Builder causing delays - what recourse do I have?

[Callmejudith]

We are in the middle of an extension and had a survey for the sliding doors on 13th August. The surveyor asked the builder to give him the floor height measurement that day. The builder told me the following week that he'd given the measurement (verbally annoyingly).

I called the sliding door firm this morning to be told that the surveyor has been chasing the builder for the measurement for weeks and in fact the surveyor came to the house this morning to measure. That means that the doors have not been ordered and we are looking at least 8 weeks.

The consequence of this means we are not able to fully fit the flooring which may means that we may not be able to fit the kitchen. Or we'll have to have our floor guy put ply underneath the kitchen units which is not what we wanted, we wanted the flooring to go fully underneath. The flooring is supposed to be done first week of October and the kitchen 18th October.

I am livid obviously but wanted to know if I have any recourse here? I want the builder to pay somehow for their mistake not to mention the lying.

The recourse very much depends on your contract agreement with the builder. Who is responsible for what? What is the surveyors responsibility?

Do you have damages agreed as part of the contract with your builder?

Relying on verbal discussions will be hard to prove if you went down the formal dispute route.

TBH I would be more annoyed with the surveyor for allowing the progress of the work to slip by so much when all was needed was a simple survey..

Thanks @contactlesslenses. We have a standard JCT contract.

The surveyor said he'd been chasing the builder for the measurement but you're right, he should have escalated to me weeks ago especially since I've paid a deposit. I will be sending a strongly worded email to them now.

If it’s JCT then raise a formal delay notice, in writing. Will go a long way if you decide to raise a formal dispute.

Thank you