Building work carried out by council.

[rpjjuk2]

I had some work done on my house recently under a grant by my local council.
When I was asked to appoint a builder to do the work I said I didn't know any builders. The man from the council said he could not recommend a builder but showed me a list of builders that he said did grant work for the council. I chose a builder and he was appointed to do the work.
When the work had been completed an inspector from the council came to my house and signed the work off and released the money to the builder.
A couple of months later a builder was doing some work next door and commented on the building work that had been completed on my house. The work had involved removing the end wall of my single story kitchen and rebuilding it.
The builder put a spirit level on the wall and said it was not level, if fact he pointed out that the wall went in and out over its height. The builder said that the mortar was very sandy and was a very weak mix. The4 builder advised me to get a surveyor to inspect the work and make a report.
I have employed a surveyor to report on the work. The surveyor inspected the wall, took photos, and also drilled holes in the mortar to insert a small camera on the end of a flexible rod (endoscope?). His report said that the wall was not level; there was no insulation in the cavity between the inner and outer walls. He also said there were no wall ties between the two walls. Also there was mortar bridging the cavity.
The report said the wall was not safe and advised me to get an analysis of the mortar. I have just got a report back from a company that analyses mortar and they say that the normal mix for mortar should be 3 to 1 sand and cement. Analysis shows the mortar is a mix of 19 parts sand to 1 part cement and in their opinion the wall is unsafe.
I contacted the builder and (surprise) he didn't want to know. I contact the person from the council who signed the work off and he visited me and said that he would get the builder to visit me. The builder visited me and just said he had done the best he could. I have corresponded with the council and they don't want to know. I complained tot the head of the council and he has appointed someone to look into my complaint. All I have had is an email from this person to say that the enquiry into this complaints will take 14 days. The 14 days is now up and I have heard nothing.
Sorry for the length of this question but anyone that comments needs to know all the facts.
Has anyone any advice what I should do now?

 

[^woody^]

This can be a complex arrangement and difficult to determine contractual liabilities - ie who was working for who.

In any case there is a major failing in the councils duty to manage the release of public money for substandard work

Initially you should use the councils complaints system, and go through the stages until you get the required result. Ultimately this could lead to you taking your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman as the last resort

If you pursue the builder directly, then you will incur costs but may not get a favourable outcome if it is determined that the builder has no contractual obligations to you and thus no liability

There is also a failure on the part of the building control dept in that they seem to have signed off a substandard and structurally unsafe building. The building control dept are different to the dept who manages the grants, and so may not have any knowledge of this part of it - ie council involvement.

Complain to the building control team too, as they may have more clout to get the work rectified, but pursue your main complaint against the grant team

 

[jeds]

Given the circumstances I would advise talking to a solicitor.

If you are set on dealing with this yourself you should write to the builder and tell him that you have had the work inspected by a surveyor and a mortar analysis company and the result is that the work is condemned as unsafe and must be rebuilt. Give him 14 days to respond in writing with a proposal to resolve the situation. Tell him if he doesn't respond you will put it into the hands of your solicitor to pursue a claim against him.

If he doesn't respond I would write and give him a further 7 days. This is so he can't argue that he was on holiday and didn't have time to respond.

After that you really need to instruct your brief. You've allready done the investigation and it sounds pretty cut and dried to me.

Send all the letters recorded.

 

[MarkWG]

Who had what contract with who?

There's a limit to what BC can inspect; sounds like the builder's stitched you up...

 

[tim00]

Good advice so far. The building inspector determines if the work is according to building regs. he is not there to inspect the quality of the work.

If you carry on with your action then you must keep a diary of events: letters, visits, e-mails etc. copy everything, your solicitor would need original docs.

 

[lostinfens]

This is what happens when local councils produce a list of "approved" builders. Years ago Stockport Council started such a scheme & asked builders to pay to go on it! Given that grant work is generally woefully under priced, it was an obvious step toward the situation that "rpjjuk" finds himself in, that is, poor builders chasing poorly paid work.
I would definitely seek legal advice, do you have legal cover on your home insurance, if so then on your way rejoicing. If not then look locally for a solicitor that offers a free advice service.
It is correct that the BI doesn't have any input into the quality of the work, but a 19:1 mix!! No insulation or tie wires?? I really believe that the council have to answer some questions on this, don't let them off the hook. If they continue to ignore you then threaten to write to your M.P. , this often has a surprisingly galvanistic effect.
(Flaming June & I've got flaming flu!)

 

[rpjjuk2]

Update !!!!!
Council finally agreed to redo the work, rebuld the outer wall and remove and restore the inner wall.

The council put a tender out and picked another approved builder from their list.
Work was started on Jan 3rd 2012 and finished on the 6th Jan.
I had to stay with friends as the boiler had to be removed to renew the inner wall. I was popping back to my house everyday to check everything.
What went wrong:

Builder turned up on his own as he doesn't have any full time staff. I asked him if the boiler would be back on the wall and working by the weekend and he said it was doubtful. In the end I stayed and helped him. I carried the rubble from the old wall out to his pickup truck. I also carried the new bricks from his truck. I also helped him with lintels etc.
After the builder had built the stud inner wall I asked about insulation. The builder said he had a roll of insulation in his garage. I asked him if I could have some of the solid foam wall insulation and he said he would get some for £35.
Man called Phil turned up to remove the boiler on the 3rd.

