Ask for refund of work not done - builder

[beepbeep]

We had an extension done on our house (started in 2019!), the main work has been completed (though it took them over 2 years on what was meant to be a six month build - and it was so painful getting them to do things - constant emails, texts etc nagging at them to come round and do the work!)

We are now in 2024 and snagging still has not been completed, we have a side porch canopy which hasn't even been started and a leaking ensuite showing (which they have supposedly fixed but I'm pretty sure it's still leaking as it affecting the skirting near the shower).

We have cut him slack with covid, he was ill, his mother in law was ill, lost his plumber, his electrician went bust, wife pregnant - the excuses go on and on.

He didn't respond to my last 2 emails and I'm now wondering if it's possible to insist on a refund of work not done? Would this be via small claims?

He's been set reasonable deadlines before, just never stuck to them.

Think it's reasonable to have finished an extension in 4 years.

I guess the answer will be what does your contract say? Did you get a written quote from
builder when they started detailing what was included in the build and what wasn’t? If you have that then it will be a case of detailing what hasn’t been done and then yes could be small claims court depending on amount, or legal advice if the total is many tens of thousands. Sounds like it’s little bits? Might be less hassle to just pay to get it fixed, even though that will be a hard pill to swallow I know. You could chase him through courts for years to find out he has no money / declares bankruptcy etc.

I wouldn’t do a big build without staged payments. Deposit, completion and hold x% for snagging. A bit late now.

Ask for a refund but be prepared to cut your losses knowing that the cost of the extension in 2019 is a lot less than doing it today.

We have a full quote with everything itemised, so can easily add up what hasn’t been done. Works out at a couple of thousand at 2019 prices, obviously if we had to pay someone else to do the work now it would be more, plus the money we’ve paid him.
we did have a stage payment agreement but with Covid etc things ended up all over the place and we ended up paying the whole amount before it was finished 😢

This is what happens when you pay all your money before the job is completed, you won’t get a refund, you should have held a percentage back.

Tough as it may seem, I’d forget about it then. It’ll take ages to go through the small claims process and then there’ll be arguments about what was and wasn’t done, what the cost would be today and so on. Shower leaking should be a quick fix for a plumber - something needs tightening or water proofing or whatever. Small canopy on porch is a weekend DIY job or get a handyman in. As per the above responses, why did you pay him all the money before the job was completed?