Thank for taking the time to read.

The story below involves a serious case of Builder Breach of Contract/Fraud and Malcicious Damage.

The location is East Cheshire.

In May 2012 we employed the services of an Architect to design major extension plans for an existing bungalow. These were approved by the LPA in July 2012. By this time we had also employed a Structural Eng and Building control surveyor, all were local to the build.

We were recommended a builder by our Architect firm after meeting numerous other builders and we decided to go with the Architects recommend. A contract of fixed price quote was agreed/drafted outling the works/plans/specifications/work programmed/payment schedules etc.... the build time was 26 weeks at a total cost of £193,000. The building works commenced early December 2012.

Fast forwarding to April 2013. The builder without reason had walked off site, became uncontactable, left personal possession's on site. Now behind schedule and overpayments made for incomplete works (long story). He had left the property only 30% complete has been paid £85,000, £55,000 remaining, the balance to be paid to window company and personal allowance toward fixtures and fittings.

May 2013, the builder was sighted working on his own property with the sub contractor's that were working on our site, still failing to make contact with us. Architect was not paid to oversee the works but as they were associated (recommended and proven business associates) with the builder we felt it their duty to liase, they washed their hands of the situation.

With the builder now being away from site for inexcess of 21 days we eventually received an email stating he would not be returning to complete the works. Early one morning he removed his personal possessions, our paid for materials and left the property looking like a war zone. We have agreed to his termination and now hold him in repudiation (breach of contract). Unfortunately he hides behind a Limited company with NIL assest's.

Further to this, we have since gained reports from the building surveyor who has written a report condemning the works undertaken by the builder. Also noted that the builder made nil contact with the surveyor for the past 3 months whilst major building works had taken place.

To top it off we have now had a visit from an LPA Enforcement Officer suggesting "development in its entirety is unauthorised and in breach of planning control. Due to the builder having deviated from the approved plans without consent. I shan't go into detail of the deviations, but they are of massive consequence, both materially and financially.

The builder has not only commited Fraud by taking monies for not completing works and suppling materials for which were agreed, but he is also in breach of contract by terminating the fixed price quote and agreement/contract of his own will. Along with now leaving the property in an unauthorised state by the LPA. The property was left unsafe, unsecure and parts of the roof are exposed to the elements thus causing major water ingress. It's now totally unihabitable, unsellable and unmortgageable.

As mentioned, because the builder (Director) hides behind a worthless Limited Company I have been advised suing the company could be a waste of money.

Right now, our lives are in tatter's, we are probably inexcess of £100,000 out of pocket (amount necessary to make right the wrong's and complete the extra to complete the project with another builder) and have a "cease work order" over the property by the LPA.

We are not chasing sympathy just want to make people aware to be very very careful when it comes to major building works even if it's a builder from a recommend.

As it stands we have all but lost strength to carry on let alone the retribution I want with the builder. If anybody with similar severe case of builder fraud/breach of contract has any input it would be greatly appreciated.

Various documents/paperwork/reports/photographs/proof of payments, emails/text dialogue etc... is all available as proof against the builder.

Oh, the builder under a different company name is currently seeking planning permission to open a Children's Play Centre and this is in association with the same Architects, the Electrician he used on our site, the builder's wife and their Accountant. The Accountant for whom we have since found out was the owner of a property which the builder showed us his previous work before we agreed a contract for him to work on ours. This was not divulged to us at the time.

It has also come to light that the same builder commited similar offences back in 2006 under a different company name (Directors - builders wife and same Accountant) which has since been struck off/dissolved.

As it stands, as of this date we are in a massive mess and are not sure how we are going to get out of it. To me the law is an "ass". Trader's can hide behind a worthless Limited Company and the innocent client/customer has zero recourse with regard justice against these criminal's. We do not have thousand's of £££ available to sue as whatever we have left need's to be put back into making this "war zone" of a property hopefully one day habitable.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

It is not necessarily true that you have zero recourse;. If the company was a sham or you can prove intentional fraud, then you can go against the builder personally (though this is not always a straightforward claim to make and not enough information in your post to properly evaluate this).

An alternative route would be to trace the money you paid. If the company has genuinely become insolvent and the money used to pay creditors then it will be difficult to recover, but if the money has simlpy been paid out of the company in circumstances where the builder knew the company could not pay its creditors, that would be an unlawful distribution and you could try to recover the money from whoever received it (presumably the builder).

The third possible claim would be asserting property rights over the materials. As the materials were brought onto the property for your building, you can probably try to recover those materials (or their market value) from the builder.

Have you been to see solicitors about this?

It is not necessarily true that you have zero recourse;. If the company was a sham or you can prove intentional fraud, then you can go against the builder personally (though this is not always a straightforward claim to make and not enough information in your post to properly evaluate this).

We believe it is Fraud by deception based on monies had changed hands for agreed works against payment schedule never done, the same for materials, paid for but never received. Am going to the Police today but from what people say it seems the Police will suggest it's a civil matter, although I totally disagree with respect the Fraud part.

