Builder just walked out!

[FebruaryPosting]

We’re 9 weeks into a 10 week build.
I’ve just had an email from the builder saying they’re terminating the contract with immediate effect.
They said due to ‘friction’. The only friction was them installing a cloakroom toilet I didn’t like and that wasn’t discussed, and them putting a ridge on the top of the bathroom tiles that looked odd. That’s it.

We’ve paid over £50k to them, and the last week was going to be a snagging list, like putting doors in, plastering the ceiling on the landing, touching up paint where they created a leak etc, which we were going to pay extra (£4k) for.

But, we’ve already paid over £4k for the cloakroom, and they’ve only put a loo and sink in?! No tiling, decorating, taking out an air vent…all of which was supposed to be included!
The kitchen/diner we paid over £20k for (plus £10k for the actual kitchen) and they’ve not finished the painting and other areas. We paid £3500 for them to level and lay the floor. The floor isn’t level.
The bathroom we’ve paid almost £10k for, and there’s no floor, the towel rail doesn’t work, and it’s not been painted….

There’s also other things paid for that we haven’t got/hasn’t been finished.

Can we take him to small claims to retrieve some of the cost we’ve paid out?

Cowboy builder. Yes you can take him to the small claims court and I would advise to do this asap.

I'd write it all out clearly, with each area a headed section with a lost under of agreed jobs/what you've paid/what needs finishing.

Maybe try talking with them first to see why they're upset? If that doesn't work, send them the letter.

If that doesn't work, small claims court.

Please note that winning in small claims court doesn’t automatically mean you will get paid. Are “they” an individual, a company or a partnership?

They’re a limited company on Companies House.

He’s put in the email a list of things he won’t be charging us for, which he says comes to just over £4k.
So if we take him to small claims could he then ‘claim’ for this?

Im just in shock, with 1 week to go he’s left us in the lurch like this….

He said ‘It's felt that as we reach the end of the project there will be friction between us, as you will require a perfect finish and the reduced budget will not allow us to spend time tinkering and fine tuning the end result’.
I’ve literally complained about two things, one being the back of the cloakroom loo not being what I wanted (he didn’t even ask, just installed it), and the other being the top of the bathroom tiles having a piece of plastic jutting out, which he changed yesterday.

He also said ‘We always offer high standards of workmanship regardless of the budget, which has been proven over the years with recommendations for more than 95% of our projects and a diary full until July 2024’.

If he has said he won't be charging you for these things, he will have difficulty rowing back on that if this goes to court.

Your first step is to send a letter before action. You need to work out how much they owe you. So, you need to get some quotes for finishing the work and fixing the things that are wrong. Subtract from that any money you haven't yet paid and that is what they owe you.

Having got that figure, your next step is to send the company a letter before action, setting out what has happened, saying how much you want and how you have calculated the figure, enclosing copies of any documents you will rely on if this goes to court (including the quotes you got for fixing/finishing the work), listing any documents you want from them, giving them a reasonable deadline to respond (28 days is normal) and stating that, if you don't receive a satisfactory response, you anticipate taking legal action without further notice.

If they don't come up with an acceptable offer by the deadline, you can then take legal action

Unfortunately you've paid too much too soon. Easier for him to walk away.

We thought the ‘major’ stuff was done and always paid invoices when requested, which was every 2 weeks. The remainder was due at the end of next week, when all the ‘issues’/snags would be finished. He even said yesterday he was on track to finish next week! 😩
He never gave us any reason to think he’d do this, seemed a nice guy, always did what I asked when I flagged it up, which was literally two occasions.

Personally I think he wants to start his next job next week.

As it is a limited company, remember you will be suing the company, not the builder personally.

The contract presumably states the work they agreed to do, and for how much money.

If you have paid for work which they haven’t finished per the contract, then the cost you expend in getting this work finished is the “damages” you would be able to win in court. However, enforcing a judgment against a company is not easy, and quite likely not worth your time/effort/stress.

I feel for you but i would do is eat humble pie. Apologize to him, agree what is left and let him fix it.

You will struggle to find anyone good to finish his work. Any good builder is booked and busy. The new builder will invariably point out all the things previous builder has done wrong. New builder will have all these powers over you

Sueing is fractious, complex and difficult. It will take you at least 6-8 months and depending on many things. If he winds his company up.. you will get nothing, but will have expended legal fees.

