Dealing with Dodgy Tradesmen or Builders
If it hasn’t happened to us, it’s happened to someone we know. Dodgy tradesmen and cowboy builders took ages to do the work, did it wrong or simply didn’t do it at all. Everyone has a story, which is why it’s crucial to know your rights and remedies so you can be prepared at the outset.
Firstly, don’t be taken in by what appears to be goodwill on the builder’s part. You may be confident of a positive outcome, but this is a business arrangement and you must ensure you have a watertight contract that you are happy with. This would include specific clauses in relation to how much the job will cost and how long it will take. If you do not, then the assumption will the job should cost a ‘reasonable amount’ and take ‘reasonable time’ – which is subject to interpretation and may drag things out if you find yourself in dispute.
Refer to the section on Doorstep selling if you signed up to having some work done after someone paid you a visit to your home (whether or not this was an unsolicited visit).
Your statutory rights
With contracts for Work and Materials where the main focus is labour and skill, you are always protected by three statutory terms, even if you have nothing in writing, or the contract you signed does not specifically mention them. They are:
1. Reasonable care and skill
As you are buying the services of a trained professional, there is the assumption that the builder or tradesman will act with ‘reasonable care and skill’. If he does not, you can claim a breach of your statutory rights and be entitled to terminate the contract and either pay nothing further or seek to get your money back through the courts. Where substandard work has been carried out, you may well have incurred greater potential costs to have the work put right, so it is not enough simply to ask for your money back. In such circumstances, it may be more appropriate to pursue a claim for damages. Remember that where the cost of the work is over £100 and you are able to pay by credit card, you would be well advised to do so. This would make the credit card company equally liable where you were not able to recover your costs from the builder.
2. Reasonable time taken
As mentioned earlier, if you have no contractual clauses specifically in relation to timeframe for the work, the assumption is that the work will be carried out within reasonable time. Once reasonable time has elapsed you would not be entitled to terminate the contract, but you would be able to give reasonable notice, providing a deadline at some point in the future and thereby making time ‘of the essence’. If the builder then fails to meet that deadline, you would be entitled to terminate the contract. If you did agree timeframe as part of your contract with the builder, and this timeframe is exceeded, then you can automatically move to terminate the contract if the deadline is broken.
For this reason, you would always be advised to specify a date for performance and make clear in the contract that ‘time is of the essence’.
3. Reasonable cost
Just like timeframe, if you have no contractual clauses specifically in relation to fees payable, the assumption is that you will be charged a reasonable price. However, problems tend to arise where a service is commissioned, exact price cannot be given and the buyer is then presented with an extortionate bill. Where this happens, and where you have little choice but to pay (for example an emergency plumber), but you must make clear your objections at the time of paying, so that you can take action at a later date. You can do this by writing “paid under protest” somewhere on their documentation or (preferably) on the back of a cheque, and by following this up with an immediate letter to the organisation in question to dispute the price you were charged including evidence of alternative ‘going rates’.
It may be that unforeseen additional work will be required and costs will go up. It shouldn’t be by too much and you could argue that the builder could reasonably have anticipated this when providing the estimate. In any case you should limit your liability by requesting that the tradesman or builder informs you if it is going to cost over a certain amount.
It is always advisable to pay the money in stages, leaving a significant amount until the end, when you are fully satisfied that the work has been completed to satisfaction. You may be required to pay money in advance for the ordering of specific goods, but never be afraid to ask for paperwork so you can check it for yourself.
The work is half done – where do we go from here?
With the purchase of a faulty good from a shop, you can simply return the item and get your money back – putting you back into the same position you were in before you bought it. You can’t say the same for building work, particularly if they have walked off the job with it only half done. The question is, is the contract severable? It very much depends on what you are having done and what payment plan you have agreed. Upon presentation of the finished item, can you simply say that you are not going to pay for it and you are not going to give them the opportunity to make it good? This may be a little unreasonable, but if you plan to cite a breach in contract due to an absence of reasonable care and skill, you must make it clear that you are rejecting the finished item. If you have accepted it, you may have to pay all or a portion of the price agreed in the contract.
What about work is taking place in phases? Let’s say you are having a conservatory built which involves the payment of four instalments. If after the second instalment it is clear that the work is substandard you can sever the contract at that point and ask them not to return. You can then pursue damages for monies paid and additional sums if any consequential losses have been incurred (the cost of putting right the poor workmanship). If however the builder offers to redo the work, then the reasonable response would be agree, as long as it can be done ‘in reasonable time’. But what if you have lost complete faith in the builders and do not want them back at all? This is also a reasonable response, although you would have to have good grounds to claim a loss of faith. For this reason, it is always advisable to take photos and keep a diary when having any long term building work done, so you have evidence should it ever become a dispute. Many trade bodies representing firms such as builders will offer a dispute resolution service – which is always cheaper and quicker than litigation! Therefore always choose a builder or tradesman who is accredited by a trade body, association or guild which can offer this service.
