I had a builder in at the beginning of last year to convert part of my house into a granny flat for my elderly mother. I was away for six weeks and he asked for £10,000 before I left. He then asked for another £3,000 in order to pay for the kitchen.
To cut a long story short, every aspect of the build is just AWFUL. I stopped him working after I saw he had put the towel rail upside down and had removed te beams from A frames. He had also installed a gas boiler and could not reply when I asked if he had used a gas registered plumber.
I organised a meeting between a builder, plumber and electrician at his request.. during that meeting he said that he was not a builder, but a handyman and was in out of his depth.
After that meeting he offered me 1,500 because he said that the bathroom was 'unfortunate'... he had grouted all over every tile, had put the electric towel rail upside down, had copper pipe work showing on every fitting, had some weird looped pipe into the toilet ,had put an inverted sink in the ceiling to gain more height for the shower ( you had to see it to belive it ) and there were huge steps all over the tiles ( which I bought at my expense). Obviously I said no to that ridiculous request, the tiles were £700 alone and he did damage to the new kitchen and every other aspect of the build as well as the bathroom.
I got in contact with trading standards who advised me to get reports drawn up from professinals and who gave me a template of a letter to say that he had not built to a decent standard and I had lost faith in his work therfore he had broken his contract. They also told me to ask several questions,
1. Did he have public liability insurance.
2. Could I have his VAT number ( he had given an invoice with added VAT but no number)
3. Was he a member of any ADR approved body,
4. Was he the sole owner of the business ( which I cannot find on any site and think he made up the name)
5. Could he give me the name of the gas registered plumber who put in the boiler.
I also got some bad advice from them and the citizen's advice. They both told me that if I took copious amounts of photographs of all the damage, and got the four reports done, I could take down the rok in order to finish the build ( my mother is 93 and needs to live with me now and I cannot get her here until this work is done) I did all that needed to be done. and builders came in and took down the walls exposing even more problems. It now appears that I should have got an independent joint expert to look, but I did not know that at the time.
In return I got a letter from his solicitor ignoring all the questions and saying I had broken the contract and owed him £6,000. They also demanded a independent joint expert to come in and to have a round table meeting. They named the independent joint expert and said that, if I didn't agree to having him as an expert, then they would use him as their specialist.
I went to a solicitor who told me the best thing to do, as I had removed a lot of the 'evidence' was to get a barrister to write a letter to the BC solicitors. It cost me £840 to send that letter which listed a few things that were wrong, but a minute amount compared to what was really wrong. The solicitor told me that it wasn't an exhaustive list, but just the main points. I did not receive a reply in a month, until my solicitor wrote again giving them 7 days to reply. I also agreed to their round table meeting and to a joint expert , on the condition the expert was totally impartial and from out of the area completely ( we live in rural wales and everyone knows everyone) .
They then repied with a Scott report they had compiled using only those small number of points the barrister has used. The buiolder denies all the things that are wrong, has said he wants to inspect the work to see if they now want an independent joint specialist or not, and come in and fix the problems.
My last letter to my solicitor advised him that the builder cannot come in and that we will get an independent joint expert anyway.
Neither the barrister or my solicitor have asked him to answer the questions I asked. At no point have they mentioned the law that states he has to build to a standard. At no point have they mentioned it is a criminal offence to install a gas boiler without being registered, depsite it being mentioned in a building surveyors report and mentioned by building control ( which the builder never involved in the build ) At no point have they given reasons why the man should not be allowed to return to finish the work. He admitted that he is a handyman and is ovbiously not capable of doing the work he did. . The barrister's letter was so weak that I had to amend it before it was sent. The solicitor seems to be so passive that I swear he is just getting money out of me.
Now I dont know what to do. I haven't got the funds to keep throwing at the solicitor.. I want to get on with the build, but don't know where to get the indpendent expert... I have done what everyone told me to do, spent money on reports from everyone, I had a meeting with the builder, which he asked for, with other builders to show him where he had gone wrong. Taken hundreds of photogrraphs and numbered and listed every one of them, left the build now so that any expert can see that he did not prepare any walls before dot and dabbing plaster.. that he went through joists in order to put in downlights and various other things. Surely , together with the photographs this shold be enough for an independent exoint expert to write a report himself?
I have now compiled a scot report of my own stating every point that needs addressing ( 30 in all)... but I am just at my wit's end... can anybody at all give me an idea of how I can proceed with this.. the man wants me to pay him... yet he has completely wrecked the whole build... I wish I could put up pictures, you would honestly be shocked.
