Builder Dispute - bathroom (small claims)

[TheWickerWoman]

Dear Mumsnetters

I was after an opinion on where to go with a dispute with a builder for a bathroom remodel done in September 2024.

ill try to condense and not ramble.

New bathroom installed by a friend of a friend.

leak developed from bathroom through kitchen ceiling at 6 months.

man came back and tried to find it a few times then eventually ripped out a big hole in kitchen ceiling and left holes in bathroom tiles to search. He found a historical joint (linked to bathroom) and swapped it. He then said to wait to make sure the leak had stopped before he fixed the damage done during investigation. He brought round some plasterboard to repair ceiling and had spares for bathroom tiles.

he was then going on holiday so wouldn’t come round then he was moving house.

he then did work for my brother which he left unfinished. We chased him for ours but he eventually started to ignore my mum.

This brings us to now - we sent a letter before action due to the mess/unfinished work left.

we’ve found out during this time, that his wife was disqualified as a director however he is still trading (cash in hand he told my brother) and trading under a slightly different name which isn’t registered under companies house,

Going back to bathroom completion, we had to chase him for six weeks to finish the job by installing the extractor fan which we have since found out is installed incorrectly straight into loft and not outside wall. Also the electrics of fan are wired to existing light and no electric certificate given.

His argument now is - the leak was not down to him. And he offered to come and sort the two issues that have transpired since (fan and electric) but we said no as we do not trust him as he let us let is down so much previously and failed on building regs and have pushed for refund to correct the issues.

He strongly argues his point.

we are now at the point of small claims and wondered if anyone has any advice and if it sounds like we have a good case.

i think i’d be asking trading standards for advice.
sounds like hes well dodgy.

I don't think the public can contact TS directly anymore. You have to do it through the CAB?

I tried this with our builder and I can’t remember the exact details but the advise was to write a letter first. And then we figured the damage wasn’t worth the hassle of small claims- especially as he was unlikely going to be able to pay

As it stands at the moment you don't really have a case as such.

You say he was 'a friend of a friend'

Was he a registered trader?
Did he give you a receipt when you paid him?
Or was he a 'cowboy' who worked off the books.

Lots of questions, too late now but why was he paid before he had finished the job?
Why did you pay him before getting the correct paperwork and certificates?

If the job was not finished properly then you should have given him 14 days in writing to finish the work and stated that if he didnt then you would get someone else to do the work. If you had done that then you would have been able to go to small claims to recover the cost of getting the work rectified.

Sadly because you havent followed the correct process you are probably on to a loser with this. Even if you did have a case he will most likely not have the means to pay you.

The most important thing is to get the electrics made safe.

Thanks so much for your reply.

Registered trader. Not sure, I assumed so as he had a business. He has admitted he’s not a qualified electrician but I think the fitting we had can be done by a tradesperson as long as they submit a minor electrical installation cert (which he didn’t).

Im not so sure he was working off the books at that time. He had a business which went into insolvency. That is the same time he told my brother he was ‘winding up the business to work cash in hand’ however we did not know about the insolvency issues then.

The job was finished perse, the leak started after which then led to the other events.
we did not know anything needed certificates, I say ‘we’ it was my mum, she trusted what he did.

we did give him around 12 months to come back and fix the investigation damage that was caused. During that time we did chase him and there was always an excuse like holiday or house move until he eventually stopped responding.

My mum sent him a final text in August asking why he had just left the work etc and how it would now cost her to put it right and he ignored that.

(he has said he did not receive that but we have the read receipt).

That’s when I sent the letter before action as he’s had plenty of oppportunity.

however, the issues with the fan/electric came out afterwards (recently).. I spoke with the local council about that and they advised me about it being wrong. She doesn’t trust him now to come in and put that right.

did you pay his invoice ie do you have a bill from him that proves he did the work and the agreed payment?

without it i would imagine you have no legal comeback.

did you pay cash? again if you did, youve no proof without a receipt that you paid him anything.
he can say he never did work for you.
your only chance is if you paid by credit card. even then if he’s bust youll have to get in line with all the others he owes.

i think youve had it.

It's unclear whether he was trading as a Ltd company. Do you know?

In order to successfully claim he needs to have some money, assets like a van or a house if he was not trading as a Ltd Co. Does he?

There a lot to unpick here but if I’ve understood this right the leak was unrelated to the work he carried out in the bathroom so why would he do it for free

the extractor fans can be and normally are run off the lighting circuit but they should have an isolator switch
by the sounds of it it’s a fan in the ceiling these aren’t fitted to an outside wall they normally fit in the ceiling adjacent to the shower and have that type of of flexible duct ( think tumble dryer hose ) that is run in the loft then through the outside wall

the big question is how much did you pay and what did he do

tbh I’d be tempted to to draw a line under it you don’t pay him for fixing the leak and you pay to make good and the fan duct can’t imagine there’d be a lot in it

Sorry, so much happened so just to answer some more;

it was paid by bank transfer.
no invoice but we have the quote.
he’s admitted doing about doing the work in writing.
His company was limited. Went into insolvency so he sold a big house and bought a smaller one.

He's still trading under a similar company name but can’t find it on companies house.

leak came from new shower into kitchen. Which he did come to investigate and left holes everywhere which he agreed to come and sort out once leak was repaired.

If he’d have said at the time leak wasn’t him then we’d have sorted something but he took that on if that makes sense, and he’d bought plasterboard round to repair part of it. then let us down after chasing and chasing.

no duct work in loft for pipe to go outside. It’s directly into loft space.

edit to say 7.5k

just getting ready for work so back soon.

You say the builder had a company which is now insolvent. If your contract was with that company, you cannot sue him. You would have to sue the company. As it is insolvent, that would be a waste of your time and money.

You say the leak happened 6 months after the bathroom was installed and came from an historic joint. Even if your contract was with the builder personally, I suspect you would struggle to prove he was responsible for the leak. If he did not cause the leak and did not charge you for the work he did, he was doing you a favour. That makes it harder to claim. You would have to show that you had relied on his promise to do the work to your own detriment, or that he has failed in his duty of care.

Regarding the fan, if your contract was with the builder personally, your refusal to allow the builder to fix the problem weakens your position. You may be able to argue that trust has been broken, but it isn't clear that you have enough to convince the courts.

I don’t think you have a case. It seems everything wasn’t done by the books on both sides. Not much of a proper paper trail. No formal invoice or receipt of payment. Also doesn’t sound like the leak was up to him and he’s fixed it. I think I would just get someone else in to rectify the holes in the ceiling and an electrician for the fan. Although both of our bathroom fans are wired into the existing light switches. They do have isolation switches though. Just make sure you get proper people to do the job. Ie an electrician for the electrics and plasterer for the ceiling. Use companies that provide references, backed by their trading bodies and don’t demand cash in hand before the job is finished.

I really appreciate your replies and I will let you know which way this goes when I have spoken with my mum.

Hi OP. I took my plumber to small claims court earlier this year and won the claim. The court will only deal with FACTS not he said / she said etc. The burden of proof is on you as the claimant so you will need to prove that he caused the damage. I had written evidence from another local gas safe engineer that the gas leak was caused directly by the chap I took to court. The judge said he has to decide based on the evidence in hand and the likelihood of the evidence being true. My advice is to take photos of the damage, keep texts / emails, and get whoever fixes his work to put into writing what the issues are. If the joint was historic then why I am not sure how you will prove it was him that caused the leak.

It is a long time consuming process IMO but I would still do it all again because I 100% knew he was wrong.