concerned the cost to fix the leak in the roof which was there since the roof was put in will be more than the final payment we owe him.
I Don't think we could get any money back from him to fix this!

Thanks
Hogg
 
Hogg,
Your builder supplied you a service. Under the supply of services act he hasn't supplied the service you contracted for. In case it gets legal you need to write in detail outlining your issues, including when you brought them up with him. If possible you need to get really specific about calls that were not responded to, times he didn't show up. He could in theory get legal with you if he feels his supply of service is substantially complete. You need to give him the opportunity to fix the issues before you get someone else. He has to have had his chance. I've had similar horrors with tradesmen, as have others I know. It's a nightmare.
 
Got stung on this myself last year - get a quote from a few other suppliers to finish what is left to be done, and if it is around about what you would have paid the original builder to finish it off, then fire him in breach of the contract you both signed.
 
Good luck with it. I have to say I am amused with posters advising you that he's in breach of contract when they have not seen the contract, so be careful of all advice!
 
from the OP line one

" We received a contract from the builder, which stated that the build would take 2 months so the finish date would have been 1st week of December. "

Its now February 2009 so by a small bit of logic I would deduce he is in breach of contract unless of course he is bowworing from banks then that is a totally different case as in that regards banks are never wrong.


noah
 
IMHO going the contract route and court on a small job will only lead to frustration and delays. You won't have the job finished and by the time it gets to court he won't have a penny etc and even if you win will have huge difficulty getting the judgement enforced.
I had a similar situation but whole house was uninhabitable and work had stopped and this is what I did. Find out where he lives and pay him a visit at tea time and be calm but firm with him, if you lose it you will be on the back foot. Get him to agree to come back may not be tomorrow but soon. He won't want you calling again especially if he has family there. Be in touch with him as the day approaches to keep the pressure on, he who shouts loudest etc.
In the mean time use the Internet and get prices and quoted from other builders who you may fall back on. Any more work you get done from original builder is a bonus, don't pay him a penny more till job is finished, they are like addicts and will say anything to get you to cough up but just tell them fibs about banks but it is coming etc. If he walks off again fire him and replace him with a smaall contractor and pay them the final payment. Original builder has no intention of finishing at this point so you need to keep the pressure on, you could threaten legal action but would be throwing good money after had. I got my job finished and on budget this way. Good luck
 
Re: Cant get builder to finish, what rights do we have - its getting nasty

Thanks for all the advice, I was in the process of putting together the letter today when out of the blue we got phone call from one of the workmen saying that he would be delivering the replacement wood floor to us at 6pm this evening, he never arrived!!. so we sent him a text to see if he was running later or not coming at all, he replied saying the flooring hadn't arrived so he wouldn't be dropping it over tonight, so we text him back to ask where the flooring was coming from and could he deliver it between 5-10pm tomorrow this was his reply

" dont take that f***in tone with me, I was told to pass a message on to u thats what I did now as far as I know its (the flooring)from the same ass****s u bought it off that clear enough 4 u"

Im in total shock we didnt take any tone with him just wanted to know when he would arrive tomorrow, we tried to phone his boss to tell him what happened but hes not returning our calls for the past week.
.
We have been nothing but patient with them, paid them on time and never got angry with the builder to date. I don't feel we should have to allow these workmen into our house to finish the job (I've had to leave the house before when these guys were working as I felt very intimidated around them)We are going to seek legal advice but I will be so upset if we have to allow these guys back into the house as I would be afraid what mess they could leave us with! all I want is to cancel the contract and get new workmen.

hogg
 
Re: Cant get builder to finish, what rights do we have - its getting nasty

My buddy did his house direct labour didnt given them all the money till the job was complete.Think you should just tell the builder he has two choices he can come and finish the work within say a month which is reasonable or you can tell him hes fired he will not get another penny from you and let him be ringing you for a change about money and so on.Dont think he will be bringing you to court after the way he has treated you and you should not have to take that S**t from the worker either.
 
You don't want this guy back in your house under any circumstances. Fire his ignorant ass and get someone else to finish. If it ends up costing you more, take the original builder to court.
 
I'm afraid if we just fire him he could start turning up at the door looking for money. Up to last week i didn't mind having to give him a letter in writing and allow him another 2 weeks to finish the job but with all the lies his workmen have told us this week and now this abusive text message I just don't want any of them in the house, I don't trust them or what they might do. The alternative is for my husband use 2 weeks of his annual leave to sit in the house while they are working there.

I found the contract last night we have the 2 copies and the builder signed both copies but I never got around to signing them at the time, I don't know should I sign them or not, hopefully a solicitor will be able to shed light on this!!

thanks again for all your advice!
Hogg
 
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