Whether you’re renovating your home, building a new property, getting an extension or having a new kitchen fitted, undertaking building and construction work can cause a number of problems you never imagined at the start.
Building disputes can happen for all types of reasons, including:
- Poor or substandard workmanship
- Use of defective materials
- Overcharging and other payment disputes
- Delays or taking an excessive amount of time to complete work
- Failure to follow planning or building control requirements
- Failure to carry out work as specified under a contract.
What shall I do if a dispute with a builder has arisen?
When a dispute with your builder arises, it is important for you to act quickly. Speak to your builder first about the problems you are experiencing. If you talk with your builder face-to-face or on the phone, be sure to get evidence of this in writing as well.
If you are unable to resolve matters with your builder in this way, you should take prompt advice from experts so that appropriate action can be taken to prevent any further financial loss or stress.
It is important that you make sure that you have collected all evidence relating to the building work including any receipts, invoices and other relevant documentation. Make sure that you have photographs of substandard work or any other issues with the building and keep your own notes about what has been happening including dates and times.
Do I have a claim?
If you have a dispute with your builder by reason of any of the issues listed above, you may have a claim for breach of contract against them, either under the specific terms of the contract between you and your builder, or by them breaching your statutory rights under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 or the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if the contract was entered into after the 1st October 2015.
If your builder has failed to do what was agreed, for example they have used the wrong materials, or have failed to carry out the work with ‘reasonable care and skill’ or have failed to provide work of satisfactory quality, then they have breached their contract with you and you have the right to require the builder to perform the service again and give you a price reduction/partial refund.
If the builder fails to address the problem by the deadline that you have set, then you may be entitled to instruct a third party to do the work and claim the cost from your original builder. You should not however pay for any disputed work as by doing so you may be deemed to have accepted it.
What is ‘substandard work’?
If you are concerned that the work that has been provided by your builder is of substandard quality, the first thing you will need to do is identify whether the workmanship provided falls below the standard of works that the builder agreed to carry out. Your first point of reference for this is the express terms of the contract between you and your builder.
If you are concerned that the work provided is of a substandard quality, it is important for you to notify your builder at the earliest opportunity and see whether an agreement can be made between you to rectify the problem. Always ensure you document all discussions with your builder and take photographs of the building work as it progresses.
If you do not agree a way forward with your builder it may be necessary for you to instruct an independent building surveyor to ascertain whether the standard of work provided has fallen short of the agreed contractual terms.
What if the building work is taking too long or has been delayed?
If the timeframe for completing the works to your property is not specified in the contract between you and your builder, then your builder must perform the works within a reasonable time. If your builder fails to complete the works within the timeframe specified in the contract, or they take longer than is reasonable, you may have a claim against your builder for any financial loss that you have suffered as a result of the delay.
What if I have been overcharged?
At the end of the project, your builder may present you with a bill that exceeds what was originally agreed. This is why it is important for you to have a written agreement in place. Any changes in price for extra or amended work should be agreed in writing before the work is commenced. If, however you do not have a written agreement in place but you were aware of the changes then a reasonable price will need to be negotiated.
How can we help?
Martyn Prowel Solicitors has a very experienced team of solicitors with extensive expertise in a broad range of property and building disputes. If you have a concern about building work that is being, or has previously been, carried out on your property, contact our team today by calling us on 029 2047 0909 or by emailing us at [email protected] or by making an online enquiry.