Claiming costs to fix poor workmanship

Hello there. I am Gemma, a friendly legal assistant here at Lawyer Destroyer. Dealing with poor building work can be incredibly stressful and frustrating, but I can certainly help you understand exactly where you stand.

Legal position:

As a consumer in England and Wales, you are protected by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This law states that any service provided by a professional must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. If your builder has done a bad job, they have legally broken their contract with you.

You can claim the cost of getting another builder to fix the work, but there is an important rule you need to follow first. Legally, you must usually give the original builder the opportunity to put things right. This is known as repeat performance. They must do this within a reasonable time and without causing you significant inconvenience, all at their own expense.

If you hire someone else before giving the original builder a fair chance to fix their mistakes, a court could significantly reduce the amount you can claim, or reject your claim entirely.

Exceptions to this rule:

You might be legally entitled to go straight to a new builder if the original builder outright refuses to fix the work, if they have tried to fix it but failed again, or if doing so is impossible. Sometimes, if the work is extremely unsafe or they have behaved so poorly that your trust is completely destroyed, you may be justified in refusing to let them back onto your property. However, it is safer to give them the option unless the situation is severe.

Practical next steps:

1. Document everything. Before anyone touches or repairs the bad work, take clear, dated photographs and videos. Keep all your emails, text messages, quotes, and invoices relating to the project.

2. Get independent quotes. Ask one or two other reputable builders to look at the work. Ask them to write down exactly what is wrong and how much it will cost to fix it. This acts as both evidence of the poor workmanship and proof of the financial loss you will suffer to put it right.

3. Write to the original builder. Send them a polite but firm letter or email. Explain exactly what is wrong, attach your photographs, and give them a clear, reasonable deadline to come and fix it at their own expense. Say that if they refuse or fail to fix the work by this date, you will have no choice but to hire another professional and claim those costs back from them.

4. Check for trade bodies. If the builder is a member of a trade association, such as the Federation of Master Builders, check to see if they offer a dispute resolution scheme. This is often a much quicker and cheaper way to sort out disagreements than going to court.

5. Treat court as a last resort. If the builder ignores your letter, refuses to fix the problems, and then refuses to pay the bill for the new builder, you can look at making a claim in the County Court. For amounts under ten thousand pounds, this usually proceeds through the small claims track. Keep in mind that court takes time, involves upfront fees, and can be stressful, so it is always better to try and resolve it in other ways first.

Missing information:

To give you a completely precise answer, it would be helpful to know if you have a written contract or terms and conditions, whether you have already paid the original builder in full, and what exactly they have said to you about the quality of the work.

Please just let me know if you would like me to explain any of these steps in a bit more detail.