Mr Punter

Retain 5% from each payment, so that you have £1,100 when it is complete. So far, he should be about 36% of the way through. Based on his costs and programme, does that seem about right? These things work both ways. You could stiff him for payments, he could draw too much on the job and leave before it is finished. You need to find a middle path. No way will you get to wait until it is completed, unless he is a mug.

You have not yet committed to this. Why not consider just getting it decorated with some new furniture and flooring? Get a cleaner in once a week if you don't fancy doing it yourself. There is nothing to stop you renting out a room right now. It would be a pain if you meet someone and they want to live elsewhere and you have chucked all that money into this project. On the other hand, a prospective partner may love the place and then maybe would be the time to do the work - perhaps with their input and ideas.

That is a lot of work for a place worth £300k. Do you know how much it will cost?

Did you get some breakdown of costs? Foundations x%, brick and blockwork x%, electrics x, plumbing x, plastering x roofing x carpentry x, decoration x. That way you can more clearly see where the money is going. If he quoted £24k and he is a third of the way through, you are about right. Do not overpay early on.

You may do better getting a fixed price from a reputable builder, but I would want all the construction information from the architect. That way he is responsible should the plumber, sparky or whatever have any queries. I have never found architects that useful after the design and tender stage. They seem to just turn up to site in their collarless shirts and most people ignore them. I am sure there are exceptions though. I think Aspergers ranks very low on most sites as any impediment, so no issues on that front but I welcome you being so candid.

I have a couple of Ubiquiti AC Lite access points. They easily cover the 4 storey plus roof terrace and perfect 100% wifi everywhere with one SSID.

5% is fairly standard, but is kept for x weeks after completion to ensure snagging / site clearance / defects are taken care of. If you hold back any more they won't have enough cash to finish it properly. How far through the job are you?

I was surprised to learn last week that we now need a GRP kiosk with a concrete base.and ducting through the base for the temp supply. We used to do it like @Dreadnaught but UK Power Networks have changed their requirements.

try https://ebico-energy.org.uk/energy-plans/#ebico-zero I don't think there are many who do these any more.

nice

That looks a lot better. What is the height now?

I think I might offer to pick the guys up from their houses and take them to site. Maybe pleasure them during their breaks (to the extent that distancing rules allow), take them to the pub after work, buy all the drinks, drop them back home and tuck them into bed. Still cheaper and (perhaps) less humiliating than £1,200.

Last week I got some site clearance work done. I left a car in a pay space 4 hour max for the week so the grab lorry etc could get access, thinking I would just pay the fines. Not a single ticket!

I am not really sure at the moment. They have replied to my query regarding scheduling to say "In regards to your questions of the works, we would do the digging on the first day, then the second day we would disconnect your single phase supply and then install your new three supply, then reinstate on the third day, which can take up to 5 working days, depending on the surface, to allow it to set." They are just doing a joint bay in the footpath adjacent to where we have excavated 600mm deep. We will have duct running to the edge of the joint bay into our kiosk. This could be done in a day. I cannot believe how far they are prepared to take the p*ss just because they have a near monopoly. I think the LA cost of a bay for a utility is £60, so they seem to have allowed for six vehicles. I shall be writing back.

OK a bit late for the update, but they are asking for £1,200 for parking. Amazingly @Thorfun was closest and also overestimated by £600. Trophy symbol for him, sad face for the rest of you.

I will update this at 19:00 hours. Some guesses have been closer than others...

If you are getting a local builder they may have a good idea of ground conditions / foundations needed. If not, ask Building Control.

Who is the builder?

They will always go for a repair if possible. To get them to buy back you will need to exert considerable and sustained pressure and I do not think you have much chance of success. The evidence on this thread indicates that the house is not built to an acceptable standard and I am not sure that you would need additional expert opinions to establish this. Photographs and a timeline of events may be enough. You need to escalate this as high as possible. Write personally to the Chief Executive. Explain the position and be clear and to the point. Explain that you have attempted to go through their standard channels without success and that a referral back to those will not be acceptable. It is sometimes worth quoting from their mission statement and pointing out how your experience contrasts with it. Tell them that in view of this you would like them to either reverse the sale / buy back the house or present proposals to you that would find satisfactory. If you can, look to social media. Do not go out of your way to defame them or be rude in any way, just point out how disappointed you are. If they think it is less hassle to just buy the house, they might just do it (subject to you signing a non-disclosure agreement).

Could you do both? And a load of shingle?

I have seen cases where, for example, the mortar mix for a brick / block house was 18 sand to 1 cement. The "remedy" was to repoint the outside!

Unless they are a large prestige housebuilder I would say there is very little chance of that happening. Sadly the way the industry works is that trades are on a price and most do not care about quality work. Site managers come and go and are not full time employees. Results can be shoddy. The parapet, curved wall and clay soil have not helped here. Many of the housebashers stick to foolproof designs that can be built using little skill and at a known cost.

Yes if you pay within 14 days.

For a connection of 3m? I cannot think that many Scots would agree with you!

I have just got a quote for a new leccy connection. 3 new flats, so 3 phase into a kiosk (supplied and fitted by us). They are also disconnecting the existing supply. All the cables are in the footpath, 3 metres away from the new kiosk. This is in Brighton suburbs. No road works or traffic lights needed. All on a quiet footpath. Because they can, I think they allow 1 visit to excavate joint bay and lay out barriers, 1 visit to disconnect existing and joint new and 1 visit to reinstate and remove barriers. Could all be done in a day without breaking sweat. The price? £3,094 to do the work, which I think could be done for a quarter of this but they have the monopoly and want to make a profit. The parking costs? I would welcome your guesses as to the amount they want to cover parking and I will let you know the quoted amount tomorrow (Tuesday 4 August 2020), with a special prize of a LIKE to whoever gets closest!