Issue with rogue trader, don't know what to do

[JustAnotherFool]

Dear all,

I am in a very difficult situation. I have had my roof mostly done by a roofer who has turned out to be a rogue trader. I initially approached them because they were working on a roof down the road for an identical house.

Things have gone bad, very bad indeed.

The roof appears to be mostly complete. The scaffolding is still here. I can't contact them and don't have any address details for them. Really everything is as bad as it imaginably could be, and I have lost a lot of money.

Now I know that there should have been Building Control applications. I should have checked bone fides and

The roof appears to be nearly complete, but not quite finished around the edges. The scaffolding may be stolen, it has been suggested. In which case, giving them 14 days to remove and then disposing of it may be hard.

For the Building Control thing, I believe that if the roof is sound (a structural engineer is coming to inspect it today) then I can apply for retroactive approval.

I'm not sure what to do though. I really don't know.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Some more information would be helpful, what was the extent of work expected of the roofer? What's has not been completed, has the work that's been done been carried out correctly or is it a shambles? We assume there's no tag on the scaffolding to identify the scaffolder? The roofer employed the scaffolder presumably? Why do you need a structural engineer to inspect the roof, were there structural elements to the work?

 

[JustAnotherFool]

I only posted part of what I intended to post because the structural engineer arrived. He has now done his inspection and left.

It appears that the new roof is sound. What caused me to lose faith the roofers is that they started coming up with additional things to do and additional costs. They claimed that they needed to replace parts of my structural beams, each part of which would cost £4500 each. The structural engineer has confirmed that. They also told me that the chimney, which has not been used for a fire for years, will be releasing dangerous amounts of carbon monoxide into the house. They came up with all sorts of other things.

It appears that I may have been wrong about the roof not being complete. It appears to be complete. The structural engineer had a look at the house down the road to compare to mine.

I didn't not understand previously that building regulation approval is needed for a re-roof. This wasn't done, and it wasn't done for at least one other property they worked on. I am aware of getting retrospective approval, and will start this process now.

There are a number of other things that have been done that I have confirmed are illegal. From talking to Trading Standards, it appears that this company is under investigation.

I've been panicking about this for some time. After the structural engineer's visit, I am feeling better. If my first post was a bit overheated, I apologise.

 

[opps]

Assuming that you have paid via bank transfer AND that it is not a personal account you can demand that the bank give you the details of the account holder.

A few years ago, as a decorator, I worked for a builder who was dodgy. To be fair, he normally transferred funds as and when I needed them. The customer (home owner) discovered that he, the builder, had been featured on a Channel Five rogue builders episode and that he had been locked up for starting jobs, taking the money.

To be fair, the work was done to a high standard and I don't think it was his intention to leave me a grand out of pocket. Nevertheless when the home owner scrutinised the prices, he did a bunk.

My payments had come from a Lloyds Bank trade account. I contacted Lloyds in the hope of finding the account holder's details. They told me that they were prevented from divulging any details because of the data protection act- I retorted that the act only applies to members of the public and that anyone with a business account is not strictly a member of the public.

I contacted the ICO (information commissioner's office) regarding the situation. They actually phoned me the same day I submitted my question and told me that Lloyds could not hide behind the data protection act. After running credit checks I decided to waive the outstanding money.

Regarding the scaffolding- not your problem. If someone is going to steal it, you are not responsible.

 

[JustAnotherFool]

Unfortunately the money was transferred to a personal account. I'm wondering how I could have been so stupid. But, I was.

I'm looking at the process by which I get the scaffolding off the property. I'm not concerned that someone will steal it from me. I'm concerned that if I end up in the situation of having to dispose of the scaffolding myself, but it is (before being erected at my site) stolen goods. This was when I was panicking considerably more than I am now, after the structural engineer's visit. The structural engineer's visit was money well spent.

 

[danfre]

Is the roof works complete,
What are the structural beams that needed attention, you may still need the scaffolding.
You have not given much information with regards to the standard's of work's or what you thought was wrong.
Photos would answer 100 questions

 

[HERTS P&D]

What did the SE find out?

Andy

 

[Dunnomate]

If the scaffolding is stolen, I`m assuming it can`t be moved until the Police have signed it off. I suppose the scaffolding, for which I`m sure there`d be a demand, will need disassembling by a qualified scaffolder, which won`t be cheap. Police often auction stolen materials that end up in their domain but this might not be the case in this situation. Might be worth giving them a bell to find out the score.

 

[endecotp]

[the builders] claimed that they needed to replace parts of my structural beams, each part of which would cost £4500 each. The structural engineer has confirmed that.

To be clear, are you saying that the SE has confirmed that these parts do need to be replaced?

 

[JustAnotherFool]

To be clear, are you saying that the SE has confirmed that these parts do need to be replaced?

According to the SE, no such work was needed nor had any such work been done. The SE said that the timbers and everything in the roof were in excellent shape.

The 'roofers' had said that the structural beams were rotten and needed to be replaced.

 

[johnny2007]

Down my way nobody has ever bothered with council permission and notification for a roof.
As long as it's similar to the original, people just crack on and forget about it.

 

[phatboy]

The building regs. requirement is just to ensure you are bringing the loft insulation up to spec.

I'd not worry about that, unless you get a letter....