Builders nightmare

[johnw100]

Hey All,

We`re currently coming to the end of a 5 month nightmare with builders for work that shouldve taken 2-3 months. Basically its an extension , new kitchen and bathroom.
They were pretty good to start off with but now its taken weeks to get anything finished. I`ve still got only a half working kitchen ie electrics not fully working, cabinet doors not fitted , flooring to be put down.
There seems to be endless excuses to coming over and fixing any issues because theyre now onto other jobs. There is other work we have scheduled with them in the next month to redecorate and rewire two bedrooms but seriously considering just looking elsewhere. Just i know it will take a good month or two of finding quotes and booking anyone and we really wanted the work done as we have guests staying in july.
Any suggestions what to do.
thanks
John

 

[John D v2.0]

Sorry about your situations must be very stressfuls
In practical terms, if there's already an agreement then you have to give them notice to terminate it. What did you have in writing? How much have you paid relative to the value of work done? You are going to basically have to say you'll give them certain time to carry on otherwise you'll cancel the contract. But they can get around that with sending one guy for half a day a week to tidy up the site and do a bit of painting.
That kind of builder will always go to the jobs where the customer is shouting loudest, so start pulling on the pressure and try to get a good understanding of what's going on so you can start explaining when you'll go elsewhere. If he know you are serious maybe you'll be the highest priority.
Otherwise you'll be on a how long is a piece of string situation.

 

[^woody^]

That's always a problem with extensions on Elm Street.

Use them or lose them.
Value the work not done and retain money for it, use that to get someone else to do it.
Ask the guests to bring a paint brush.

 

[motorbiking]

Yep. You can work on fairly relaxed terms as long as you hold back enough to complete the job. On the other hand you can have a detailed contract and still have the agrovation of legal action to get results.

 

[pr1970ster]

thanks for the responses. Think we resolved the issues with a meeting. I`m currently holding back money until they complete certain works in stages. Which oddly enough means they actually seem to be turning up to do jobs.

 

[^woody^]

The best (and sometimes only) way to have some control of the progress of works is to keep control of the payments. Only pay for work actually done, or materials delivered on site and avoid being in a position where you have paid say 90% of the money, but only 60% of the work is complete.

An on-going retention also encourages builders to stay on site and finish and not nip off to their next job while yours is still on-going. So say, retain 2.5% of stage payments, and then give this back to the builder at the end of the job.

All this needs to be written in to the contract so that both the builder and customer are clear about cash-flows.

 

[motorbiking]

A little trick that some do, is keep the payments modest and regular at the start, while big progress is being made and then keep the frequency going as the work slows down towards the end. You can quickly eat up the buffer and end up in deficit before you know it.