Who is accountable for poor finish on house renovation - builder or architect?

M

MPenny

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Hello
We did a complete renovation and extension of our house 2.5years ago. It was quite a significant build, taking 6 months. We hired an architect firm to draw up the plans and oversee the completion of the project. Unfortunately, we hired a builder that failed to deliver a quality standard of work. We were naive.

We have a number of outstanding issues e.g. draught in one section of roof leading into daughter's bedroom, upstairs landing floor is very unlevel (confirmed by an independent carpenter), main bathroom also unlevel (we've since had this rectified as shower was going to leak), skim plaster falling off surround of front door, underfloor heating erratic (we've since sorted but it cost €3k by an independent plumber). We also have a polished concrete floor throughout the downstairs which turned out to be a disaster. We've had an independent QS and we also called back the QS that was hired during the build, but both confirmed there is no structural issue, rather it's purely aesthetic. At the time of build, the builder blamed the polishing concrete firm, while they in turn blamed him. No surprise.

We were short term renting at the time of build and under severe pressure to move back into the house. The architect signed off on all the work and the builder 'promised' to sort the concrete floor etc. We foolishly believed him. A detailed list of all the issues was drawn up by the architect and sent to the builder. Needless to say, we haven't seen him since. We held back a small percentage of the builder's fee but at this stage, the builder owes us money given the outlays we've had in order to fix certain issues to-date. We still have so many issues to sort, possibly the most expensive being the concrete floor - we've had a quote of €8-10K to fix it.

As this thread is read, no doubt many readers are thinking 'silly people' and we were. We foolishly trusted the architect & builder. Neither my husband or I have any experience in this field, and with pressures of our own jobs, my mum's terminal illness, and 3 small children, it was a nightmare time for us. Stressful beyond words. At the end, we just didn't have the strength to fight and face the builder. We got to the stage of being just thankful that we had our health and a good family.

Now 2.5years on, I just had a tradesman here to review some work that needs to be done and he claims we should seek compensation. I'm not sure I have the heart to go this route and I don't want to waste money on solicitors letters which may lead to nothing. I'm also unsure as how to proceed - do I seek to claim off the builder's insurance or the architect's, given that he signed off on the building work? Where do I even start??? I rang Construction Federation of Ire, but our builder is not listed with CFI. Should I see a solicitor? Slightly reluctant to go this route as think a solicitor will only be too happy to fight my cause but we may end up with no compensation at the end of the process and a just large solicitor fee.

I guess overall I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. If most of our issues are non-structural, is it a case that we should have been more 'buyer aware'. Would we have any hope of getting any payment from the builder/architects' insurance?

thanks for taking the time to read.
Grateful for any advice please.
 
Sorry for your troubles, sounds unbelievably stressful.

I wonder why you think you were naive? It seems to me that you didn't look to cut corners, and you employed professionals. Sorry I can't offer any help, I'm just curious, because it looks like you just got let down by one or more professionals, and could not have done too much differently, other than maybe hold back more money and/or being harder on the professionals at the time.
 
Two important questions here, 1, who engaged and hired the builder. 2, what did the contract with the architect cover? Was it just the typical certification that work was done in compliance with the building regs, or was there specifics full supervision of trades / quality of finishes?
 
I'd like to echo what David Dublin has said about the stress of it all and not being too hard on yourself. Leo's points are completely valid also.

I had a similar experience a few years ago - really messy. I felt most let down by the architect who made multiple errors during the project. I didn't, but probably should have, reported her to the RIAI. There is a complaints procedure on their website.
 
I think it's not worth the hassle pursuing this. It will drive you crazy with no certainty of outcome.
 
Bronte,

You're like a member of the AAMA (Ask about money anonymous) who has fallen off the wagon this week! Good to have you "back"!!

Bronte said:
I think it's not worth the hassle pursuing this. It will drive you crazy with no certainty of outcome.
Click to expand...

And you may even be right here!
 
Thanks guys, I'm sick this week so was a bit bored.

There were a few reasons. One it gets tiring repeating the same replies over and over. Two I despair of the banks et al ever changing. Three it is amazing how many posters don't switch mortgage providers or shop around and Four posters were getting way too clever hiding details/ the truth and I felt I was getting too shrill or exasperated.

Anyway I'll see if I'll last, already had my knuckles lightly tapped.
 
Best advice i can offer the OP is to see a solicitor who will establish all the facts (and trust me there are a lot of things to be established) and then be guided by said solicitor. One obvious failing on your part, and please dont take this as a criticism, is that you should have seen to this when the problems first arose although you had your plate full at the time. Best of luck with it anyhow.
 
As you hired an Architect he was the one qualified to know if the work was being completed properly, that why their paid the big money. All Architects have to have professional indemnity, it's insurance for their work. So basically when they sign off on rubbish work (like yours) and things go wrong (like yours) the insurance pays for the work to be completed properly. Contact your architect it's his responsibility.

Professional Indemnity Insurance provides cover if you become legally liable to a member of the public following an error or omission in the professional advice or service you have provided your client and as a result have suffered a financial loss.
 
Caz said:
As you hired an Architect he was the one qualified to know if the work was being completed properly, that why their paid the big money. All Architects have to have professional indemnity, it's insurance for their work. So basically when they sign off on rubbish work (like yours) and things go wrong (like yours) the insurance pays for the work to be completed properly.
Click to expand...

OP never came back to answer questions on what the contract with the architect covered, so we have no way of knowing if the issues might be covered by PI or not.
 
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