Hi - I'm a bit late to the party and haven't had time to rtft, but I could do with some advice from anyone who is further down the line/ has tackled the same problem.
We are just over half way through a significant project- dormer conversion to the loft, demolition of old kitchen and bathroom extension and rebuild of these and internal remodelling by moving the staircase as well as adding a new one. We have a budget of just over 100k.
We are generally happy with our builders, who gave us a fixed price quote. They are pretty friendly and happy to engage, and work is progressing according to schedule.
The only problem is that we seem to be getting a little flurry of 'change note' invoices, which are asking for more money whenever something has to be done that was not on the original scope of works.
Some things have been inevitable- when it was found that the chimney was crumbling and had to be taken down and rebuilt, and when a steel had to be raised to accommodate the stairs. We were happy to pay for this additional work.
However, we are now coming up for first fix stage, and I have been presented with two 'change notes' in respect of minor tweaks I have requested to the plumbing and electrical scope.
The plumbing one was for the reinstatement of the outside tap. I requested this on my original specification list and discussed it with the plumber when he came initially to price up, but I made a mistake in that I failed to notice it had been omitted from the list of tasks under plumbing on the scope of works we agreed.
In relation to the electrics, this contained some minor amendment such as one additional double socket in the dining room, reinstatement of a double socket on a stud wall that had to be replaced and additional lighting inside a new cupboard. Amazingly, despite making the specific request in my specification list for 3 pendant lights on the landing (which will get no natural light), no provision was made for any lighting in the original scope of works. For this, they want to charge an additional £550! Obviously, at this point it is clear to me that they are taking the piss, and I have written a firmly worded email to say that these items should have been included in the original scope of works and/or can be offset against 4 other things that are in the scope but which I no longer require.
What I could use advice on is how to handle refusing the requests for extra payment without souring the relationship we have with the builder. Has anyone else had to do similar, and of so, how did it resolve? We will have at least one other issue to deal with - in order to accommodate a portaloo they had to demolish the wall in front of our house. They now want to charge us to reinstate the wall at the end of the project!