Hi,
I had a contract with a builder and as part of the contract he was supposed to purchase materials (this was due to Covid and shops being closed for customers). Although I gave him monies to purchase materials, week 2 of the building he started telling me he ran out of the money because all the money had gone into purchasing materials and paying builders. He then started requesting more money; in addition to asking me to purchase materials, for which I started doing.
To cut the story short, the builder walked away because we asked him to rectify several defects which were so apparent to the naked eye and after we informed him we would not pay him any more money as per the contract agreed (by that time we already paid him a substantial amount of money).
We requested the builder to provide us with receipts but he refused to do so stating the receipts belong to him. In addition, he had left couple of receipts in the property and is demanding for me to post them to him. I asked him he can attend and collect them or send me a pre paid posted envelope so I can send them to him but he refuses to do so; demanding I should post them to him.
Would anyone tell me whether I have any right in requesting these receipts?
Also, if he wants the receipts is it his obligation to get them rather than for me to chase after him?
Would appreciate answers from anyone who had this type of experience.
Many thanks in advance.
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
I'm not a lawyer but common sense tell me that who is paying for materials is the legal owner of both ,materials and receipts. He made you a service buying the materials with your money , so isn't legally asking for receipts if you give him money to pay for the materials.
Answered19 July 2021
4
Anonymous user
Based on your question as a handyman I ensure that all my clients obtain all the a copy of the receipts of the material that were required to purchase for the project, which enables the customers to know how and what the money has be spent on. However, depending on the conditions of the contract that has been drafted and agreed there should be sole ownership of the receipts to the party A that hired the party B to to execute the project. This case party A should have at least the copy or the main receipts.
I can see two sides to this. Under normal circumstances the builder buys your materials and puts a mark up on them, he’s wholly entitled to this he has costs and knowledge in sourcing the right materials and you also expect him to put right anything that goes wrong. He is effectively your shop so he gives you his receipt which is your guarantee with him. The yard where he buys his materials is his shop he keeps the receipt from them as that’s his guarantee, his mark up and his relationship with the supplier. As I said under normal circumstances… Prices have gone up significantly but that’s his problem in my opinion a quote is a quote!
Tradesmen have clients buy materials in order to stay under the VAT threshold in those circumstances you should pay the supplier directly then you get the receipts and your warranty is between you and the supplier. The builder is just building or fitting the materials, they are not liable for any problems with those materials. You can’t have it both ways…
Was the job on price or price of materials /labour plus. If on price. It's upto Him on costs. If it's on labour only. It's upto you on material costs.
As he's asking for receipts. I guess it's on labour only. He is only liable for workmanship. Please let us know more
