The work is half done – where do we go from here?
Contracts for Work and Materials often involve the incorporation of goods into other goods, property or land. Therefore you cannot simply get your money back and be put back into the same position you were in before the work started. 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.
Common Complaints:
- Where the price is significantly higher than the estimate
- The job was done as a ‘foreigner’. Do I have any rights?
- How much can I claim in damages?
- Using the Small Claims Court
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We employed a guy to refit the bathroom. He subcontracted another guy to do the tiler which is a disaster, with large grout in areas he cut the tiles short on. We purchased all the products and a special board to be put on the floor to have a level tiling areas. He never prepared the sub floor and the floor is uneven and he has put bits of wood under our sink unit as it would rock as floor is so unlvel.
He has been very intimidating to any other trades people that have come to the house with a lot of inappropriate comments and we do not feel comfortable having him back to make good the shoddy workmanship for these reasons.
We have not paid him yet but are we in a position to offer him a price for the work we feel was carried out to an acceptable standard and get the work then done by someone we trust, reducing his original quote to cover the new costs.
Hello,
Looking for a bit of advice here.
I employed a company to lay some boarding on top of my floorboards to have new flooring put on top.
we agreed that we would employ them for £130 per day(day rate) for 2 people to do the job. Well, on the first day one man came all day and one man only stayed for 3 hours but i still paid the £130, the next day only one man showed up for the entire day, so i halved the £130 and paid only half as only 1 person showed up and it was agreed that 2 people would come for the £130 they also said onces the boarding is finished if i had any other jobs then this could be done in the day as i was paying a day rate.
Well the company then started sending me threats that if i did not pay the rest of the money they would charge me a late payment fee, they also said they would be charging me for the extra jobs done which was putting up a shelf and painting my ceiling of one room. Because i refused to pay they then said they would be charging court costs, however they then decided that instead of court costs to chase the payment, they messaged me saying they would then dump rubbish/asbestos from other peoples houses that they clear into my garden as it costs them to dump the rubbish/asbestos properly so they would be gaining the money i owe them back because they would save the money by dumping the rubbish into my garden.
Well the police are now involved and i have proceeded to contact trading standards, well today i have had people come to lay my flooring and they have now told me that all of the boarding layed is Upside down, which means that it would all be cut wrong around doors etc.
I am wondering what i can do about all of this as i have been receiving harassment from the company to pay up money that i feel i do not owe and now i find out the work is done completely wrong too. (On the first day the man that came for 3 hours also did his work completely wrong and he is the one that owns the company!)
Help and Advice would be appreciated!
Amber
I called a plumber who said they would charge 180-224 depending on size, told him bathroom not draining, he came out and promptly said he could give me a great deal with this big snake usually costing 600, but he would only charge me 400, I said no way, because it was cold out that day he said he had to call office and see if he could do this with their approval for less , found out later he was owner, it didnt work, so he came in house and said it would cost additional 50 to lift toilet and reseal it after snaking, after all this told him tub still not draining, he said run hot water and it will loosen up, paid him 274, next day had to call him because tub not draining, he said now it would be an emergency call and would have to charge me more???? told him he didnt fix it in beginning, said the soonest he could come out would be on Fri (after Thanksgiving) and he would do it free and said I was trying to take advantage of small business, I told him he was taking advantage of me, well I stopped pmt on check and never heard from him until 2 weeks after because check was stopped, do I owe him money? He said he was taking me to court
I dont feel I owe him anything he didnt fix the problem
I had a company install 2 new windows – which were fine. I also had them install new fascias, soffits and guttering. I have since had them back on 6 occasions because the water is not flowing through the guttering and leaking at the brackets. They had said they can’t understand why this is happening and are now ignoring my request for them to fix things. Can I get another company to fix the problem and then claim redress from the original company?
Hi
I am having a conservatory built
I wanted it the same size as my decking when the sales man came he stood at the end of the decking and stood at the end of the decking pointing his laser tape measure at the wall he told me that’s 3.5 m so I said ok.
