Builder made me order and pay for materials, but taken some of it!

[mrbounce]

Hi

 

I am having some reconfiguration work done, to increase the size of my retail unit by taking some walls out etc.

 

A building inspector is involved to check the steels.

 

I requested to have insulation put in the ceiling, now I am not sure if this needed to be done as part of building regs, however my builder said if I order the insulation he will collect and put it in.

 

He measured up and told me to order 15 sheets of it at £50 a sheet, so I went and ordered it.

 

He collected it.

 

But when he bought it he only unloaded 10 sheets which I found out by accident when checking my cctv for something else, and the area they have put the insulation in for is about 10 sheets worth, the remaining ceiling he now says they are not doing due to water pipes etc, but kind of indirectly said, there isn't any left anyway!

 

I am 100% sure he hasn't bought anymore and the merchant said he collected all the sheets at the same time.

 

Is this classed as theft? Or would i need to take him to small claims if i wanted to take further and he doesn't back down?

 

Its more about the principle of the matter rather than the money, as he measured up and told me what to order but blatently taken the p***! I know he has as he was telling me before the price of insulation is sky high at the minute and trying to get hold of as much as he can when it comes cheap but struggling to get it cheap!!!

[king12345]

Not unusual for builders to stock up at customers expense.

This is usually done with all inclusive quotes where material is not listed, but as i understand he specifically charged you for 15 sheets but used and delivered only 10.

You'll have to point this out to him and pay just for the 10 sheets.

If you have already paid him, ask for a partial refund, however, it all comes down to what he wrote on his quote.

If he wrote the exact amount of sheets needed, you might get something back, but if he simply stated that he was going to insulate the ceiling and it would cost £x, i don't think there's nothing you can do.

[mrbounce]

Not unusual for builders to stock up at customers expense.

This is usually done with all inclusive quotes where material is not listed, but as i understand he specifically charged you for 15 sheets but used and delivered only 10.

You'll have to point this out to him and pay just for the 10 sheets.

If you have already paid him, ask for a partial refund, however, it all comes down to what he wrote on his quote.

If he wrote the exact amount of sheets needed, you might get something back, but if he simply stated that he was going to insulate the ceiling and it would cost £x, i don't think there's nothing you can do.

 

He said if we want insulation we have to order it otherwise they aren't going to insulate it. So he measured up and said goto buildbase and order 15 sheets and I will collect it. He collected it and only ever unloaded 10 sheets and the area he has insulated roughly measure to 10 sheets worth.

 

So blatantly taken 5. I have invoice for 15 and cctv shows only 10 were bought in!

[king12345]

In that case, as you ordered and paid for 15 sheets, he owes you 5 of them.

Tell him.

[mrbounce]

In that case, as you ordered and paid for 15 sheets, he owes you 5 of them.

Tell him.

 

Do you know if part of building regs you have to insulate flat roof? He put steels in etc and I have an incling they should insulate as part of building regs but made me pay for it although initially he was supposed to provide all material required for the job apart from paint flooring kitchen bathroom for residential part.

[AndyOrch]

https://www.sunsquare.co.uk/blog/what-are-the-building-regulations-for-flat-roofs/

[ericsbrother]

building regs irrelevant to your problem so dont get distracted. It is about the dishonesty of a builder regarding the misappropriation of the materials so stick to that.

Ultimately you might end up having to sue him so keep cctv safe and get any info you can written down regarding supplier of materials. Many builders have a credit agreement with local builders merchansts so if your chap didnt then that tells you a great deal about his credit worthiness and how much or little others trust him.

[king12345]

In fact, as ericsbrother said, if he asked you to buy the material it means that he's not trusted by builders merchants, otherwise he would have access to trade prices and credit with them.

Even major merchants like Wickes and selco offer trade prices, so no excuse there.

The only time i bought something not from merchants when i was in the building trade, was for something particular which is cheaper online and not readily available in store (for example some specialised hardware from Simpson strong tie)