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I employed a builder to re-plaster much of my flat. Now, a year later, many of the walls have blown and the builder is delaying fixing this. Where do I stand legally?
I employed a builder to re-render and re-plaster much of my flat. The work extended way beyond what was agreed in terms of time but when the work was completed I paid the remainder of the agreed total cost. Soon after, one by one, a large percentage of the walls have blown, the most recent discovery is two more blown walls, one year after work on my flat began. Most of my new walls have had to be re-plastered as a consequence; this has cost me in terms of having to re-decorate and loss of earnings (rent of a room). I have expressed my dissatisfaction to my builder, who has behaved as if he is doing me a favour by agreeing to make reparations and is delaying doing the work. Where do I stand legally in this situation?
You have a claim in contract against the builder. If you succeed you are entitled to damages to put you in the place that you would have been in had he performed the contract satisfactorily i.e. the cost of repair. This is subject to your obligation to mitigate your loss i.e. give the builder a reasonable opportunity to repair his mistakes. You should therefore write to the builder affording him 14 days to come and repair the work, failing which you will go elsewhere and sue him for the cost. The letter may sound stronger coming from a Solicitor and if you wish we can prepare one for a fixed fee of £150 + VAT. Please reply to this email if you would like to use this service.
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