Hello,

I'm after some advice please...

The background is a small extension under contract with a local
builder, using the srvices of an architect.
The build started in May 2003, and was due to finsh July, but actually
completed end August 2003.

So far I do not have building regulations approval - the staircase did
not have sufficient headroom. I withheld payment of last amount, in
part because of the work required to fix the stairs and also as
several items in the last valuation were incorrect - e.g it included
money I had withheld for 4 weeks damages due to late finishing.

We have now reached an agreement on the work to the stairs that the
builder and building regs were happy with - and the works were due to
start according to the builder once we had a final snagging list (this
had not progressed from August as we were withholding payment, the
builder refused to do the snagging).

Since that agreement, the builder then tried to complete just the
stair work suggesting he could work on the Good Friday. We delcined
as we were away for the weekend, and as the final snagging list had
not been sent through. Our architect sent the final snagging list
through and requested 7 days notice from them for when the work would
start, and confirmation of the agreement that the snagging and stair
work would be completed at the same time.

Since then the builder of my extension has invoked the adjudication
clause in our contract (JCT).

I offered a final settlement of £4.5K. This was the £9.5K that the
last valuation was for, less £2K for damages for late completion, and
another £3K reduction was made up of approx £1,500 for not completing
the snagging in any way (i.e he only had to fix the stairs) and about
£900 in respect of anauthorised variations and an agreement with the
buillder to not charge £640 for loft work that was excluded from the
contract originally.

The builder has not accepted this - though he not ackowledged it
either.

In the adjudication information they sent to RIBA, they state that the
amount owing is £7,500 (including retention) - so it looks like they
are accepting my claim for £2K damages for late completion.

I am not entirely clear on the builders reason for adjudication - he
has yet to agree to complete the snagging list, and nor has he
provided pricing for the variations that he carried out.

My architect says he cannot see why the builder would go to
adjudication for £3K when the build has not yet gained building
regulations approval - but, equally he has never had a contract go to
Adjudication.

The appointed adjudicator has now been in touch and advised his fees
are £100 / hr and his mileage rate is 55p / mile - and that he needs a
site visit with my architect present. He is in West Yorkshhire - I am
in North Yorkshire.

My questions are based around how the charges that the adjudicator
incurs are proprtioned. I can see that the fees will quickly rack up
and be more than the amount I have at dispute with the builder.

Now that the adjudicator has been nominated, should I not approach the
builder - my architect is on holiday for a week. Also can we still
reach a settlement or do I have to allow the adjudication process to
run it's course now ?

Also - any thoughts on my case given the above brief one sided view of
things ?

Many thanks.
Nick

On 25 May 2004 02:45:27 -0700, (Nick) wrote:

Hello,

I'm after some advice please...

The background is a small extension under contract with a local
builder, using the srvices of an architect.
The build started in May 2003, and was due to finsh July, but actually
completed end August 2003.

So far I do not have building regulations approval - the staircase did
not have sufficient headroom. I withheld payment of last amount, in
part because of the work required to fix the stairs and also as
several items in the last valuation were incorrect - e.g it included
money I had withheld for 4 weeks damages due to late finishing.

We have now reached an agreement on the work to the stairs that the
builder and building regs were happy with - and the works were due to
start according to the builder once we had a final snagging list (this
had not progressed from August as we were withholding payment, the
builder refused to do the snagging).

Since that agreement, the builder then tried to complete just the
stair work suggesting he could work on the Good Friday. We delcined
as we were away for the weekend, and as the final snagging list had
not been sent through. Our architect sent the final snagging list
through and requested 7 days notice from them for when the work would
start, and confirmation of the agreement that the snagging and stair
work would be completed at the same time.

Since then the builder of my extension has invoked the adjudication
clause in our contract (JCT).

I offered a final settlement of £4.5K. This was the £9.5K that the
last valuation was for, less £2K for damages for late completion, and
another £3K reduction was made up of approx £1,500 for not completing
the snagging in any way (i.e he only had to fix the stairs) and about
£900 in respect of anauthorised variations and an agreement with the
buillder to not charge £640 for loft work that was excluded from the
contract originally.

