LBMEFM
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| posted on 30/4/16 at 09:10 PM |
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Unfinished contract work
I use sub contractors in my building work, recently one of them completed some work for me with the exception of a couple of small finishing off
areas. I know him and I paid for the work, my mistake, on the condition he completed the work. You know what's coming next, after many weeks and
countless requests the work is still outstanding. Without sending the "boys" around to his house what can I do, any suggestions please.
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Wadders
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| posted on 30/4/16 at 09:27 PM |
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Doubt there is much you can do legally that's not going to cost you time, money and grief.
My advice would be chalk it up to experience, pay someone else to finish the job and move on.
If like you say it's only small finishing off works , then it's not going to dent your profits too much to sort out, and definitely not
worth dwelling on.
I would also send him an invoice for whatever it costs you to get finished. He won't pay it, but at least you can write it off as a bad debt.
[Edited on 30/4/16 by Wadders]
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bi22le
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| posted on 30/4/16 at 09:35 PM |
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Certainly never give him any work again. I would also consider spreading the news of your disappointment to others to warn them of his ability to
complete a job.
Probably on a completely different level but last year I had a plasterer do some work on out house. Once he was finished and I looked at his work I
was not overly impressed. He had been working flat out for 2 days, which was about right for the amount of work, but I just did not want him back to
complete. By him presenting his work as complete I had lost my trust that if he did come back he would take short cuts to complete.
In the end I explained my disappointment, we agreed a reduced price (he had no leg to stand on as work was complete and he had not been paid) and we
part our ways. I then spent a few weekends filling and sanding his mess.
I am sure you will now learn from your lesson. Never pay all of the money up front.
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big-vee-twin
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| posted on 30/4/16 at 10:28 PM |
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Proper building contracts have a money retention clause that holds back 5% of the money until practical completion and then reduces to 2.5% which is
paid 12months after to make sure any defects are attended to.
If the suby doesn't come back you can then use the retention to pay someone else.
This is standard practice, next time get a contract in place.
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LBMEFM
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| posted on 1/5/16 at 05:39 AM |
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Thanks guys, I've been ripped off then. Oh well it's not the first time.
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StevieB
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| posted on 1/5/16 at 06:28 AM |
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You have a course for remedy under law - I do this for a job (though am not a lawyer by any means!) and while it can consume time and effort, quite
often a few formal letters are all it takes (it doesn't have to come down to lawyers at dawn).
Construction law is full of cases that relate to similar matters, and very often over smaller issues rather than a clash between two large
companies.
The fact is, a contract was formed between you. That is, an offer (his offer to do the work), acceptance (your acceptance of that offer) and
consideration (which in this case would be his action in return for your payment). Regardless of the point at which payment was made, he still has an
obligation to which he can be held.
It doesn't matter whether a written document was formed and signed. The key being, if anything was written down, then ONLY the terms written
will be considered within the contract. If is wasn't written, then EVERYTHING said during formation of the agreement would be considered a term
of the contract (assuming it's legal, of course).
I would write to him setting out your understanding if the terms of the contract (what he said he'd do, what you said you'd pay plus
anything else that was discussed, such as time for completion etc.). Then set out the w ork complete and incomplete. If the incomplete work is
causing any further problems of costs for you, set these out as well and reserve your right to pursue additional damaged incurred resulting from his
act or omission. Send by first class recorded delivery.
The key issue for me here would be that there are no explicit terms to define acceptance of work or payment. Therefore it cannot be concluded that
payment in full must follow completion of the work or constitutes acceptance. The angle therefore being that you have discharged your obligations and
require him to do the same.
Depending on the amount of money you're talking about, small claims aren't actually that expensive to get resolution.
Hope this helps and I haven't just gone off on an info dump!
Steve
[Edited on 1/5/16 by StevieB]
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balidey
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| posted on 1/5/16 at 04:26 PM |
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You can book him for another job, a bit far away. A well paid job that will keep him busy for a few weeks, promise of a huge bonus.
Obviously this job may get cancelled at the last minute. You know, the minute that he arrives at a made up address miles from home.
You won't get your money back but he will have learned a lesson.
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