Other relevant sections:
- Where the final price is much higher than the estimate
- The job was done as a foreigner – do I have any rights?
- How much can I expect in damages?
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Builders stared work in April, should finish by end of June. Now nearly end of June, only halfway of the work. My daughter’s wedding soon. Do not know what to do. Total panic.
Inspire bath first company tommys yard another company grafters next company now lovick development all run by mr Tony butters clearly committing fraud 4 company names in past 3 years! This should not be allowed
Had my driveway re tarmaced in April of this year with a company called Driveways North-West LTD the boss is called John Hargadon he wanted cash in hand when finished £1600 , when work men finished I went to the banck for the cash took me about half hour , when I arrived home John hargadon was waiting for his cash in hand so I paid him , it looked ok but when it dried the next day it was a mess , gate will not open properly , dirty grey marks all over it , when it rains holds a lot of water , and it is lifting , rang mr hargadon right away promised he would sort it out , after many phone calls and emails he promised he would fix it he gave me his s promise to come on certain days with a time but never turned up this has gone on every week since he did my driveway, found out on the internet after a lot of searching he is a rouge trader , then he traded as hargadon driveways , now he trades as driveways north-west LTD , I don’t need this has my husband has just passed away , please could you tell me what are my rights .
Hi there, I paid a company upfront for a kitchen refurb (new doors side panels hob etc) paid £1700. I was given a receipt and on the back is “terms and conditions” one of which once the order for the doors etc are placed with the manufacturer it cannot be cancelled unless there is a written agreement. I placed the order with the company 22 days ago who stated that it would be installed within 14 working days. I have yet to receive any correspondence and keep getting told by the company that they were still waiting for manufacturer to get back to them with a delivery date after ignoring my calls. I feel like I have spend £1700 and waited a reasonable time and been ignored and still have no installation date. Can anyone give me any advice ‘re cancelling and getting my money back? It was done via bank transfer. Thanks
I have a newly built extension and I notice that a lot of the bricks have hairline cracks on the face of them Im worried that the builder has used substandard bricks or bricks that have not been fired propetly how can I find out.
I paid cash to my kitchen suplier and builder £800. He did not completed the work, also he has used second hand material, Also he left the the sink water leaking direct on the electric meeter under the sink I had to call a emergency plumber, and paid £50 to stop the lekage, my builder connected washing machine, microwave and fridge on an extention lead. He has not come back what can i do.
I have had a single story pitched roof that was replaced due to age/wear and tear and letting in rain. This has been done within the last 5 months, the builder assured me that when works done it would not leak, sadly it has on four occasions so far after rain has left damp patches on the new internal ceiling I have contacted the builder and he has sent out a worker to assess and make good, this resulted on one occasion replacing a broken tile another occasion of checking tiles around possible damp patch in relation to internal ceiling, at present I am waiting for the builder again to come and assess further damp patches the happened on Tuesday after a rainy morning. Can I do anything about this leaking problem? Kind regards
Anthony Robinson
Grafters Builders in Littlehampton – Beware of this company and the director, Tony Butter. They will rip you off as mentioned in someone else’s comment. 2 CCJs to his name in 3 months!!
the roofer removed the skylight window. A substantial amount of plaster in the surrounding area came down. The slats are exposed but he says he is not liable. Can i put in a claim via his public liability insurance.
Hi,
We have just had our bathroom refitted and the furniture provided from a company through the builder isn’t water proof and so has cracked and blistered. (It’s painted wood.) The builder replaced the unit under the sink once and then when it happened again he said the company he got them from won’t do anything about it and so he would pay to replace all the furniture himself. Since saying this he has come up with every excuse in the book and it has know been over a year since he started the work. Where do I stand and what can I do? I am gutted. Unfortunately we didn’t have a contract drawn up however I do have text messages from him. Any help would be appreciated.
I have been done over for £30,000 and have tried everything to get it back and lost all my money I continued the build after he had gone but have no money left to do anything. Police won’t help it is civil my research shows no assets in his name.
We asked a local tradesman for a quote to replace our facial boards as they were rotten. Quote was provided stating remove old facias, replace with new upvc facias, take away rubbish and how much Labour was. When they had finished and my husband inspected the finished job the old rotten facial had simply had new boards screwed to them. New facias were upside down, where they should meet in the middle with a mitre joint there was about a 3 inch gap that they tried to hide with a decorative strip that wasn’t straight and not secure. New boards were very badly fitted over the old ones. Quite honestly the worst job I have ever seen a trader do. The trader bought his wife to help and constantly berated her for getting in his way and being more of a hindrance than a help. The whole ordeal was embarrassing from start to finish. After sending complaints via email and with supporting pictures they want to come back and redo it. I have absolutely no confidence in their ability to put this right as if they were capable tradespeople why on earth was the job done this bad to start off with. They breached our contract by not doing works stated in the invoice and by not completing the job with reasonable care and skill. Do I have a right to cancel the job as I don’t want them doing any more work on our property. I have not paid them anything so far as I was going to pay in full once the job was done.