During the work with the builder I smelled gas, the builder said he could smell it as well but did nothing as he thought it was coming from next doors boiler flue. The next day I could smell gas again. I went in my kitchen loft and the smell of gas was very strong. I checked the gas pipe and found that the builder had put a screw through the pipe!. He tried to phone someone to repair it but couldn't get hold of anyone.
I turned the gas off and called a friend of mine who is Gas Safe registered. He repaired the pipe and checked for leaks.

The next day the builder said that I should keep the £35 for the insulation to pay for the repair of the gas pipe.
The builders friend, Phil, turned up on the 6th to refit the boiler. He had a lot of truble and finally found that he had put a flange back on incorrectly. I got a bit suspicious and asked the builder for Phil's name and Gas Safe number. He gave me a name and Gas Safe number but the name was not Phil. I asked him and he said that evryone calls him Phil. I checked on the Gas Safe site and the photograph of the person shown for that name and number was not the person who had worked on our boiler. Later that day the council worker came to sign off the work. She gave me a copy of the schedule given to the builder. I told the council worker about the fact that the person who fitted the boiler was not the person listed on the Gas Safe site. She didn't want to know. I read the schedule and solid foam insulation was specified. The builder had tried to get an extra £35 out of me.


I phoned Gas Safe and reported what had happened. They checked the name and number on the site and the address, phone number, email address and photograph had been removed. Gas Safe told me that the registered Gas Safe person had removed the information. Apparently they can do this. I made a report out and sent it to Gas Safe. I have just been told they don't intend to take the complaint any further.
I have talked to the builder and he now admits he used an illegal gas fitter. In fact the man he used is the registered gas fitters father. He also admitted that he did not use treated timber as specified in the schedule.

At first I had a letter from the council apologising and saying that the builder would be in touch to rectify the problem including replacing the timber.
I have now had a letter from the council saying they wash thier hands of the whole problem.

Now what do I do? (Please don't reply "Shoot yourself" as I have already thought of that)

 

[rpjjuk2]

http://www.fototime.com/inv/037FE6D5BFE1DC1

These are some pictures of the new wall.

 

[Nige F]

Get onto the Media hound your useless council mercilessly The last thing they will want is publicity - Good Luck

 

[^woody^]

Go back to the council and speak with as higher manager as possible. Use their formal complaints system and then if need be go to the Local Government Ombudsman.

For the gas work, again use the formal complaints procedure at Gas Safe. Also contact the HSE and the councils own Trading Standards/Consumer Protection team

Otherwise as per post #2 really

 

[rpjjuk2]

I made a complaint to the highest manager in June of 2011 when the wall was rebuilt the first time. He passed it on to his deputy who dealt with the lastest (second) rebuild of the wall

Gas Safe took a report but informed me that they were not taking any action.
Phoned HSE and I was told they only take on cases involving gas if Gas Safe reports to them.

Local Trading Standards took a report and seemed very interested at first. As soon as the boss read the report I was told that I should make a report to Consumer Direct. Consumer Direct advised me to phone Gas Safe......

The Local Government Ombudsman will only take complaints after the council say in writing that the case is closed.

I also sent an email to my MP, who is also a councillor. After a few weeks, and after I had phoned my local LibDem office, I had my email returned with a note that the email was recieved with no content and would I send it again. The copy in my sent folder contains the complaint so I don't believe them.

I don't want to start court proceedings as the council will make it drag on for years, somthing they are really good at.

 

[^woody^]

I made a complaint to the highest manager in June of 2011
The Local Government Ombudsman will only take complaints after the council say in writing that the case is closed.

The highest person at a council is the Chief Executive or Director of the Service area. Not a joey further down the line

You use the council's formal complaints system (not just a rant on the phone) and it has various stages - three or four. You escalate the complaint until all the issues are dealt with, and if not dealt with then you can go to the Ombudsman after the final stage of the councils procedure if the complaint remains unresolved. Nothing to do with the case being "closed"

 

[gregers]

bloody hell,talk about you having a run of bad luck.
wonder if contacting watchdog would help,or cowboy builders??

 

[joinerjohn]

GasSafe are just another toothless gutless lot. They don't like complaints, unless a house is blown up or someone has died from CO2 poisoning.
Some years ago, our local council had a plumbing company who did all their gas installations. After a house refurb, the house blew up !!! Turned out they hadn't sleeved the gas pipe coming in through the cavity wall and an electrician had inadvertently drilled a hole in the pipe allowing gas to escape into the cavity with explosive results. After a thorough investigation (by Corgi at that time) the plumbing firm was dropped off the council list (but only for a few years) and fined.
The house (a semi detached) was eventually rebuilt to modern specifications. The council made great publicity from this as the house would cost about 50% less per year to heat etc (some locals were extremely jealous)

 

[lostinfens]

I am amazed that this is still in progress & in the way that it has been handled. How can "Gas Safe" wash their hands of this in such a cavalier way?
What were their reasons for not taking this further?
Whatever their answers, THEY ARE JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Do as others have suggested, contact watchdog etc, and as I earlier said get off your arse and get some legal advice or just take control of the situation!
. FFS man gas leaking into your house is as bad as it gets! Get mad actually try to do something, or you could just wait until the whole thing explodes and sorts the problem out for you.

Why is it that in all my years in the building trade, I have yet to experience such a pliant client as you?
Stop being a victim.