To not pay invoice added on to original quote

[Henry01]

Please could anyone advise me on this, I’m getting so worried and down about it.

We have had some building work worth £40,000 done on our house (so to us a considerable amount). We paid everything on time and the two add ons that were charged and agreed to we paid as well ( we asked for these and had messages to confirm the cost- I’m only mentioning this to say we know things will be added on but then a price is given and agreed and paid).

Since paying the final bill, the builder has come back with £3000 of extra additional add ons in an invoice . None of these agreed or discussed. Really random things that don’t change the scope of the work. For example we have a stud wall they put in, that was always in the quote, and both walls are external facing and he’s put down he wants to charge us for the plastering on the other side of the wall. To us it was just absolutely part of the job and assumed. It feels like he’s just added on random extras to get more money from us.

Another example is that on the steps he built to the outside of the house - he had to add some patio slabs to the side of the steps so concrete wasn’t exposed and so it looked professional and finished off and he’s charged for that. I’ve never looked at steps and not thought the sides wouldn’t have been finished or an extra! It’s kind of a given if you ask for steps to be built by a professional!

Throughout the work we felt the builder was unprofessional but we didn’t want the relationship to break down and just wanted it over! He did things like-

— he told us the work would be complete in 5 weeks, it took ten months(in total, not time spent at the house) due to both the weather and just not turning up or communicating and letting us know. He would always say his children were poorly or himself and colleagues and we didn’t want to be unreasonable and push him on this as we understand people get poorly. however he has now turned it round on us saying the job took a lot longer than he expected.

The builder has been emailing with the added on invoice in not a nice tone.

I have gone back to him with a written reply going through each add on and detailing why we don’t owe this. We’ve said anymore communication would need to be to our solicitor as we think it’s getting to that stage now.

Has anyone had this before? We have had our whole house renovated and never had any problem with workmen - we’ve had a quote and add ons agreed and discussed and of course paid.

Any advise would be great- I’m scared this man will turn up at my home and I’m sad as we paid what we owe and we worked so hard to save to do the work and we should be proud but it’s like a black cloud hanging over us now.

Thank you

He shouldn't be adding things on that weren't agreed, but as he's adding things on for work that has actually been completed and make your house looking nicer, I'd maybe be tempted at this point to negotiate with him and maybe pay half. I know you shouldn't need to, but I'd have the worry of what he will do about the non payment, I wouldn't think it was worth the hassle or worry personally.

A QUOTE is just that - the full amount you pay. Anything else in addition to this needs to be agreed.

A builder can't just do "extra" work then demand money for it.

But what he is asking for isn't extra work and clearly should have been included in the quote, otherwise the job wouldn't have been finished. If you put in a stud wall, then of course you plaster both sides! How ridiculous!

I'd check the contract you signed to see if there is anything about small added extras up to a certain amount.

If the original paperwork said "ESTIMATE" and not quote, then they can add stuff on within reason.

I would perhaps speak to an independent builder to get their opinion on what should have been included. Ultimately I'd be polite but firm and state that everything they have listed was included in the original quote, and you have already paid the extras that were agreed.

Sounds to me like he's not the most organised of builders so has messed up his quote or made mistakes and now trying to recoup some more money.

Stand your ground, he's absolutely taking the piss. Keep records of all details, quotes, emails etc.
You've explained why you disagree with the extras, if he hassles you again say you'll discuss with your solicitor and hash it out in court. He's very likely to back off.

Failing that if one or two 'add ons' might be considered reasonable, agree to pay a small amount ie £350/400 for 'additional material costs he may have incurred'. He'll feel like he won (as they are made up extras anyway) or that your meeting him 'in the middle' and probably back off. He's chancing his arm anyway so any extra you may pay to lose him will be a win for him...scumbag

I agree with you that those things should/would have been part of the original quote.

It was definitely a quote and not an estimate?

Did it specify proper detail on the quote - things like 'finished / decorated to a professional standard' etc. Where you can point and say it was clearly included in the quote.

I don't think I understand the steps bit with the slabs on the sides - vertically? Did he intend to e.g. render and you asked for it to be slabbed instead? That one might be legit if he needed to buy and lay more slabs than quoted. Was the quantity or area or placement of slabs specified in the quote and are the side ones extra to that?

Sorry you're going through this, OP! It's awful when things break down with tradespeople. Ten months for a job that was estimated to take 5 weeks is taking the absolute piss.

Stand your ground and just say no. If he threatens court say "ok, see you in court". Chances are he won't actually go to court, but it's as you say, the court outcome would be in your favour.

Ask him to remove the steps, as you didn't agree to them and don't want to pay for them.
The plastering - wouldn't you get a plasterer to do that? It isn't really a builder's job.

I work in the accounts dept of a construction company and don't think you are being unreasonable.

Check your quote though, were there any exclusions? Even if there were though, you should have been made aware of any extras and agreed to them before the work was carried out.

This is the most important thing. Was it a quote or an estimate at 5he beginning. Two very different things.

Construction laws it’s own kettle of fish. I agree with pp might be worth just splitting the difference and being done with it if it that ends this.

What does the contract say? If you used JCT, I seem to recall there's a mediation/arbitration route.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I haven’t worked out yet how to reply individually.

The builder gave us a quote. He then gave the to total cost and outlined the major work and said briefly compromising of …. And then listed the work for example - building steps from kitchen to outside patio. But he didn’t go into more detail than that.

In the contract we signed it said it shouldn’t cost any more unless something unprecedented happened or the scope of the work changed considerably.

To us- it feels like we’re being bullied. I’m quite timid and with workmen I happily trust them and respect their jobs and don’t question them
ect as I trust they know what they are doing / will honour the job. However I do make sure we have a contract, and they have always been really decent people. And I wonder with this one wether he’s using that and expected me to just pay.

To be honest, if I had the money I would have just paid him off. But I don’t have the money (to us £3000 would take a year to save up) and we made sure we could afford all the work we had agreed to but we don’t have any extra we can magically find.

With regard to the steps to the outside of the house- that was in the quote. Imagine if you ripped a patio slab off and you could just see the glue cement - it looked like that and then he said it’s £500 for me to make the steps looks finished with slabs on. He put the slabs on and then after told us in the new invoice that it was extra.

With regard to the plastering - they are builders but also do all home improvements so have a team who do plastering , electricians and joinery ect.

It feels horrible being in this position- we have never owed anyone any more and we are cross that he feels we do and we have to justify why we don’t. It’s certainly put me off having anything done in future!

it shouldn’t cost any more unless something unprecedented happened or the scope of the work changed considerably.

This is the bit you refer him back to OP if he hassles you - the steps and walls were included in a quote and paid for - nothing about them has been unprecedented or changed considerable to mean that the plastering and slabs weren't part of the original quote.

Re the plastering if he says that wasn't part of his scope - did he specifically ask you if you wanted it plastering? (as if that's an extra) or did he just build the wall, plaster it as part of that job, and then after the fact invoice you for the plastering as if that was an optional extra?

and then he said it’s £500 for me to make the steps looks finished with slabs on

I definitely think you need to paying the extra for this, I dont see how you could back out of this one.

Yeah it was included in the quote - it said build stud wall, electric sockets and plastering

I’ll try upload an imagine I found on google. But the quote included the completed steps. Then after all the work was finished he said he added slabs under the steps to make it look finished. So in the image I’ve attached - imagine if the patios slabs underneath aren’t there and it’s just exposed contrite - so that’s how he’s saying it would have been if he hadn’t added the slabs. Sorry it’s hard to explain 🤣

So on the quote it details finished steps, all work to have steps complete? And he did or didn't mention that they'd then cost £500 to add to the sides? It's all a bit confusing.

Yes In the quote- all work to have steps complete . He completed the steps like you’d expect with no mention of extra . And then when he gave us our final invoice after finishing the job - he added an extra 3k of which £500 was for some slabs tiles on the steps to make them look better than just concrete he said. Nothing had been discussed with us at the time and he used the porcelain tiles he had used for the tops of the steps and said there was £500 we had to pay for the sides to make it look better than just concrete ( which he had already done) . It feels like he’s just making stuff up to add on !

I've never had such building works done (but going to, so learning a lot!), but I would have assumed that if a builder provided a quote for building some steps, they'd be prepared to a finished state.

Did he ask whether you wanted slabs to make it look more finished, or did he just do it and tell you later? Would you have been happy without the side slabs?

So the original quote was concrete? I suppose it's a case of do you want the more expensive steps or just concrete? You could ask him to remove them if they are not what you asked for but for £500 I'd rather keep them as it will cost you to get it sorted if he rips them up.

No - the original quote said steps in porcelain tiles. Which is what we’ve been given. But he’s just added extra in for some reason saying he put them on the side of the steps which you’d presume were included as they are the steps. And also you wouldn’t expect the quote to go into that much detail. It would be like saying in quote to reroof a house and saying not all the house roof would have been done type thing 🤣

I'm with you. So he does seems totally full of shit doesn't he 🤣

It sounds to me like you've got exactly what was quoted and you paid for, so no need to pay extra.

I'd look carefully down his list and see if anything meets the "something unprecedented" category. From what you've said, you've already had some changes made and already paid for these though. If something crops up in a building project that would be an additional cost, you'd need to discuss it with the client before proceeding.

e.g. we had a bathroom fitted recently, and the builder discovered he was unable to re-locate one of the pipes without significant cost which he would not have known until floorboards were taken up. We discussed it and agreed to instead move the bathroom furniture to work with the original pipe work at no additional cost.

Be polite but stand firm with the builder.

For peace of mind, perhaps consider something like a Eufy/Ring doorbell!

“Trevor, I’m not paying this extra invoice. None of this was agreed. You know that. You can’t just do work without telling me and then expect me to pay afterwards. Be serious.”

He’s trying it on.

My husband is a retired builder and says this three thousand can’t be added on as you had a quote and agreed extras as you went along.

Yes definitely trying it on. Don't pay it even if you can scrape the money together otherwise you're not only suffering yourselves but encouraging him to behave like this with others in future who might be more vulnerable. Agree with the line that if he's not happy he should take it up with your solicitor, don't engage further on it. Might also be worth getting cameras around the house in case he's one of these cowboy builders who might come and damage your property. Hopefully not though.