I will sell my house to pay for court in order that this man not do to anybody else what he has done to me... but I don't know how to get the case there ....
To cut a long story short, every aspect of the build is just AWFUL. I stopped him working after I saw he had put the towel rail upside down and had removed te beams from A frames. He had also installed a gas boiler and could not reply when I asked if he had used a gas registered plumber.
I organised a meeting between a builder, plumber and electrician at his request.. during that meeting he said that he was not a builder, but a handyman and was in out of his depth.
After that meeting he offered me 1,500 because he said that the bathroom was 'unfortunate'... he had grouted all over every tile, had put the electric towel rail upside down, had copper pipe work showing on every fitting, had some weird looped pipe into the toilet ,had put an inverted sink in the ceiling to gain more height for the shower ( you had to see it to belive it ) and there were huge steps all over the tiles ( which I bought at my expense). Obviously I said no to that ridiculous request, the tiles were £700 alone and he did damage to the new kitchen and every other aspect of the build as well as the bathroom.
I got in contact with trading standards who advised me to get reports drawn up from professinals and who gave me a template of a letter to say that he had not built to a decent standard and I had lost faith in his work therfore he had broken his contract. They also told me to ask several questions,
1. Did he have public liability insurance.
2. Could I have his VAT number ( he had given an invoice with added VAT but no number)
3. Was he a member of any ADR approved body,
4. Was he the sole owner of the business ( which I cannot find on any site and think he made up the name)
5. Could he give me the name of the gas registered plumber who put in the boiler.
I also got some bad advice from them and the citizen's advice. They both told me that if I took copious amounts of photographs of all the damage, and got the four reports done, I could take down the rok in order to finish the build ( my mother is 93 and needs to live with me now and I cannot get her here until this work is done) I did all that needed to be done. and builders came in and took down the walls exposing even more problems. It now appears that I should have got an independent joint expert to look, but I did not know that at the time.
In return I got a letter from his solicitor ignoring all the questions and saying I had broken the contract and owed him £6,000. They also demanded a independent joint expert to come in and to have a round table meeting. They named the independent joint expert and said that, if I didn't agree to having him as an expert, then they would use him as their specialist.
I went to a solicitor who told me the best thing to do, as I had removed a lot of the 'evidence' was to get a barrister to write a letter to the BC solicitors. It cost me £840 to send that letter which listed a few things that were wrong, but a minute amount compared to what was really wrong. The solicitor told me that it wasn't an exhaustive list, but just the main points. I did not receive a reply in a month, until my solicitor wrote again giving them 7 days to reply. I also agreed to their round table meeting and to a joint expert , on the condition the expert was totally impartial and from out of the area completely ( we live in rural wales and everyone knows everyone) .
They then repied with a Scott report they had compiled using only those small number of points the barrister has used. The buiolder denies all the things that are wrong, has said he wants to inspect the work to see if they now want an independent joint specialist or not, and come in and fix the problems.
My last letter to my solicitor advised him that the builder cannot come in and that we will get an independent joint expert anyway.
Neither the barrister or my solicitor have asked him to answer the questions I asked. At no point have they mentioned the law that states he has to build to a standard. At no point have they mentioned it is a criminal offence to install a gas boiler without being registered, depsite it being mentioned in a building surveyors report and mentioned by building control ( which the builder never involved in the build ) At no point have they given reasons why the man should not be allowed to return to finish the work. He admitted that he is a handyman and is ovbiously not capable of doing the work he did. . The barrister's letter was so weak that I had to amend it before it was sent. The solicitor seems to be so passive that I swear he is just getting money out of me.
Now I dont know what to do. I haven't got the funds to keep throwing at the solicitor.. I want to get on with the build, but don't know where to get the indpendent expert... I have done what everyone told me to do, spent money on reports from everyone, I had a meeting with the builder, which he asked for, with other builders to show him where he had gone wrong. Taken hundreds of photogrraphs and numbered and listed every one of them, left the build now so that any expert can see that he did not prepare any walls before dot and dabbing plaster.. that he went through joists in order to put in downlights and various other things. Surely , together with the photographs this shold be enough for an independent exoint expert to write a report himself?
I have now compiled a scot report of my own stating every point that needs addressing ( 30 in all)... but I am just at my wit's end... can anybody at all give me an idea of how I can proceed with this.. the man wants me to pay him... yet he has completely wrecked the whole build... I wish I could put up pictures, you would honestly be shocked.
I will sell my house to pay for court in order that this man not do to anybody else what he has done to me... but I don't know how to get the case there ....