Builder abandoned site - hire new builders or separate electrician, plumber & labour?

Hi all,

I'll try to be as concise as possible...

Our builder walked off site on 1st July after we had paid him >80% of the project costs (roughly £40k). Admittedly we'd approached our property refurbishment very naively and paid him a lot of the money upfront which is a huge regret in hindsight but there was 1 point where he threatened to walk out so we just paid up. He ended up walking out anyway and now we're speaking to new builders to provide quotes for the remaining work. It seems to mostly just be decorative work left (painting, flooring, hanging doors etc) but the electrics (which we were having fully rewired) aren't complete. The plumbing looks to be complete but it's hard to tell what the situation is with waterproofing as, for example, the shower tray has already been sealed.

Obviously given the situation, whoever takes on the project will have to certificate the electrics and plumbing and this is quite a big problem as they'll have to check and test everything.

Given that when you contract a builder, they generally sub-contract the plumbing and electrical works, would it be easier for us just to hire an electrician and plumber separately? And then hire people to do all the painting and decorating later? This way at least we're assured of availability i.e. immediately upon hiring and we can check the reputability of the electrician/plumber?

Alternatively, is it just easier to go with the generalist builder who can manage it all?

If anyone has any advice it would be VERY VERY much appreciated as we have barely eaten or slept for 3 days with all the worry.

Thanks to everyone in advance!

I would try and find the existing trades and bring them back privately.

The big problem with hiring individual trades is in programming the work and getting everyone to work together or in conjunction with one another. For example, who knocks the hole out for one trade's pipe or cable, and then who makes that good. What happens when the plaster is not smooth enough for the tiller? What happens when the electrician is not finished but the plasterer needs to finish his plastering? That kind of thing.

You tend to end up with delays and costs for delays, and costs for correcting work of other trades.

This is worse when you are inexperienced.

A builder who can sort all the work may be better, or if one trade has got contacts who they tend to work with, so that they can coordinate themselves.

Don't forget to pursue your builder for breach of contract and your losses. You can do this easily in the small claims court subject to amount of your claim, and without Solicitors. Record everything now, if you will be claiming.