Extension Work Starts Monday Urgent Advice

[CharlyAngelic]

In Scotland:
Partner has serious misgivings and wants to pull out : help !!

Thanks @MarieG10
We had a similar thing . My husband had a detailed plan and it was used as an excuse when there were few tenders submitted.
We will be meeting shortly.
Apparently the builder does not like to do multiple jobs .
Hopefully the meeting will take place soon .

Decent contractors don't mind contracts - they protect both parties by marking the obligations clear.
However, many of the good contractors will have regular customers and this familiarity may mean that they negotiate costs and terms, and they will be confident that the customer will pay promptly, etc. This applies also where a contractor has worked with a project manager or architect before -there is a level of trust established.
As an example, if a contractor is asked to quote for 3 projects; A) where the client has offloaded their own contract; B) where the challenge is using a known consultant and an industry standard form of contract (SBCC); C) where it is a customer they've worked with before with no issues.
They would go with C, B and A in order of preference (anyone would).
Creating your own contract is madness (even if you are a solicitor) because the industry has established a standard form and a contractor would have to check the legal implications of a homemade contract.
What Marie suggests in terms of detailed spec is sensible and can be included as part of the agreement. The reason that a lot of people don't do this is because they baulk at the cost of having this level of detail prepared for them.
I advise my clients to prepare a doc on a room by room basis listing finishes, switches, sockets, lights, etc. Invariably this will change as the project proceeds but gives a much better level of detail to work with.
Two things - there has to be trust between contractor and client - starting on an adversarial basis wont work. This applies to client/architect relationship also. Work as a team!
Second, there are no penalties for late completion - you would seek damages if you suffer a loss as a result of non completion. These must be reasonable and justifiable and this concept applies in reverse (if you delay the contract the contractor will incur costs and can ask for additional payment to cover these costs).
It pains me that you are about to start a project with project manager and they haven't explained this to you.
Have you dealt with insurance yet? There are different mechanisms but as a minimum you'll need to inform your insurer and they may ask for details of contractor, project timescale, type of contract, etc

Insurer has been informed.
Premium has more than doubled for the expected duration of the build .

No builder we’ve spoken to has mentioned a contract. I’ve only read about them on here.

Hideandgoseek, You don't need a contract, many many projects proceed on trust and there are no problems. If you know your builder well and discuss the works in detail then that is fine.
BUT, if you are spending thousands of pounds without any written agreement then you need to be aware that you are leaving a lot of room for interpretation on both sides should there be any disagreements.

I completely understand. Is it enough to have it written down ‘I X will do Y for Z and receive £12345 on completion?’

I know legally that might not stand up but I’m terms of making it clear what’s expected of the tradesperson?

Would something like this be ok? www.sbcconline.com/documentsample.aspx?docId=46

Hide, that's the one if you're in Scotland (Scottish law varies is some respects) if you're south of the wall then there will be a JCT equivalent.
That one is very simple but covers the main issues - cross reference that to your drawings and spec and you'll be fine

Creating your own contract is madness (even if you are a solicitor) because the industry has established a standard form and a contractor would have to check the legal implications of a homemade contract.

I assume you are referring to the Federation of Master Builders contract? Definitely better than having no contract I agree, but given it has been established by the industry, the safeguards are greater for the builder as opposed to the customer with some key aspects missing, such as withholding payments (for good reason of course).

Our builder didn't need to get it checked as he was generally happy with an odd exception but it was drafted in plan English and as was said, means we all knew where we stood. He admitted afterwards the level of detail was very useful as there was no doubt at all and said he would use our template, adapted to suit him more for new clients!!!

Hide and goseak. You can write down what you want, as long as it is not grossly unfair and unenforceable. As long as you are all happy which you have to be, the contract needs to be signed by all parties, dated and witnessed.