 

An alternative route would be to trace the money you paid. If the company has genuinely become insolvent and the money used to pay creditors then it will be difficult to recover, but if the money has simlpy been paid out of the company in circumstances where the builder knew the company could not pay its creditors, that would be an unlawful distribution and you could try to recover the money from whoever received it (presumably the builder).

All monies agreed prior via a schedule were paid directly to the builder weekly in cash, it was signed for by both he and us.

 

The third possible claim would be asserting property rights over the materials. As the materials were brought onto the property for your building, you can probably try to recover those materials (or their market value) from the builder.

The value of the materials taken from site when he came and collected his tools etc... was only in the hundred's of £'s, but he did have an overdue account with a Steel fabricator for which that company came to site chasing the builder for unpaid steel which is now sitting at our property. The builder has siggested in an email that we should pay for the steel. Even though in the schedule we paid for the steel early in the build.

 

Have you been to see solicitors about this?

No, have not seen a formal solicitor yet. But have discussed in length with a Disputes chap that handles construction Breaches/Disputes and today we are sending recorded delivery letter's agreeing to his termination and thus repudiation. As mentioned we are not loaded with money and what money we have left is not enough to finish the build so we are concerned about spending a few thousand with solicitor's until we know more ourselves.

Update: Walked into local Police Station today to explain circumstances and within 5 minutes of speaking to a "duty officer" we felt totally blanked and left without any support/empathy from him. It did not matter that a builder had left our home in a total state of disrepair, water ingress, exposed to elements, commited fraud by accepting monies for which materials never appeared etc......

Its nothing more than a "civil matter" and passed the buck! Would not even write a crime report, just a few scribbles on his A5 notepad. Unbelievable!

I'm afraid I think the police are right. The fact that you paid for services and did not receive them is not enough to constitute criminal fraud. Simplifying a complex area of law, under Fraud Act 2006 the CPS would essentially need to show that a specific dishonest representation was made to you at the time of entering into the contract, and that the builder knew it was dishonest at the time, and you do not have enough evidence of this for a beyond-reasonable-doubt criminal prosecution.

You should certainly terminate the contract, but I think the only way you are likely to get redress for this is through the civil courts.

If you think you can instruct a barrister under the direct access scheme that would save you thousands on a solicitor. It is not difficult. You just have to be capable of getting all the facts in a chronological order with supporting documents and the barrister will see if he can advise you on that basis. He'll have to be paid anyway, so you are cutting out "the middle man". You also deal with all the correspondence.

If, as steampowered says above, you can prove there it was a sham you may be able to go for him personally, but I think you are going to need very specific advice here.

If they are seeking to open the Children's Play Centre with the architect and electrician they obviously have funds, even if they have diverted them from this particular company.

Google 'Piercing the Corporate Veil'. You may find something helpful there.

The police won't be interested in this. They'll just insist it is a civil matter, but as the building materials were paid for by you the builder has essentially stolen them, so you could ask to see someone more senior and insist they take some action. If he had taken your television they would charge him with theft. Ask them why building materials should be any different.

DD

Thanks "steampowered" & "Daniella" advice noticed.

Further Update:

The Architect who we paid to gain planning approval for planned drawings and subsequent to that "technical" drawings is totally washing his/there hands of the matter and have suggested we instruct a Building Surveyor to remeasure, sections, elevations etc..... at a cost of £1700+VAT. This we don't understand considering we had already paid the Architect for both the "plans" and "technicals" for which was apparently all that was required for a builder to complete the build. As mentioned, it was the Architect firm that recommended the builder who has since caused the above mentioned issue's in my original post. I was also told by the Architect last Thursday that the builder 6 weeks ago whilst still on site and getting paid by us mentioned to him that he had issue's with the build and wasn't sure how he could continue. We were never informed at the time, surely a moral duty to inform us..???

We truly believe the Architect (ARB registered) has a matter of Professional Negligence to answer in the fact of his/there relationship with the builder and the Play Centr. Let alone the fact we have now found many specification conflict's between planning and technical drawings. What are the builder's supposed to work off when it comes to building, planning or technicals? eg one elevation has a room set at -750mm on the technicals, where as -700mm on the planning drawings. Front elevation of garage extension techincals set at 7640mm, planning drawings set at 7599mm. We have also been done for Fenstration by the LPA enforcement officer, purely based on the fact the planning elevations they hold are slightly different from the techincal's which presumabley the builder was working from.

Totally get your view re Police and civil matter, but it goes deeper. On 23rd Jan this year the builder claimed to have all his tools stolen off site. 8am Police were there followed by CSI shortly thereafter. No forced entry was found but were very jokey with the builder and eventually suggested a small and I mean very small mark was found on a rear door and put that as the entry point. Thus an insurance claim now possible for the builders tools. There was heavy snow the evening before and not one front print was found anywhere near that back door! Sub contractor's on site at the time also found it strange as to the Polices' agreement of forced entry etc...

There is an absolute massive amount of "aledged" circumstantial collusion going on here on various levels but we do not have the funds to feed a Lawyer/Barrister to get answer's and justice at this stage.

