Disputes With Builders - 10 Tips to Minimise the Risk of Your Building Project Ending in Dispute

 Building really shouldn't be so difficult. But many times it is, mostly because people start off on the wrong foot.

If you are doing the work yourself then you need to have knowledge of up to date construction methods and materials needed to accomplish a product which is energy efficient, cost efficient, etc. etc. However, although none of this is beyond the power of the internet it may just be a step too far for most.

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Think of the building process of like doing a jigsaw. Lots of small pieces put in the right place to complete the picture. The difference is that the pieces of the jigsaw do not come in the box. The pieces have to be accumulated separately.

Most people who do not have the practical skills or the time will employ a builder to put together their jigsaw. This leads to my first point.

1. The builder needs a picture or Drawing so that all the pieces are put in the right place. The builder also needs some guidance as to the type and quality of pieces he will buy. This is where the Specification comes in.

Without these two pieces of information you cannot hope to obtain competitive quotations for your project. By competitive I mean that all the builders are quoting for exactly the same work that is detailed on the Drawing and Specification.

2. Now that you have these important documents you need some builders to quote for the work. This is the tricky bit. Finding reliable, honest, skilled and reputable builders is not necessarily easy. You can thumb through directories, surf webpages or even call the mobile telephone number on one of the leaflets that are pushed through your door on a weekly basis. Not recommended!

As always the best method is to start with a recommendation from someone you know and who has used a builder.

3. So we now have maybe three builders who fit the bill. The next step would be to book appointments with them individually to view the Drawings and the location of the work.

A lot can be deduced from this first meeting. Does the builder turn up late, driving a brand new Jaguar, looking like Mr T and stinking of booze? Now maybe this guy is the best thing since sliced bread but is this a good way to instil confidence in a prospective customer. At each meeting provide the builder with a set of Drawings and Specification and ask him to quote for exactly what is on the documents. A word of warning here; do not get into a conversation during this first meeting where the builder re-designs the work and talks you into him providing a quotation based on this revised scheme. This will not achieve your aim of receiving consistent quotations. With the copy of the Drawings and Specification you should provide a Covering Letter with your contact details and also asking that any discrepancies in the information provided to him that he might find should be qualified in his Quotation. Each builder should also indicate the Day-Work Rates of tradesmen and labourers.

4. You should have now received your Quotations. If not call the builders to enquire when you will receive them. It may have got lost in the post. Each Quotation should be based on exactly the same work. It should in theory be like looking at three Quotations for a washing machine. Are the prices within 10-15% of each other? If not you need to ask yourself why. Have you asked a small one man band and a multi-national company to quote?

You now need to decide whom you are going to award the Contract. Whilst waiting for the quotations to arrive you should have carried out some Due Diligence on the builders. Depending on the status of the builders there are different ways of doing this.

5. You now ask your preferred builder to meet you again to go over the Quotation and this is where you make sure that you are making the right decision.

Sleep on it for a few days. Don't be rushed into a decision because the builder 'has to let someone else know tomorrow, if he can start their job first'.

6. If you are sure that the builder is the right choice then you need to provide a Contract that you both can sign. This protects both parties. If the builder tries to tell you he doesn't use contracts because he never needs to as all his customers are always happy with his work, insist on this occasion he needs to enter into a Written Contract with you or you will not award him the work. Be dominant-stay in charge!

Contracts can be bought off the shelf or downloaded free, appropriate to the complexity or cost of the work. Commonly used contracts are published by the JCT or CIOB. Some professional help may be needed in this respect. Warning-do not be tempted to bypass this procedure.

7. The builder starts work as agreed. Make sure that you have prepared everything you agreed to such as clearing away stored goods etc. Remember those day-work rates you asked for which the builder is entitled to charge for if you fail to keep to your side of the agreement.

Keep an eye on the early proceedings to make sure everything is going to plan and the builder is following the jigsaw picture you provided.

8. The Local Authority Building Control Surveyor should call to site to check on certain stages of the work. This is why you paid that rather large sum of money when you submitted your plans. Before you start work, find out who the Surveyor is and call him periodically or at each stage so that you are kept informed. This has got to be one of the most important pieces of advice you will receive.

The Building Control Surveyor is only required to communicate with your on-site representative and that would probably be your builder...so if the builder has done something wrong you don't necessarily get to know about it. If there is a problem and the Building Control Surveyor is not completely happy, you need to know particularly if a stage payment is due.

9. Make sure that your builder keeps to his contractual obligations and that you keep to yours, which is to pay him the stage payments on time as agreed.

It is probably no surprise that most disputes start over money. This leads to my final point.

10. Be very careful what you ask for as the building work proceeds. 'Extra's' can mount up. Try not to go off plan. If you do need to, ask for a quote for the variation/additional work and agree to it first in writing before proceeding.

My last piece of advice is this. Do not take risks with large amounts of money. Disputes are very costly. Employ someone who can either give initial advice or advise along the way. The cost of this advice is less than the cost of a dispute- Guaranteed.