Sorry it is happening, It must be incredibly stressful.

A new builder coming in will see him walking off as a red flag that YOU are potentially a problem customer.

I'm wondering if he thought you were more trouble to work for than you do.

I would have expected a customer to have already made decisions about 'the back of the loo' before the point when it needs to be installed to be honest & what sort of trim they wanted on their tiles, so maybe you've been more indecisive than you realise & he's had enough?

Customers who don't make up their minds or move the goalposts are incredibly frustrating to work with.

Maybe you could contact him & see if you can resolve it so they come back & finish the job.

Never ever pay a builder in advance, they’ll wander off to another job.

Tell the builder you would like him to complete the job but if he doesn’t you will sue him.

If you can show on documents that you have paid for work thags not been done then yes you can sue.

Brokendaughter - he just went ahead and installed a brown back to the cloakroom toilet, he didn’t discuss anything with us, and we only saw it when he left for the day. I told him before we started wanted all white.

He also put plug sockets in the sides of the island, which I told him at the start, before we even had the walls down, I didn’t want sockets at the sides of the island. He told me several times he fits them underneath, then one evening i walk in to see he’s put them on the sides. The next day I ask why, and he said he couldn’t put them underneath. He didn’t discuss this with us, he just went ahead.

He went ahead and did what HE wanted. He didn’t discuss anything with us, and we told him at the start what we wanted and he ignored a lot of that.

Ill show the TWO areas I told him I wasn’t happy about….I don’t think I’m being indecisive when he’s gone ahead and done what he wants without a discussion!

I agree with the humble pie solution.

Touching up a bit of paintwork and finishing is quick and cheap.

Having to source another builder, who may decide that they want to change some of the work already done is likely to be fraught, time consuming and expensive.

I would go in with an apology that they have been upset, a concession that your standards may have been unrealistic, and an offer to negotiate over what bits of the job, fit and finish you think are reasonable, and, which you are prepared to compromise on.

You mention tel things but then talk about sockets - it sounds like you have had more than two issues at least

The sockets I said (when he’d done it) that I’d told him at the start I didn’t want sockets there, but that he’d done it now so not much he could do about it. I could have said he needed to replace the piece he’d put sockets in, but I didn’t.
He was also paid £3500 to level and lay a floor. The floor is scratched (as in a foot long one) and there’s a couple of chips in it, plus there’s an area that’s hollow underneath, but I let that go.
I’m not sure what I should be apologising for? Surely a big build is a two way conversation, and if someone who’s paying says ‘I don’t want that’ and the person does it anyway, that’s on them not me? Or if they just go ahead and put stuff in without a discussion and I then say ‘that’s not what I want, I told you I wanted white’ how am I the problem?
I also don’t think my standards are unrealistic. I don’t think asking someone to paint a ceiling over the water marks they caused in the above bathroom leaking is unrealistic?

ZeldaB - we had it listed in an email like -

Cloakroom - £4k
Bathroom - £10k

The cloakroom is probably 50% done, if that?

The plastic edging over the tiles is pretty bad although I'm not a builder!

Does he get on better with your husband/partner? Has he just taken exception to you?

Contact Citizens Advice they will advise you on procedure before you do the online claim.

ok, don't apologize. find another builder and take him to court. good luck

How did you pay?

We had major problems with our builders for our extension. A list as long as my arm in terms of problems that needed fixing.

They literally folded the company. With no communication. Unreal.

However, we paid with Mastercard for the instalments. We got 90% of our money back (after an arduous battle!).

Why should you NOT expect a perfect finish?
He's a cowboy,don't let him get away with it.

Ignore those saying you should eat humble pie. That is unlikely to get you anywhere.

Note that, if you paid for any of the work by credit card, the credit card provider is jointly liable with the builder.

A similar thing happened to us. Worse because the builder had taken our money and used it to pay debts and then left our work undone and eventually went silent. We had to threaten legal action via a solicitor and he tried to then say we were hideously difficult people to deal with (complete joke as we had forgiven him loads of crap) and that we also owed him thousands for extra jobs he had done (jobs he had to do to repair mistakes mainly). He had to return with his tail between his legs but he did a bodge job and it cost us a great deal in solicitor fees.

Builder did eventually go bankrupt due to unpaid income tax which was lovely karma. It was a horrible experience.