Our builder has gone £37k over budget and he's only told us after missing 2 deadlines
Anonymous user 09/03/2024 - 3.06 PM
Hi, in need of advice. We were given a quote of £185k by a builder. He has been paid £145k of that budget and we only have a shell of a house with breeze block walls, larch cladding, a roof with 4 velux windows. He hasn't done any work since september when he handed us a variations list of £20k extra, even though in the £145k the final £25k was a go ahead to order windows and doors. He hasn't sealed the house from the winter at all, and we have asked him for an exact breakdown of costs spend (which we've been asking for all the time since march) it now shows he has spent £37k over budget on his quote, and we don't even have windows, doors or a first fix. What do we do?
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Hi, I hope you have a contract spending this amount of money and if so I would check to see what it says about extras! This said because as a general rule he should have given you written notice, with a break down of material and labour before going ahead with any extra work not included in his quote. He is in breach of his contract for not finishing his job and I suggest not paying him a penny more as he has not shown good work ethic in coming to some arrangement to move forward. My advice would be to give notice to him and state that unless he explains in detail with proof of costs that you will not pay any extras and that you intend to hire another builder to finish the job.
Answered17 December 2019
2
Anonymous user
Hi There
First of all so sorry to hear this has happened. It must be said the first few stages are usually the most expensive on projects especially structural work. I would possibly write him another letter asking for the breakdowns of over spend and why? Usually when quoting you should always have a little set aside for contingency plans and revisions. I'm unsure as to how much the builder has left in the kitty? I assume he is asking for the final payment and you are with holding hence why he has stopped works? Although he may of stopped works because he ran out if money and was too embarrassed to say. I would get another company round to quote for the remaining works. We would happily quote from what's been done and see if you can get at least the majority done with what budget you have left. You may also be able to go through small claims court but that can be a long process of trying to prove everything as well as the difficulty of getting any reinbursement if he has filed for bankruptcy. Please feel free to call or message me if we can assist you.
Kind regards
Samuel Knight
Teame Group
As I’m led to believe a quote is a fixed price for what was discussed at the start of the contract and therefore fixed subject to extras an estimate is open to price increase subject to there being some if possible you need to get him to show you the invoices if he will but that could be tricky
This is a big overspend,
Has there been a change of spec by yourselves?
What are the reasons from the builder that this has happened?
You need to sit down with them and work out a way forward, my feeling would be nip it in the bud and get quotes to finish yourself. Very sorry to hear of your distress, it should not be the case if everything was properly contracted and stage payments agreed.
All the best
to go overbudget by 5 percent is what contingency packages are to not keep the client fully aware of all costs they will be billed on a regular basis is ludicrous
and not a position you should be in
best advice get a new builder at the very least get your windows and doors fitted
by a new builder
hope it all goes well
