problems getting builder to do snag list?

Hello all- am in the process of buying a 3 bed in Lusk ( Chapel Farm). Builder is being very difficult about doing anything on the snag list!
we hired a professional to do the snag and he compiled a 10 page list. some of it is quite minor and we can accept that it will not be all done even though we are paying a lot of money.

However some other things are not so small ( eg uneven floor in bedroom ) but the foreman is insisting that this will not even be looked at!

where do we stand? we are insisting that they do some of the bigger jobs. they keep saying 'either take it or leave it'...

what to do? any advice? rang the IHBA today but they seem more interested in 'after sales'...

thanks

Discuss this with your solicitor - though you will probably find the balls are stacked in the builders favour. It probably is a case of haggling, moaning, threatening, getting the lady of the house to burst into tears on the foremans shoulder.

tell the builder-no snagging, no payment-that should light a fire under his This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language..


daithi

daithi said:

tell the builder-no snagging, no payment-that should light a fire under his This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language..


daithi

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It's not that easy- The builder will point you towards the clause in the contract the buyer has signed which states that you can't withhold payment based on snags. He is sitting on your 10% deposit at this stage, and he is entitled to hold on to it if you pull out.

True, but one could use the contract in combination with the safety standards: 1% floor gradient/slope is about the most that can be accepted for safety reasons,(when the house is too dangerous to enter.....) though I'm not sure about floors in particular but there is a fixed maximum of the slope for stairs for example. What so ever, it might be more than what the engineers drawings/sales brochures are advertising. Get legal advice.

roney said:

Hello all- am in the process of buying a 3 bed in Lusk ( Chapel Farm). Builder is being very difficult about doing anything on the snag list!
we hired a professional to do the snag and he compiled a 10 page list. some of it is quite minor and we can accept that it will not be all done even though we are paying a lot of money.

Click to expand...

Was that professional charging by the page ?
10 pages sounds like a badly built place to me or did he put every mickey mouse thing down on it.U say the floor in the bedroom is uneven do you mean the whole thing or have some of the boards bellied,how uneven is it ?

nah he didn't charge us by the page. he's a friend so i reckon he was being very thorough. (sp?) some of it was minor as i mentioned (ladder marks to be removed etc - which we can look after ourselves) - but other bits are not so minor. eithe way i reckon the builder needs to finish the job.

i reckon he is just trying to get out of doing the work - we are gonna sit tight and tell our solicitor to let their solicitor know that we ain't completing the sale until the bigger jobs are sorted....we are in no rush to move in.
if the builder wants his dough he can finish the job.

the overall finish is pretty good but i estimate it would take 2 builders half-a-day to sort out what is left on the snag list.... the floors have a few bumps (indentations etc) . finish on the bannisters is poor. minor stuff maybe - but we want them to smooth it over...so its up to them when the deal is done.

gotta sit tight and hopefully he will get the finger out and finish the job.

many thanks to all for good replies

RainyDay said:

It's not that easy- The builder will point you towards the clause in the contract the buyer has signed which states that you can't withhold payment based on snags. He is sitting on your 10% deposit at this stage, and he is entitled to hold on to it if you pull out.

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I thought there was some sort of arbitration process.
And the builder can give a 21 day notice to close. Likewise the purchaser can do this but if no agreement is made I thought the buyer could pull out but no one really wants to do that.

I had a problems with scratched windows when I closed last year. All foreman are like that...if they weren't they wouldn't be in the job or they'd being making every change request from every buyer. I did a bit of ranting...making comparisons to buying other items. Like a car...would you buy a new car with scratched windows etc...and this house was 10 times the price of the car...I did get brand new window panes downstairs but they had to be ordered and it delayed closure by over 2 months.

Now when I see the foreman he's nice and friendly.

Go through the 10 page list and get a summary of the most important items on the snag...the items you won't close without being resolved.

And get the advice of your solicitor...that's what you are paying him/her. for.

hmmm. after hasslin' us for a week to do the final inspeaction and us telling him 'no way until the main things on the snag are sorted' the buikder has now gone all quiet...hmmm. into a kinda mexican standoff here methinks..
but today word from the builders solicitor saying that they will 'rescind' the contract unless a final inspection takes place asap.

can they do that??

we still ain't closing the deal until the house is right. as someone said on another thread you wouldn't buy a new car if there were scratches all over it??

cheers