Builder wants final payment before rectifying various issues

[whataboutbob]

Just had a loft conversion and although we are generally pleased there are a few issues: 4 holes in the living room ceiling, a crack under the new stairs, a small hole I the floor of the new bathroom. The head honcho builder is hassling me for the final payment before he comes round to check these issues out. I m not minded to pay up yet. Any thoughts?

I should say the holes in the living room ceiling are small ( about the size of a conker) but obviously we don t want them staying there.

Don't pay until you're happy with all the work.

didn't you agree a snagging retention upfront? i.e. keep back 5% or 10% of the total fee until all the last bits of shrinkage and odds and sods were sorted?

Keep back an amount to cover the cost. We refused to pay our final invoice until most of the snagging was done. We kept back a bit to cover the final bits, but it wasn't enough to get someone else in and we had to threaten to complain to the FMB before he finished them off.

Well we were a bit naive, never having purchased any kind of building work before. The invoice does state a final payment of 10% and I will am to withhold that until issues are resolved. It probably sounds wimpy,but he s coming round Monday and I am afraid he ll get unpleasant or try to bully us.

If he needs the money quickly, he needs to finish the job quickly. Presumably the final payment was due when the job was finished. It's not finished yet.

If he threatens you in any way you need to call the police but to avoid that, set his expectations now and tell him clearly (by email/text?) that you won't have the money on Monday and that he needs to finish the job before it will be paid.

I would say pay half now and withhold the final 5% until finished. That should more than cover you to make what you've described good.

Hi Everybody,

Thanks everyone this is helping me to gird my loins for Monday. Years ago my mum was ripped off by a cowboy builder and the memory still rankles. Not saying this is the same situation but it pays to be streetwise.

He's trying it on.

Just think of how long it takes you to earn your money. And how long it will take to get someone else in to sort out the few problems.

You could ring him and tell him you won't pay unless he sorts the problems first, so he doesn't have a potentially wasted trip? Or he might come prepared with plaster etc to repair the holes/cracks?

Thanks bunch. It's true, it would take me a month and a half of work to earn his final payment. I'm hoping he'll be reasonable on monday and accept the issues need sorting out before we hand over the money. I'll post after he's been.

It's not reasonable to withhold a huge sum but it would be reasonable for you to retain the cost of repairs to the snagging issues you've noticed, until he has fixed them.

Have you received building regs sign off? This is important.I think its fair to withhold an amount equal to the work outstanding.Talk to them about how and when they will handle the snagging and then you'll feel comfortable.It doesn't sound too bad and I doubt you're being ripped off if most of the work has been done well.

If you are withholding a huge sum and he has a few minor things to attend to then you can understand his stress, he has bills to pay too.
Pay him some of the money but keep back enough to cover what still needs to be done, whether that is £500-£2,000. It is enough incentive for him to finish.

Try to keep friendly and see the other persons point of view. Depending on how much you are holding if the job is finished except for snags the builder could currently be out of pocket on your job if you don't pay, he needs to feel reassured that you are good for the money.

At work, we regularly agree at the outset to make staged payments to suppliers, especially if the final handover is many months away from placing the order. It's normal to pay the final 10% only after handover - which implies complete satisfaction from the customer (ie you in this case).

On a domestic level, a friend ended up being bullied into paying ahead of completion of building work in her house. The builder never completed the work, he left a mess, and she had to resort to the small claims court. They found in her favour but he still hasn't paid up (2 years and counting). And she had to find another builder to finish the job, so she has paid twice for one job.

If you fail to agree with the builder about the remedial works then (based on legal advice I received and followed many years ago) I believe the correct thing to do is to pay him a 'reasonable' sum for the work he has done. If he requires the remainder, then he will need to take you to court (small claims if under some £ threshold) and will have to justify every last penny that he wants.

Stay firm.

Remember he wants paid, you want the work completed and holes etc reinstated (I guess they weren't there before he started?!), so you should be able to agree a way through.

So the builder came round this am and accepted the issues needed to be rectified. he was quite open about the fact that his second in command had done a sub standard job on joining up the new stairs with the ceiling. He set about putting it right, I had to leave for work so not sure how long it all took him. He also fixed the holes in the living room ceiling although the finish could have been smoother, DH will have to do some work filling small depressions before we can sand down and paint. So on the whole I feel OK making the last payment. Altho maybe I should wait a few days and make sure the crack below the stairs does not reappear.