Help needed with builder who has left us

[Adam]

I'm looking for ideas on how to resolve a situation with our builder. Last summer we started a project to build a wrap-around extension and loft conversion on our terraced house in Friern Road. We decided to go with a builder who was recommended by at least two people on this forum, and we spoke to these people and saw his work.

Over the 8 months of the project we built up a very good and trusting relationship with the builder. We had a fixed price for the project, but we gave him more money as we came towards the end as it was clear he had underestimated the whole job (he had not done a project of this scale in London before).

We ended up giving him more money and also agreeing to not hold back the 5% we had originally agreed in the contract for a 6-month snagging period. In March we agreed to pay him some extra for a few smaller pieces of work.

We have not seen or heard from our builder since March. He has gone to work on another project in the area. As well as the usual snagging, we have a fairly major leak and some electrical issues. I had to call out an electrician after I shocked myself, and then the electrician also shocked himself and described the wiring as lethal.

So he's left us in the lurch, and we don't know why. We never had any kind of argument.

He is not responding to our messages/calls and he still has our house key. We understand that he is deliberately not calling us (his wife has told us that).

He used the council's building control, and we haven't yet got "sign off" from them, as the project isn't completely finished. Maybe they could help us?

I am not going to post the builder's name here at this stage, as I want to resolve this amicably.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what we should do?

[Sean Of Dulwich]

furst thing is to name him so no 1 else uses him

[SunrayDan]

hi Adam.

Unfortunately it seems everyone is at it. See post below. + others out there....

Once money has left your hands and into others, it is very difficult to get it back.

Suggest Citizens Advice Bureau to report it as a case, they will prob. tell you to start formal negotiations in order to retrieve costs. After that Small Claims, then County Court solicitors if it is on a larger scale, and you have the time, inclination and money to chase. This is how the scammers in this trade work it all.

As suggested by SeanofDulwich report the name, find out who else has the same issues, and act together.

And he has your house key. Get police involved. Its time to show you are serious.

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/pm.php?30,page=read,pm_id=1727711

[Salsaboy]

Change your locks.

[Sean Of Dulwich]

yeah that so sad i never expect anything upfront until the jobs done good luck

[tiddles]

Hmm give them the chance to begin to put right and then if no luck name and shame

[Adam]

Many thanks to everyone for your responses. I managed to speak to him and basically the story is that he lost money on our project (due to his inexperience at costing projects of this scale) and decided he couldn't afford to come back. He also felt he had finished the project, although from our perspective he clearly hadn't, and there are some significant faults. The whole thing has been a very stressful experience for us.