After buying a house, renovating a home is one of the things that can cause an owner the most headaches.
Whether it is a minor renovation, such as refurbishing a bathroom, or a full renovation carried out to a Project drawn up by an architect with a substantial budget, things can go well (which is what everyone hopes for), or they can go badly, or even very badly.
If your case is the latter, and you no longer know how to deal with the building contractor and/or the architect on the works, that is when you need advice from professionals who can tell you what steps to take.
What problems tend to arise in most renovation works?
- The contractor constantly asks for money in advance, but the works do not progress at the pace of the payments. It can reach the point where 100% of the quote has been paid and the works are only 50% complete.
- The contractor, no longer receiving money from the owner (who is acting as developer), may deliberately delay the works and turn up one day every two weeks, so that completion drags on endlessly. The contractor may even abandon the works.
- As well as financial problems, there may be problems with the works themselves, that is, the works may have been poorly executed.
Of course there are other examples, but these tend to be the most common.
What can I claim for?
You can claim for the following (these are the most common situations, but if in doubt, ask us):
- Poorly executed works
- Overpayments compared with the works actually carried out
- Delay in completing the works (if the contract contains a penalty clause)
- Abandonment of the works
So what can be done?
The first thing you need to know is that, as the owner who commissioned the works, you can claim for breach of contract.
We will ask you for documents such as the building contract and the accepted quote, the engagement letter signed with the architect and quantity surveyor, progress certificates and paid invoices, and so on. We will also ask you for photographs so that we can see the current state of the works, and a brief chronological account of how the works and events unfolded.
Our architects and lawyers will then study all the documentation, free of charge and with no obligation, and we will send you written information on the steps to take and the costs of the claim, so that you can decide whether or not it is worth claiming.
If our lawyers consider that it is not worth claiming because the amount at stake is too small, we will tell you. Unfortunately, with minor works it sometimes happens that claiming costs more than having the work put right yourself by another company. And we will tell you so.
I decide to go ahead with the claim: what happens next?
Once you have accepted our quotes, the steps are as follows:
1.- A visit by our architects to your home to gather information and draw up the expert report
2.- Sending a burofax (formal registered letter) to the contractor and/or architect, to try to reach an amicable solution before going to court. If this succeeds, our legal department would handle the negotiations until the dispute is resolved.
3.- Otherwise, our legal department would prepare the lawsuit which, together with the expert report and any other necessary documents, would be filed with the relevant court to claim the cost of repairing the poorly executed works, the balance overpaid in your favour and, where applicable, the penalty for delay. As well as any other problem with the works you may have.
If you have similar or different problems, do not hesitate to contact us, so that we can study your matter and advise you on the claim, allowing you to make a decision.
Any questions?