Builder taken money but not finishing job

[axil23]

Paid a Builder £900 advance for a job that he quoted me £1200 for and he has only finished half the job and for the last two months keeps on saying he is waiting for the bricks which are out of stock. There are piles of old bricks in the back yard where the kids play so the tenant is now threatening me that in case something happens they will sue me.

 

He isn't going to come back I am sure of that. What should/can I do?

 

Shall I get the work completed by someone else and send him a legal notice for what the new guy charges me?

[Conniff]

No, you write to him and tell him your intentions to get another builder in unless the work is completed by say the 30th July 2014, and state that time is of the essence and if not completed by that date he will be billed for completion by another builder.

 

 

Make the letter recorded.

[axil23]

No, you write to him and tell him your intentions to get another builder in unless the work is completed by say the 30th July 2014, and state that time is of the essence and if not completed by that date he will be billed for completion by another builder.

 

 

Make the letter recorded.

 

Ok I will do that. What if he does not respond?

[rebel11]

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 applies.

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/supply-of-goods-and-services-act-1982

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/letter-to-complain-about-builders-in-england-wales-or-n-ireland

[steampowered]

If he doesn't respond, then you get someone else to do the work and issue a county court claim against him for the cost.

 

Whether he has any assets to enforce a CCJ against is another issue. Ultimately you'd want to have an address that bailiffs can do to if he still fails to pay a CCJ.

 

In case this does go legal make sure you collect evidence of what happened (e.g. photographs of the mess he has left).

[axil23]

Thank you.

[SuperVillain]

The only other thing I could add to the advice above is that if you come to issue a claim against the Builder at Court just ensure you have the right Defendant - i.e. try and find out if he works as a sole trader or has limited company.

 

Will save a lot of hassle down the line - I think there was thread from another poster recently where they issued against a builder as an individual and it later turned out the correct Defendant should have been a limited company.