Should I sue builders 6 years after a shoddy job?

Hi there, this is a long shot. We got an extension done completed end 2000. Our roof is a disaster and has been leaking since early 2001. They came out fixed it etc and we left it for a while. Finally in 2007 we decided to get our act together (after 2 kids - quite distracting) and contacted a specialist (building) legal advisor. She tells us that it is past the 6 year deadline although we might still have a case. She does investigative work which costs us 4k - and the result is that while she thinks we might have a case, it's past the deadline and it is looking like it could end up costing a lot to fight this and what happens if it goes 50/50. Based on the small amount of work already costing us 4k, we decide that we'd have to pump a lot more money in and since to fix the roof would be about 15k, we decide to bite the bullet. The roof is only short of needing buckets at this stage and we can't face a winter of roof conversation again. The fact is the roof ends lower than the guttering so it's bad design with the water facing an uphill struggle to get into the gutters..and the rest, badly stuck together, wrong tiles etc.

So it would seem that house insurance is no good to us. We tried this once and they told us that house insurance does not cover bad workmanship and the only recourse is the builder. Any other sources that we might be able to claim - other than the builder of course.
Thanks
Wishbone.

Re: Can we get money from anywhere?

I assume you didnt get an architect or engineer to certify the work after it was complete?? i dont think you have any recourse to be honest....

Re: Can we get money from anywhere?

I would be slow to go down the legal route. You should have sued within 6 years of the negligence/breach of contract.

€4k also sounds high for investigative work - is this just the solicitor or are there barristers fees and engineers fees included?

Re: Can we get money from anywhere?

It's way too late. Even if the legal team can get around the barrier of 6 years, your case would not sound very good.

You will just have to fix it yourselves.

Brendan

wishbone said:

We got an extension done completed end 2000.

....

The fact is the roof ends lower than the guttering so it's bad design

Click to expand...

Very hard to blame your builder for a design error that was presumably made long before the project reached construction stage.

Thanks guys - we believe we're too late alright. Let's call it life education. I just wanted other opinions, which I got thanks. Work is starting on Monday which will mean us looking up at blue sky, or rather rain clouds for up to 2 weeks. We will be quick to sue if there are any problems this time around. Are there companies out there who come out and indepedently check a job after to make sure it's done correctly? Roofer is a Cert Member of the National Guild of Master Craftsmen. Wishbone.

how bout properly checking out who you get to do work for you and monitoring what they are doing. how bad a job was it in the first place if you never got round to doing anything about it for 6 years. ive read nothing about you trying to sort it out with the original builders. the original title of your thread was something like "how can i get money" and now you will be looking to sue the next builder.

Yes this time around we've done as much background checks as we can on the roofer, and it would appear he has done some council work as well as others, and have spoken to architects etc. We certainly do not want to get caught out again. We did get the original builders back 2 or 3 times, and it looked like it was fixed. Husband did some work on it too. Strangely this year it became worse - probably due to felt rotting? and it was then we realised the design was poor and went to sue. As for looking for money - if we're entitled to it through some insurance why not? We have been taken for a ride by the previous builder, too trusting and slow to move perhaps, but this time we will definitely be more cautious and not be the nice people sitting back. This is an expensive learning curve for us and we are not the baddies...

Maybe the damage got worse this year because your husband done some work, is he in the trade himself? How is the design faulty, and why is it necessary the fault of the builder? If the builder was working to plans who done the plans?
While i have sympathy you have a leaking roof i pity the roofer coming in to do this job. You have a confrontational attitude from the off and by the sounds of it you will have hi pestered.
Just a couplle of questions on the original roof
Who doen the plans?
Who signed off on the plans?
What work did your husband do on the roof?
Whay didnt you chase the insurers for money before this?
While it impossible to say what is wrong with the roof just remember that builders build and designers design

Dead right we'll be pestering the roofer! We're not confrontational at all, I think that's our problem...

I agree the architect who looked after the initial building of extension is at fault, but apparently we can't chase him either. We did try house insurance already but they said no. I'm sorry I don't know the answers to all your other questions...husband is not in the trade, maybe he made it worse who knows, he only did a bit of mortar on the points (or whatever the term is).

An interesting point though - should the roofer have (drawings) plans to work to?

Can I ask who was the specialist building legal advisor? Was this a solicitor or an engineer? What investigative work did she do?

It seems like you're past the stage where you could mount a legal action ( but note this is not always as clearcut as 6 years from the date work completed- sometimes the period of limitation runs from the date you realised something wrong- or when you realised how bad the problem is) but I think you should query your house insurance. There are firms of loss assessors who might help you with an insurance claim. Remember the insurance companies first position is usually that you cannot claim so you have to be very sure they are right before you admit defeat on that front!

the roofer would have had plan to work to which would have been designed byy the architect. If the arch surpervised the project then he should have pointed out the fault ( if it existed) in the work. If it is defective design why are you blaming the builder? I know builder get a bad rap but the build to designs. Pestering the new roofer will not help you one iota and will probably **** him off to the extent that you may shoot yourself in the foot. Pay a professional to do any pestering becasue there is nothing more annoying than someone which little or no knowledge telling you what to do

Just to clear up the "insurance" aspect of this issue.

Household policies, which are standard thoughout the industry, only cover specified perils i.e. storm, flood, escape of water, fire etc.

If the root cause is shoddy workmnship and/or poor design then there is no cover

There will be no perils called "defective workmanship" or "defective design" or "builder made a b######s of it".

The only option is to sue the builder however as a previous poster mentioned the time to make a claim starts running from the date of incident or date of knowledge of something being wrong. This is a six year period. When did you first realise there was a problem ?

€4,000 for investigative work is ridiculous. A consultant engineer should charge a max of €1,500/2000 incl VAt and his report would be sufficient in itself to satisfy any court that the builder/designe would have a case to answer.

Having said all that a solicitor would have to be retained and the costs start mounting.

Another question is : Is the builder a limited company and still in business ?- Has he been wound up or in liquidation ? If so, pointless pursuing him.