Thanks again for reading.

Hi Straycat,

There are a couple of other caggers I'll alert to this thread, but if you want to take any action I think you will need a lawyer. A solicitor usually charges £200-£250 per hour. A barrister will cost almost the same but will cut to the chase if you give him all the details. As much as we'd love to help you here I do think you need professional help. I know you are reeling from the shock of this, but I think you really do need to fight this.

As I said, I'll try to get some more input.

Thank you Daniella.

Your right, we are reeling from everything that's gone on. We are 2 decent streetwise (so we thought) people, who thought we would employ a recommended Architect, SE, Builder etc... all local and all know each other.... and then BAM! it seems like no one is prepared to admit fault, help etc... yet we are out of pocket massively by the rogue builder they recommended, architect totally fobbing us off, police totally useless.... and with what money we have left we need to pick up the pieces and try and get the project finished. I so wish we had a few thousand to throw at a Barrister, but my partner and I are just so so lacking strength and the whole retribution and justice matter seems nothing more than a diversion from what we need to get on and finish.

Why oh why is this god for saken world full of low life's that set out to destroy those who are just trying to get on with an honest existence!

I personally so so so want to expose EVERYONE involved to the media but I know they wont touch it considering the complexity of potential Libel's. What we are going through makes the "cowboy builder" show look like a walk in the park..seriously!

Anyway, thankks so much for your input, it helps keep us slightly sane right now

Regards

Sorry to hear about the difficult situation. If you don't want to instruct a solicitor, it is still worth a phone call to trading standards if you haven't already.

You refer in your first post to £55,000 remaining. What is that for? Surely you don't have to pay that?

Sorry to hear about the difficult situation. If you don't want to instruct a solicitor, it is still worth a phone call to trading standards if you haven't already.

Rang CAB, as Trading Standards do not take calls, CAB suggested they could penicl in an appointment in 3 weeks!

You refer in your first post to £55,000 remaining. What is that for? Surely you don't have to pay that?

The £55,000 was the balance outstanding for the builders wages and materials to complete the works. No it does not have to be paid, expecially as he ended up under quoting on a fixed price contract, received 65% of the monies with a circa 30% completed. Plus the fact he terminated the contract not us and the fact he has deviated off plans and we now have a breach over the whole property with lots to put right. Including a 80sqm side extension that has been built oversized without the LPA's or our consent.

And does the extension have to be demolished too?

I assume you did make all the payments to the limited company rather than to him, and that your original agreement was with him signing as a Director of the Building Company?

And does the extension have to be demolished too?

We are not sure this is currently being assessed. Worse case scenario demolished or the whole scheme has to be resubmitted as a new planning application with the breaches taken into account. As it's a material breach it will deffinately not be deemed a minor amendment. Although the Building Inspector and SE both agree the deviated extension still sits a metre from the neighbouring boundary as per the architect plans, but it looks like the architect did not account for the correct location of boundary if that makes sense. So in theory the extension sits in the same position away from the boundary as was approved, but the overall width of the extension has been enlarged from the approved plans without consent. This is an extract from the original case officer's report upon suggesting approval should be granted and the fact remains it's still sited a metre.

"The proposed two-storey side extension would comprise an attached double garage to the

ground floor and living space within the roofspace above that would be served by 2no

dormer windows within the front elevation and 2no. rooflights within the rear elevation. It

would have a lower eaves and ridge height than the existing dwellinghouse and would be

sited one metre from the shared side boundary and have an angled design that follows the

angled nature of the plot."

As this is clearly going to cost you a fortune to put right, I do think it's worth a couple of hundred for legal advice to see if there is a way you can sue this builder personally especially in light of the fact that you say he has done exactly the same thing before.

From what you have said, if you can sue him as an individual you should be able to get quite a lot of money back from him, and also more for damages.

And I hope you have put in an objection to his planning application for the play centre?

I assume you did make all the payments to the limited company rather than to him, and that your original agreement was with him signing as a Director of the Building Company?

Payments were made in cash, generally on a weekly basis every Friday. Document has property owners names, builders name only, the amount, the date and signature from each person. Original agreement is signed by him only but as a detailed fixed price quote. Many other documents too.

And I hope you have put in an objection to his planning application for the play centre?

Too late to put in an objection, plus an emotive objection stands for nothing... he already has over 20 objections to the potential Play Centre which funnly enough was supposed to have had a decision made by yesterday..still pending.

Does the contract have any reference to the name of the company or the word "Director"? Or did the builder just sign his name? Are there any other documents making it clear that you were contracting with the company?

If there is nothing in the contract to suggest that you were contracting with the company rather than the builder personally, it should not be difficult to go after him personally...

Check through all the documents carefully tonight. If he was signing as an individual, as steampowered says above, you can probably go after him personally.

And was he adding VAT? If so, I think from what you have said about the timings, he should already have included the VAT element of the payments received to date in his VAT return.

If this contract was made with a limited company, the headed stationery should give the name, address, registered office and, if registered for VAT, the VAT number.

For the sum involved he MUST be registered for VAT.