LincsMag - Lincolnshire Magazine

Building Woes

by Patricia Montgomery, LincsMag Writer.
Date: 12 August 2011

A new national survey suggests that at least two and a half million people have had a dispute with a builder or decorator in the last three years, with a quarter forced to take formal action.

An online survey was conducted of 2545 British adults (16 yrs+) between 17-23 May 2011. Weighting was applied to represent the adult population of Great Britain. It is estimated that at least 2.5 million people have had a dispute with a builder or decorator in the last three years.

33 per cent of adults have employed a builder or decorator to work on their property in the last 3 years, 19 per cent of these have had a dispute. Based on a British 16+ population of 48.8 million, this equates to between 2.5 and 3.6 million people (using a 95% confidence interval)

It was found that the most common disagreement was over the quality of the work, while other major gripes included traders not turning up when agreed, delays over completion, and properties being left untidy.

Of those who had a dispute with a builder or decorator, the reasons were:

1. Dispute over the quality of the work – 33%
2. Dispute over how tidy – 23%
3. The trader hadn't turned up when they had agreed to – 23%
4. Delays over completion – 23%
5. The trader didn't do everything I'd asked for – 18%
6. The trader requested more money than had initially been agreed – 17%
7. The trader caused some damage – 13%
8. Dispute over when to pay – 10%
9. The trader proposed more work than necessary – 4%
10. Other – 12%

A quarter of people (23%) failed to receive a written quote from their builder or decorator before work commenced, and four per cent were even asked to pay the full amount for the job upfront.

Trader disputes left 38% of people out of pocket, with 25% saying they were owed at least £500, and 11% said they had lost between £1000 and £4999. It should be noted this is based on only those who were initially unable to resolve the dispute amicably.

While the majority of people talked to their builder or decorator to try and resolve the dispute, 15 per cent had to seek the help of a professional body, and 18 per cent were forced to spend more money by taking the trader to court.

Avoiding cowboy builders and decorators

1. Find a trader through word of mouth or personal recommendation from friends and family
2. Try and obtain three detailed quotes before starting work, ask for references and don’t be afraid to verify them by asking to visit previous clients with the trader
3. Get a signed contract that fully sets out the costs, the work to be completed and start/completion dates
4. Don’t pay all of the money up front - payment should be made on satisfactory completion of the job. Request a written schedule of when payments are to be made
5. Don’t go for the cheaper option of paying in cash, rather than a properly invoiced job that may include VAT. Paying by credit card where possible offers extra protection if things go wrong