The builder has not accepted this - though he not ackowledged it
either.

In the adjudication information they sent to RIBA, they state that the
amount owing is £7,500 (including retention) - so it looks like they
are accepting my claim for £2K damages for late completion.

I am not entirely clear on the builders reason for adjudication - he
has yet to agree to complete the snagging list, and nor has he
provided pricing for the variations that he carried out.

My architect says he cannot see why the builder would go to
adjudication for £3K when the build has not yet gained building
regulations approval - but, equally he has never had a contract go to
Adjudication.

The appointed adjudicator has now been in touch and advised his fees
are £100 / hr and his mileage rate is 55p / mile - and that he needs a
site visit with my architect present. He is in West Yorkshhire - I am
in North Yorkshire.

My questions are based around how the charges that the adjudicator
incurs are proprtioned. I can see that the fees will quickly rack up
and be more than the amount I have at dispute with the builder.

Now that the adjudicator has been nominated, should I not approach the
builder - my architect is on holiday for a week. Also can we still
reach a settlement or do I have to allow the adjudication process to
run it's course now ?

Also - any thoughts on my case given the above brief one sided view of
things ?

Many thanks.
Nick

I can't help you specifically on the adjudication, unless it is that
he is playing a standoff game - basically creating a situation that
will cost you money and hoping that you'll just fold and pay up.

One tactic that you can always do, since the amount is withing range,
is to pay everything bar £4999 or some other amount just under £5k and
let him sue you. That would take place in the Small Claims
Division of the court and costs are low there.

I would decide on your minimum acceptable level of withholding and go
from there. One thing to be aware of though, is that the courts do
not tend to award much for inconvenience and late completion, unless
there were specific penalty clauses.






..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy Hall wrote in message . ..
On 25 May 2004 02:45:27 -0700, (Nick) wrote:

Hello,

I'm after some advice please...

The background is a small extension under contract with a local
builder, using the srvices of an architect.
The build started in May 2003, and was due to finsh July, but actually
completed end August 2003.

So far I do not have building regulations approval - the staircase did
not have sufficient headroom. I withheld payment of last amount, in
part because of the work required to fix the stairs and also as
several items in the last valuation were incorrect - e.g it included
money I had withheld for 4 weeks damages due to late finishing.

We have now reached an agreement on the work to the stairs that the
builder and building regs were happy with - and the works were due to
start according to the builder once we had a final snagging list (this
had not progressed from August as we were withholding payment, the
builder refused to do the snagging).

Since that agreement, the builder then tried to complete just the
stair work suggesting he could work on the Good Friday. We delcined
as we were away for the weekend, and as the final snagging list had
not been sent through. Our architect sent the final snagging list
through and requested 7 days notice from them for when the work would
start, and confirmation of the agreement that the snagging and stair
work would be completed at the same time.

Since then the builder of my extension has invoked the adjudication
clause in our contract (JCT).

I offered a final settlement of £4.5K. This was the £9.5K that the
last valuation was for, less £2K for damages for late completion, and
another £3K reduction was made up of approx £1,500 for not completing
the snagging in any way (i.e he only had to fix the stairs) and about
£900 in respect of anauthorised variations and an agreement with the
buillder to not charge £640 for loft work that was excluded from the
contract originally.

The builder has not accepted this - though he not ackowledged it
either.

In the adjudication information they sent to RIBA, they state that the
amount owing is £7,500 (including retention) - so it looks like they
are accepting my claim for £2K damages for late completion.

I am not entirely clear on the builders reason for adjudication - he
has yet to agree to complete the snagging list, and nor has he
provided pricing for the variations that he carried out.

My architect says he cannot see why the builder would go to
adjudication for £3K when the build has not yet gained building
regulations approval - but, equally he has never had a contract go to
Adjudication.

The appointed adjudicator has now been in touch and advised his fees
are £100 / hr and his mileage rate is 55p / mile - and that he needs a
site visit with my architect present. He is in West Yorkshhire - I am
in North Yorkshire.

