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Hi all - I am about to embark on a build of a new house, to replace my existing, but hit a bump - another bump In a nutshell - I had architect to design, get quotes and (planned to use her for) quote evaluation, contractor selection & sign-up (one main contractor to do full shell and landscape), build control application, and to consult thereafter to support me and builder as we progress. Unfortunately, the architect was taken ill (very ill), so I evaluated the quotes and selected the builder - he comes recommended, and is affable. So getting to my questions (i) Id like to sign a contract, and although he is agreeable, he'd "doesn't think they are worth the paper" - is it the absolute only thing to do? (ii) what sort of contract do we sign - are there templates. Builder was given building control level drawings for quote, his response is marked estimate, and there are some things that may be subject to change/decision (e.g. the lanscaping levels). In a nutshell, I'd like to regularise the relationship as much as possible, without rewriting everything - Im thinking of making sure the less obvious stuff is clear, like what happens if the site is vandalised, payment terms, warranties, etc. Any pointers or contract suggestions, please. Relevant, I guess - I feel my architect is imprtont to my design, and Im really hoping to get her back, so not eager to appoint another - Id rather patch on through, if I can TIA, James PS, I am excited to finally be nearing build stage, in case the above came across as dry & glum!

I am attempting a thread where we can identify ways of buying effectively using long-term offers and discounts. I am thinking about reward/cashback, discount or trade accounts etc. I'm not quite sure how this will work, but thought it worth a try. The aim is to create a laundry list of possibilities that self-builders can use to get benefits or knock a few percentage points off their costs. Note that, even though I think that short term or "flash" offers should be posted elsewhere, this list may still go out of date and offer terms may change, so readers should check the details personally at source and make no assumptions. This thread does not contain financial advice, obviously, and is merely to flag up potentially beneficial offers. Ferdinand

Thought it might be useful to detail an accident that happened on our site during the main construction if only to prevent others from having a similar issue. I'm sure that we must have done some things wrong here, but there were others to blame in this tale too, and the events that unfolded seemed very bizarre to me. We used a registered scaffolding company to hire the scaffolding from and this was erected in August 2009. It was used for several months to do all of the main construction work and then towards the end of its time here someone fell off it. We used a particular builder to do all of the timber frame work, he supplied his own workers, and we paid him (and only him), in cash as he requested. We never paid any money directly to his team members. Towards the end of 2009 he sent a new guy here to do some work on the soffits and he arrived along with one of the regular team (the boss wasn't on site that day which wasn't that unusual as it was often just members of his team). The OH was living in a caravan on site at that time so greeted the 2 guys, one of whom he knew quite well as he had been working here for several months. He offered them tea and bacon rolls as he tended to do most mornings and went into the caravan to sort that out. About 10 minutes after they arrived there was a shout and the new guy had apparently fallen from the first level of the scaffolding landing on his arse (see photo to see the height of the first platform for reference). His co worker hadn't seen him fall and nor had my hubby who was in the caravan at the time. He was lying on the ground so my hubby called an ambulance. He said that the guy then got up, staggered to his car, put on his hi vis jacket and hard hat and sat in his car. When the ambulance arrived they suggested that he shouldn't have got into his car, and that they might get the fire brigade out to remove the roof in case he had damaged his neck. The guy refused their help at that point, said he wasn't having his car wrecked, and drove home. My husband reported the accident to the scaffolding company whereupon the owner drove to the site and attached an insurance certificate to the scaffolding dated that day. He said that the scaffolding wasn't signed off to use prior to that date even though it was hired back in August, several months before and had been used pretty much daily. Clearly he hadn't insured the site as he should have done. Health and Safety came to the site too and declared that some 'clips' were missing from the scaffolding, and put a notice on it declaring it not to be used. The scaffolding company came and put the clips on and it was then signed off as able to be used again. Apparently later that day the guy who fell off went to A&E and declared that he had hurt himself badly. He then engaged a no win no fee solicitor and took himself off to Australia to 'convalesce' or so he claimed. We reported the accident to our insurance company, and stated that the worker had been supplied by the contractor who was erecting the timber frame, and the scaffolding was supplied by the registered scaffolding company. The first issue we had was that the builder denied having supplied the worker. This left us with an issue as our insurance company said that we couldn't prove that the worker came via the main builder, and nor could we prove that we hadn't employed him direct. The scaffolding company collected the scaffolding and put themselves into liquidation meaning that the no win no fee lawyer came after us. My husband had to make statements and years later it was still going on with any settlement the insurance company was prepared to make reducing as time went on. It all seemed quite bizarre to us however that it was our insurance cover that was being claimed against when there were 2 other parties involved. In hindsight we should probably have taken a register of every person on site and who they were supplied from, and required every worker to sign in when they attended. We possibly should have known that scaffolding had to have an insurance certificate attached to it, but we believed that hiring from a registered company would have meant that we were completely covered as they would do the right things. Ironically my husband had refused to hire the scaffolding from anywhere other than a registered scaffold company in order to comply with H&S, but ultimately it did us no good!