With-holding payment for building work

Bakedwhite

Good morning
I am having some difficulty with a small extension we are having built. My father made arrangements with a contractor to have an extension built in the house I currently live in. My father had intended originally to over see the work so we 'opted out' with the council to have it signed off on by an architect. Unfortunately my Father got very ill and passed away during the stage of waiting for approval from the council. The builder came on site, began work and got to a stage where the windows were due and being measured and he realised he had made a massive mistake with not taking into account our existing front door needing to be moved to allow for a porch and to make each side identical and symmetrical. Instead of rectifying his mistake from the beginning he has now built one mistake on top of another and I am now left with a very odd front to my house, I feel its not acceptable but the builder refuses to accept responsibility, says its too big a job to fix and would cost ME a fortune and has handed me a large bill anyway. There are other minor issues too, including taking over twice the length of time specified and problems with no drains under down pipes, but I feel he has devalued the house, if I were to try sell in the morning. I know the planning office have said its not a big enough problem for them to get involved, as in its not a structural issue and only minor deviation from plans but it is a very obvious glaring mistake he's made. (Our new porch actually hangs over a window side, a window he reduced in size already to fit the porch in , there is no symmetry any more, and it looks very strange).
I am nearly at the point of being able to move back in but I am not happy with the result. I am having another builder look to quote me on rectifying the problem.
Am I within my rights to with-hold the amount of money it will take to fix this from his fee? I have given him the opportunity to compromise but he is not interested and I feel he believes he doesn't have to answer to me, a woman.
We have no contract, my father arranged all verbally and I have no real clue as to what is normally agreed.
Has anyone any experience of the same.
I am worried obviously of being brought to court but I am not willing to go down without a fight, especially as this was my fathers design and dying wishes.
Any help appreciated.

BryanF

Were there any drawings?

Bakedwhite

Yes, we had an architect draw up plans and the county council approved them. We had no detailed engineer drawings though.

Calahonda52

Bakedwhite wrote: »

Yes, we had an architect draw up plans and the county council approved them. We had no detailed engineer drawings though.

Sorry to read the backstory with your Dad, may he RIP.

So why did council approve the plans, have u planning a planning exemption or planning permission?

1. Was the builder given the drawings?
2. What sort of numbers are we looking at here?
3. Whats the large bill for?
4. Is he tax compliant?
5. What has he been paid so far?
6. What is due now?
7. What was original contract price?

Am not being intrusive here but the more infill intel the better the ideas you will illicit here

Bakedwhite

Thank you for your kind word Calahonda52

We have full planning permission.

The builder was given the plans by the architect but claims the plans were not the final draught?
The final cost is roughly 64,000, we were quoted between 50,000 and 60,000, which I thought allowed him lots of leeway for unexpected costs but he has come up with the 64,000 now. Again nothing was contracted and signed for, stupidly I now know but my Father had so much trust in this man I never imagined we would be at this point.
We paid 25,000 early on and he is looking for a further 15,000 more and then the balance on the finish. I am supposed to be back in the house soon, he said 5 weeks max, I would be out of my home but its been nearly 12 and I have a toddler thrown in the mix, its been an expensive stay in a holiday home for us, so I am holding off having a major fall out with him although I have tried to speak to him about the issue to come to a compromise but he has no interest. His son who is working on the project has already got nasty with me when I made a complaint about all the floors being uneven and my floor fitter (I am paying for separate) having to fit sloping floor boards into the extension upstairs and down, so I am worried they will be difficult with me.
Would anyone know where I stand legally?

Calahonda52

Have you paid cash so far?

Bakedwhite

No, a cheque. He is certified and insured and above board as far as I have been told by him anyway. He is not a member is CIRI as we have checked this out. We contacted the council to ensure further down the line, if a neighbour complained say (we are on a main street in a small rural village) that we would not be forced to rectify the frontage as per the plans as this would be very costly at this stage. The house in still in my mothers name and she is terrified of future issues. A senior engineer in the council assured me that the deviation was minor and would not see them forcing changes at our expense later on. So all I am asking the builder to do is make the house look more symmetrical again. The porch over hangs a side ledge of the front downstairs window (minimally mind you but its enough) the corresponding side has a few inches gap between window and porch, so the porch is skew. I am asking him to shift the window away from the porch so at least the two front windows are even looking , although upstairs windows are now our of sink too but with no porch to show them up and for the sake of peace I can live with that. I am still grieving my Father and I am heart broken the builder has take advantage of the situation and I have been finding it difficult to navigate through this at such time but as I said I am not willing to lay down yet. I have contacted a quantity surveyor to look at the situation but i still don't know where I stand legally on any issues, being morally right and legally right can be very different things so I am worried with no contracts we are not in a good position. Any help appreciated.

Calahonda52

My opinion is
that you have the three elements of a contract here: Offer, Acceptance and Consideration.

1. the contract documents are the planning drawings, which he needed to build to anyway so he is in breach of contract.
2. the consideration, to make it a contract, is the first payment.
3. the breach of contract can be seen in the visual deformities that he has visited upon you so the absence of engineering/construction drawings is 100% irrelevant.

The QS discussion is a good avenue, ask him to price the cost of the existing work done and the cost of remediation.

I have to go to work now so am signing off here: good luck

Bakedwhite

Thank you kindly Calahonda52, your choice of words and terminology has actually really helped clarify things.