My questions are based around how the charges that the adjudicator
incurs are proprtioned. I can see that the fees will quickly rack up
and be more than the amount I have at dispute with the builder.

Now that the adjudicator has been nominated, should I not approach the
builder - my architect is on holiday for a week. Also can we still
reach a settlement or do I have to allow the adjudication process to
run it's course now ?

Also - any thoughts on my case given the above brief one sided view of
things ?

Many thanks.
Nick

I can't help you specifically on the adjudication, unless it is that
he is playing a standoff game - basically creating a situation that
will cost you money and hoping that you'll just fold and pay up.

One tactic that you can always do, since the amount is withing range,
is to pay everything bar £4999 or some other amount just under £5k and
let him sue you. That would take place in the Small Claims
Division of the court and costs are low there.

I would decide on your minimum acceptable level of withholding and go
from there. One thing to be aware of though, is that the courts do
not tend to award much for inconvenience and late completion, unless
there were specific penalty clauses.






.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy ..#

Thanks for the advice - the sub £5K amount is a useful tip....I'll
post back to you say how things progress

On 25 May 2004 12:07:23 -0700, (Nick) wrote:

Andy Hall wrote in message . ..
On 25 May 2004 02:45:27 -0700, (Nick) wrote:


I can't help you specifically on the adjudication, unless it is that
he is playing a standoff game - basically creating a situation that
will cost you money and hoping that you'll just fold and pay up.

One tactic that you can always do, since the amount is withing range,
is to pay everything bar £4999 or some other amount just under £5k and
let him sue you. That would take place in the Small Claims
Division of the court and costs are low there.

I would decide on your minimum acceptable level of withholding and go
from there. One thing to be aware of though, is that the courts do
not tend to award much for inconvenience and late completion, unless
there were specific penalty clauses.






.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andy ..#

Thanks for the advice - the sub £5K amount is a useful tip....I'll
post back to you say how things progress

You're welcome, Nick.

One thing that did stand out to me in what you wrote is that it does
seem like gamesmanship on the part of the builder.

Do you think that somebody put him up to it?

Certainly based on the amounts involved, trying to avoid professional
fees would be a good idea.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

(Nick) wrote in message . com...

Also - any thoughts on my case given the above brief one sided view of
things ?


I get the initial impression youve not consulted a lawyer. If not, why
not, you need to know where you stand in law, otherwise how can you
make the right moves.

With the small claims court, legal costs are not awarded, so both
parties know that he will be paying his legal costs in full. It is a
simplified process designed to minimise your costs and time
requirement.

One can consult a lawyer on a one time basis rather than taking them
on to resolve the whole case, and this is a low cost option in many
cases.


Regards, NT

"N. Thornton" wrote in message
om...
(Nick) wrote in message
. com...

Also - any thoughts on my case given the above brief one sided view of
things ?


I get the initial impression youve not consulted a lawyer. If not, why
not, you need to know where you stand in law, otherwise how can you
make the right moves.

With the small claims court, legal costs are not awarded, so both
parties know that he will be paying his legal costs in full. It is a
simplified process designed to minimise your costs and time
requirement.


Not always the case - they can award costs, but rarely do.

I won costs against a landlord once who had bought the freehold to the
building for some inflated amount and then attempted to recoup some of the
"investment" by inventing sinking funds, management charges, etc. He took
us to small claims, with the argument that our lease was plainly unfair (!)
but then sent a letter that arrived the day before attempting to back out of
the case, received after my father had arrived having travelled 200 miles to
represent us... turned up at court regardless, explained the situation to
the judge who then proceded to rule against the plaintiff & award us costs
for loss of earnings & my father's fees...

One can consult a lawyer on a one time basis rather than taking them
on to resolve the whole case, and this is a low cost option in many
cases.


That may well be a good idea - the OP ought to be aware of the extent of
their obligations under the contract. The builder could in fact be playing
a positioning game, expecting the OP to refuse adjuducation after a certain
amount of fees had built up and then perhaps using that to strengthen the
argument in court proceedings.

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk