Help with Builder threatening legal action - court

[Chinacups]

We have just finished a renovation project. We signed a contract with the builder and overall, the work was completed to a reasonable standard and is more or less finished. Some plumbing and decorating unfinished but the builder is refusing to complete them until we pay some extra charges - his final bill was £6,000 higher than expected.

He wants another £4,000 for plumbing but this is the first we've heard. Nothing was mentioned when they were doing the work. We've gone back and forth and talked face to face but he is adamant he did the work and we have to pay.

To give an example, the original quote for plumbing was around £18,000. It lists every single tap and drain and that was the quote we accepted and attached to the contract. The builder is now claiming extra costs for things like, running pipes from the radiator to the new tank, and connecting the (existing) boiler. We expected all the plumbing costs were included in the quote and our argument is all the extras he's now claiming for were always part of the project - we haven't made any changes. So why would he quote and not allow for jobs he would have known he had to do, like reconnecting the boiler?

Similar situation for the other £2,000 that he wants for fitting the kitchen. We think the cabinets were listed under a certain part of the quote and he's saying they were actually included in another part of the quote (for work we removed). It's a bit complicated but essentially we think he is trying it on. It's tricky to make a call on who has interpreted the quote incorrectly, but without giving more detail we think it's clear from the quote.

We offered to pay 50% of these extra charges a few weeks ago, because we haven't been able to agree and can't see how else to resolve it fairly. The builder refused that and is now threatening to take us to court.

In my response I want to point to the terms of our contract (any additional costs have to be agreed before the work is carried out) and to suggest professional mediation. What would you do in this situation?

Have you paid him any money? If you haven’t I would actually let him take you to small claims court as you have a written and I’m assuming signed contract with all the costs involved, I doubt he would win, but don’t pay him anything until going to court

If it’s all there in the contract I’d tell him I’d see him in court.

If you're absolutely CERTAIN that the work he's done is shown as being part of the QUOTE, then let him take you to court OP, you have a contract and the Court will use that in their judgement.

However, are you sure it is a QUOTE, and not an ESTIMATE? If an estimate, it's different altogether. When we had an extension built a few years back, I ended up requesting a LOT of electrical sockets in the kitchen, the builder had allowed for a certain amount in his quote, and I hadn't realised that I'd actually asked for more than he'd priced for. He was very reasonable, when I told him that he should have informed me that I'd requested more than he'd quoted for, and agreed that he probably should, so in that instance we went 50/50.

I would out my position on writing, you sound pretty clear on what you think so don't think you'd need legal alive at this stage.

I'd write down clearly

You have said we owe 6k for
1
2
3
Etc

In the contract at clause x it includes no.1 - quote the relevant bit.
And so forth with 2 and 3

Contract also says that no additional costs will be incurred without agreement at clause x, and we did not agree the extra 6k

We are keen to get the work finished and are otherwise happy with it and have paid the amount owed etc as per the contract.

If you don't agree with the explanation above can you please set out your position in writing so we can take advice.

Etc

If he does take you to court, that letter would show you trying to be reasonable etc

We have paid in full except for the £6k we think he has speculatively added onto the final bill.

He has tried to resolve by offering a small reduction of less than 10%, but we don't think any of the extra charges are fair or reasonable. They also came as a complete surprise.

Like others have said, if you are confident that the works are included in the quote, and that the builder did not flag to you about these extra costs as and when they were incurred (according to him), then the best thing is to let him make the case in court. It’s. Its not that uncommon for these sorts of things to get to court and it can be the best way to resolve them where there is ambiguity.

Has he explained if the work wasn’t part of the quote that he hasn’t mentioned these additional costs as they occurred?

He should've given you a head's up before ploughing on and incurring extra cost. It's not out the question that the final cost may be a bit higher, but £6k sounds like he didn't do a good job of estimating the work needed.

It makes no sense at all to suddenly produce a £6k demand without having mentioned any extra expense at the time, especially as you've got what sounds like a clear contract, so I can only imagine it's a combination of Christmas coming up and someone telling him him they'd have charged far more

So I'd say "see you in court"

In my response I want to point to the terms of our contract (any additional costs have to be agreed before the work is carried out) ...

Edited to add I just re-read your OP and focused on this ... so what's his excuse for why he didn't ask you to agree any additional costs?

Outrageous. I’d tell him to take me to court. I’m almost certain he can’t add in surprise costs cos otherwise they’d all quote £100 and charge you £100,000.

doesn’t work like that.

Definitely not an estimate but a full quote - an extremely detailed one. Good point about asking him to explain why he didn’t ask us to agree the extra costs. He has been meticulous in agreeing anything additional over text or email before doing the work. So it’s odd. He has mentioned a few times apparently his electrician (who has quite limited English) had told me all of this verbally but that’s not true.

I want the quickest and least stressful solution. Going to court would take its toll.

But thats potentially what he's counting on? Can you speak to a solicitor?

I very much doubt you'll be going to court OP, though he's probably enjoying suggesting it

With a detailed contract, no prior mention of extra costs and not even a sensible explanation as to what the £6k's for, what would be the point of him even trying?

It sounds to me as if you're getting into the mindset of snapping his hand off when he "generously" offers to settle for half, and that wouldn't be a good idea either ... not least because you'd be encouraging him to prey on others

I don't believe that small claims court is supposed to be onerous or stressful.

Yes I expect the uncertainty is unhelpful, but I believe the process is designed to be "friendly" so to speak in comparison to criminal or civil court.

You won't be penalised if you lose the court claim.

It seems obvious to me. Let him take you to court.

I would put in writing that you retract your offer of paying 50%, and that you are happy to let this be settled in court.

What's the small claim court limit?

I'd write it all down and produce an evidence pack to go with it. Doing this might clarify for you and him if you share pre court.

No he should have kept you informed if costs were going over, otherwise how could he expect to know if you would be able to pay the additional. I recon he’s sussed you have money and thinks he’d like more of it. Certainly pipe work to boiler is plumbing and should have been reflected in original quote. I’d say Call his bluff and tell him to take it to court. He’ll back down.

I have been a trades person, dealt with trades. Firstly, on the face of it there seems to be a break down in communication.

But it seems very quick to be threatening legal action. And whilst you are worrying about it (and I speak as someone who's been getting shitty letters, debt collectors from the tax for two years) there are times when you have to say no. Let's go to court.

If he didn't mention anything about extra work (and again I speak from experience in that I am getting a motor home conversation where I am about to ask for extra and negotiate a price) then I'd say that to him and say you would not have agreed to the extra cost and would have looked for alternative quotes/not had it done.

We had a £150k extension built pre covid, the builder was family, but if you knew my family you would expect ww3, 4 and 5 (his own sister refused to pay the full amount because a job took 2 hours rather than 4). But every thing extra was discussed, all prices agreed in advance, I changed the plans at the 11th hour...but we knew exactly what we were paying (and I still love my cousin!!)

It's up to 10k for the small claims track.

I would tell him that the quote is part of the contract between both parties, and any variation to it should have been subject to mutual agreement. The fact that he didn’t even mention it, let alone get you to agree it? Nope, not playing that game.

I’d reiterate the offer to pay half as a final offer (if you were still minded to do so) and make it clear that if he rejects this then you’re quite happy to resolve it in court.

I would make sure all of this, including the background and an acknowledgment of his response, is put in writing in a letter to him. Then there’s no claiming on his part that he didn’t know/there was a misunderstanding, and it’s a lot easier to provide as proof in court.