Restoration & Refurbishment

Extras on bill and timing of payments

Anonymous user 23/02/2024 - 3.06 PM

Hi, would appreciate some advice as to whether it's us or our builder in the wrong. We are renovating a commercial unit since taking the lease. We had full plans drawn up by a structural engineer which were then used by the builder to produce his quote. We have had a couple of issues since work started: 1. The subcontractor rang to say that the spec of a particular element was not sufficient in his opinion and we should pay more for increased spec. We were annoyed that no one had mentioned this prior to work starting as we had discussed this element with both the engineer and the main builder and were not expert enough to know that the spec on the plan was not sufficient. Though we accepted that the increased spec wasn't in the original quote and paid the extra. 2. Before the build started we changed one aspect of the layout and communicated this verbally to the subcontractor on site who said it was fine. The instruction was then ignored/forgotten which meant we then had to ask for additional work which we were charged extra for. The costs of this extra work appear very high to us which we have questioned but not received an adequate reply. 3. Additional plastering has been charged for in excess of the original quote. This appears to just be an oversight by the builder for not including it in the original quote. 4. A new external door has been charged for as the original door opened inwards instead of outwards. The plan showed it opening out but the builder hadn't noticed that this would necessitate a new door and so hadn't provided for it. Again the costs for this seem very high to us. 5. The builder has now sent his final staged bill. There is still some electrical work to finish and we have not yet arranged for the council to inspect to provide building reg sign off. So my questions are: Should we be paying the full costs of the additional work needed due to our changed verbal instructions not being followed or the additional work that Jan been charged for which was missed by the builder from the original quote. Is it reasonable not to pay the final bill until everything is completed in full (I'd say it was currently 95% there but the electrics are outstanding) and until building reg sign off has been obtained? Thanks