When the builders have come they have placed the foundations and it seems much smaller than I first thought so now I have asked them to stop all work. The firms solisitor rang me and said they will only charge me £600 for making it bigger and not the £1200 that it should be. But in my eyes I am having to pay for something that I thought I had already agreed upon! If I take this to court would I get anywhere ? They say the space I want is 4 m and not 3.5 m .
Thanks Gemma
Have a blind fitted 4 years ago my grand daughter put cord round her neck so we called the company who fitted to come round to fit safety catches on blind.
Well he has broke my blind he has tried to repair but it’s not worked. I say he should replace blind as he broke it and he said no way.
How do I stand please
Hi
We are in dispute with a customer which is now at small claims stage.
We have recieved her documents she intends to rely on in court.
We entered a verbal contract with her to landscape her garden.. However on day od completion she advised she was not happy with height of garden and wanted it lowered.
Long story short. She advised us she would get an independant Inspection report done however it turns out he was just another tradesman who then ‘rectified’ the work for her.
Can we dispute this in court as he could have made up half the stuff for finanical gain. Also he isnt classed as independant as he completed works and also doesnt state his experience or background in his report.
Any advice would be great.
Thank you
Hi I need some advice as I have no idea what to do – had a tile job done and its not great, have had two independent tillers round to see the work and both are very unimpressed, I have photographs, grout bubbling, colour of grout all different shades, cracked tile and to top it off tiles laid in an extremely strange uninform way in areas of kitchen…..we have tried to resolve it with tile but he cant see what’s wrong – yet he has come back with a discount (but its not enough) we sent him a break down of what we were happy to pay which was very reasonable in my opinion as I COULD have said I was paying nothing. we paid a lot of money to have him do the job and his work mate who has been working with him for 6 months was there doing a lot of the work while he swanned off to other jobs. so never got the experienced tile we paid for. What can we do? We haven’t paid him anything yet, we bought all the tiles – which about 10 sq m will need dug up and replaced. We also aren’t happy with the grout and he has said it could have been caused by the cold (tiles aren’t supposed to be laid under 5 degrees and it was and he still laid them) Please please help!
So,
I dismissed my contractor for a number of reasons. I haven’t paid any deposit to them but the work was quited at £2.5k to refurbish a kitchen over 8 days.
They started work without the plans and fitted the kitchen incorrectly, damaging units the the process. We got them to re-fit and the base units were 10cms over standard height. They blamed the kitchen designer and cut down the units unevenly. They are also in the wrong position. They refused to do lots of the work we wanted and told us not to point out problems.
I discovered that they’ve installed a gas hob and electrics without certifications. Have reported them to the Gas Safe Register. When I told him to go he refused to leave. Finally he said he would only leave if I text him to say nothing had been stolen.
They’ve scratched and damaged goods installing them and now I’m hiring new people to finish the jobs and put things right. They were 4 days over the 8 quoted when I told them to go.
I quoted Consumer Rights 2015 in an email to them and have receipts and photos. I bought all good except for grouting and some underlay. Do I have to pay them anything? If so, how much? If not, how do I tell them that?
We bought an electric shower and advertised for a plumber/electrician to come to our house and fit it. We had three replies and chose what seemed like the best quote and tradesman for the job, qualifications, experience etc. He came to the house and started to fit the shower, all seemed good and he appeared to know what he was doing. When shower was all fitted he turned the water back on and and the heater didn’t work, all we had was cold water. After a few adjustments and no joy, the workman said that our water pressure was far too low for the shower we had bought. He then said there was nothing more he could do, asked for the payment he had quoted (in cash) and left. So not only did we lose the money the new shower had cost and the workman’s payment for the job he didn’t do successfully, we still have no shower and can’t afford another one on our state pensions. A few £100 is a lot of money for us to lose.
Beware, there’s lots of cowboys out there are who appear to initially be competent and they hardly have a clue.