Parting ways with building contractor

[Gem77]

Hi All

 

Back in September I posted asking advice about our building contractor appearing to be in financial trouble and what we could do. Lots of of you posted which I was very grateful for.

To cut a very long story short we ended up staying with them with a fair few more blips along the way.

We are still behind in our project and have tried to part ways a number of times but been reminded that we have a JCT in place (although not signed).

Yesterday we had a situation on site where roofers arrived and started to dismantle the roof due to non payment. We pay all our invoices and clearly the money we are paying is not always going to the tradesmen that have carried out the work, we have known this to happen on previous occasions. We spent the day trying to sort the situation out. 

We have since been emailed by the contractor who has now realised that the relationship and trust is not longer there (this went months ago LOL) and he has given us a number of financial options for him to walk away.

We do not want him to gain control of this situation for his gain. What do you suggest? We could issue notice based on 6.4 of the JCT? 

I worry about where that leaves us with warranties, site insurance, site security etc etc.

The windows are going in, plastering is taking place. We were due to have the kitchen installed next week (I've postponed this), tilers were due to start the week after. 

Are we legally allowed to contact the tradesmen direct to ask them if they have been paid for their work to date (the contractor says they have but we do not trust anything he says)? Are we allowed to ask the tradesmen to continue without the contractor?

We are in the process of getting building control on site to walk through and ensure everything is ok up to this point.

 

Sorry for the brain dump!

[nod]

If there is no contract in place 

You can simply part ways 

If he thinks there is any money owed He will have to go down the legal route No one cane remove any of the building and doing so is criminal damage Even if you hadn’t paid for it 

There’s nothing to stop you approaching trades directly 

They are likely to be subcontractors 

Site insurance can be sorted out over the the phone quite quickly 

 

 Good luck 

[recoveringbuilder]

We parted company with our builders near the end as they just stopped turning up, they’d been paid at stages during the build and I’d paid them an amount on the Friday before we parted company the following Wednesday, when we told them to go they tried to bill us another amount which they weren’t due, after ignoring the first two bills when it appeared for the third time I told them they wouldn’t be getting it until building control had been out to check their work, never heard another thing about it. The electrician they’d sub contracted still had work to do and he continued the work with us paying him directly.

[Big Jimbo]

Jeez, i doubt i can offer any solid advice. what a nightmare for you. The one thing that i would check on quickly, is are tradespeople allowed to come onto your site, and remove work that they have not been paid for. I'm not sure they can. say the roofer has been contracted by your builder to supply tiles and fit them to your roof. His contract is with your builder, not you. Regardless of if you have paid or not, i'm not sure he has the right to enter your property to remove goods that he has not been paid for.

[SuperJohnG]

If the contract is unsigned then no need to do anything, you simply have an informal agreement - so in my opinion you can walk away and do as you like. Just be clear though and write down every conversation and all your notes from this point (if you haven't already done so) so in case you rely on them later on if it went the legal route. 

 

For the guys who were removing roofing, sounds like you have sorted them, refer them to the builder whom you have paid. 

 

Only struggle might be for work you have paid for but jant been completed. Hopefully it has been clearly documented what you were paying for and this will provide back up for works not completed in the event you have to take the legal route. 

 

Otherwise, keep calm and approach it logically. It'll take a little time but it will get sorted. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by SuperJohnG

[Ralph]

I'm really sorry you are having to go through this it must be a nightmare. 

 

First thing I would do is ask for copies of those invoices from him. You need to know where you are financially and if any more trades are going to be pitching up to remove things.

 

With regards to the contract being unsigned. While in most cases a contract has to be signed by all parties it's not always the case. If you have a draft contract unsigned then you both act like you've accepted the terms i.e. he's doing work and you're paying for it you may both be bound to the contract. That obviously goes both ways so could be to your advantage.

 

A few hours worth of legal advice may be money well spent at this stage. Legal action is expensive and best avoided but knowing where you stand could is no bad thing.

 

Deep breathes and chin up.

[Gem77]

Thanks all for your words of encouragement - much appreciated.

Just trying to sort insurance out so I can sleep a little easier if anything happens to it in the meantime.

[Mr Punter]

It makes little difference that the contract was not signed.  If it can be shown that the intention of the parties was to be bound by the terms then you have a contract.

 

Regarding subbies arriving and removing materials, this is illegal as the materials are fixed in place.

 

You need to issue a notice to the builder that the contract is determined.  I suggest that you get a professional quantity surveyor with expert contract management skills to draft this, as the wording is important.  They can also advise you on how best to proceed with the project.  Agree their fees in advance for, say, 2 hours work.

[Temp]

If you are happy with the work being done by the builders sub contractors I would collect their contact details in case you need to hire them direct to work for you.