Building company gone bust

kkjohn

our one off house was near final hurdle i.e. roof on; plastered etc done ;- to be done = finishing of plumbing, installation of solar; oil bolier ; carpentry ; finish electrics; outside works

building company now gone bust - solicitor says we need to get engineer to do a works completion list and get it valued as liquidator may come looking for some money

anybody got suggestions as to what to do

Naux

I would make sure that I was well covered for the time, cost and inconvenience caused by the fact that you now will have to engage another contractor to finish the house.

I would be counter charging the liquidator/builder for all of the above.

onq

kkjohn wrote: »

our one off house was near final hurdle i.e. roof on; plastered - but finishing of plumbing, installation of solar; oil bolier ; carpentry ; finish electrics; outside works

building company now gone bust - solicitor says we need to get engineer to do a works completion list and get it valued as liquidator may come looking for some money

anybody got suggestions as to what to do

I would have thought that a Chartered Surveyor or Quantity Surveyor was the appropriate person in this case as opposed to an engineer, but I'm not directly familiar with this kind of situation.

This kind of situation can raise complex contractual issues. For example, you may find that a supplier has delivered materials to site but they are not been paid for them yet, even though you may have paid the builder for them. The supplier may seek redress from you or return of the materials. Things get complicated if they are already built into the building.

Forensically checking through issues like that may be something beyond the average competent engineer, unless he is giving evidence as the administrator of the building contract. In that regard there are some questions you should prepare to answer:

• Do you have any building professionals already on board administering the building programme?
• Who has been conducting limited inspections to confirm that the works are compliant as far as they are completed at each stage payment?
• Who has been certifying the works for payment to allow you to draw down monies from your bank?

These will help to orientate anyone coming in and trying to secure your assets from being repossessed or having charges laid against them by persons claiming they are owed monies. Your contractor should be asked for a full accounting of all these matters.

Advice is given here in the presence of unknowns and by persons remote from the situation. Don't act on this advice, which can only inform in a general way. Instead retain competent legal and building professionals to advise you in this matter.

ONQ.

kkjohn

ONQ thanks for that ..... i understand advice here is in a general way but it may give me more options

the builder behind the company is not answering any calls and we have formally cancelled the contract, repossessed the house (change locks) and immediately secured the boundary and taken out full insurance

my concerns are now twofold i.e. getting in someone to finish the job, once we have a full list of whats left to be done and secondly, to be ready if a liquidator seeks money from us as we guess we probably owe the builder some money ( though the hassle with this etc, i doubt it)

as regards suppliers - well everything is incorporated into the building and there is nothing to take away - unfortunately for them, they are obliged to deal with the liquidator when that happens . we understand most suppliers of goods/services are almost paid up anyway.

basically, whats left to do is = all interior carpentry incl, stairs ; oil boiler + plumbing 2nd fix incl finish to hrv + install solar panels; finish electrics ; finish gutters ; outside works

and by the way, we used law society/cif building agreement with my own limited specs !!

we have just engaged an architect in addition to the guy who certified the stage payments.

onq

You seem to have covered yourself reasonably well in this case.

I'd let your solicitor call the shots, but I'd be surprised if he doesn't require a report on the state of the contract and its heartening that you've got competent people lined up to assess matters.

On the face of it, its difficult to see where the bankruptcy arose, given that the builder was carrying a normal amount of debt forward and most almost all payments were made. Difficulties with other work perhaps.

Best of luck dealing with it and it would be interesting to learn how you get on. I think there may be others in a similar situation.

ONQ.

bigmanhole

Definetly a good QS....its all abut the money, i found <SNIP> good in a similar situation

Edit: Infraction for spamming company on thread.