One trader paid - another did the work - who is liable?

[jackiesgirl]

We had a decorator out to the house we had just bought 6 months ago. He discovered rotted joists causing damp (wasn’t flagged on survey as previous owner had hidden it with furniture). He recommended his mate who was a builder to come and do the work for us, we weren’t able to do normal due diligence as we had to get moved into the property asap and he was available within the next few days to do it.
Builder came, did the work, now here’s the tricky bit - he gave us an invoice but asked us to pay via the decorator rather than direct to him. We assumed the decorator was taking a cut as he referred him the work or it was a tax dodge which is none of our business as the customer.
6 months down the line, an issue has been found with the work the builder did and he’s proving hard to track down - but we have contact details for the decorator who took payment. In the event that we can’t track down the builder, can we pursue the decorator for the money as he was the one we paid, although it wasn’t him who did the faulty work?

we weren’t able to do normal due diligence as we had to get moved into the property asap and he was available within the next few days to do it.

well you could but you chose not to and to trust the painter.

anyway you can’t pursue anyone for money at this stage. You need to contact the e decorator and explain the work needs to be remedied and as he clearly represents him - you Ned him to progress this

Why was this not picked up on survey? I hope you chased the surveyor!

Do you really want the guy who bodged it the first time come and bodge it again? How much did he charge you?

You didn’t do due diligence and got stung. Find someone appropriate to do the job.

Essentially this

We had to get moved into the property as due to our previous chain collapsing we had been homeless and in temporary accommodation for 6 months. Response from the surveyor was that it was completely hidden behind furniture and they don’t remove furniture to do any of their checks.
We are not looking for the same people to do it again but looking to pursue them for at least a partial refund to have the work redone or threaten with small claims. But I’m not sure who we would pursue.

I would take action against both it won't cost you any more and of they are held jointly liable you can recover from both of

Looks like you need to start doing better due diligence before you have people undertaking work for you - whether that be surveyors / decorators / builders.

I sadly think you’ll be on a hiding to nothing here. Did you pay cash? Or receive an invoice direct from the builder?

What proof do you have that this work has caused the issues you’re having 6 months later?

And do you have a signed contract stating X did Y and when?

I doubt you’ll get an answer to that @beaglescurleduplikebagels

I think you need to get a survey of the work that needs fixing that proves the remedial building work was not up to standard and then get some quotes from other builders.

Once you have all that, pursue the decorator as he’s the one you made the original contract with and paid.

You can put in a claim against him via the small claims court (county court) if he refuses to give you any sort of refund.

Have you any legal expenses cover

Possibly a chat with HMRC as well

There may be an issue over the survey

Another builder has explained what’s wrong with it. And it’s absolutely not a standard thing to have a signed contract with a tradesperson.

It absolutely is standard to have an invoice and contract.

The other builder who has explained what’s wrong - can they definitively link it back to this man’s work? And if so, do you have proof that this man did the work and it wasn’t someone else?

You need invoices and proof of what was carried out and when. Without that, anyone could have come over and worked on your house.

Another builder explaining to you at a very high level that another builder is to blame is not exactly watertight evidence 😆