AboutPeter M. Elliott Expertise First response to queries regarding extensions of time, variations orders, site instructions and payment using FIDIC and other forms of Conditions of Contract, based on English Law, and derivatives only.
Experience Value . . .
It's unwise to pay too much, but it's unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do.
The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it's well to add something for the risk you run.
And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.
. . . John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)
"We are too poor to buy something cheap"
.Romanian Proverb 2002
A lean compromise is better than a fat lawsuit.
George Herbert (English poet 1593-1633)
I said it in Hebrew, I said it in Dutch,
I said it in German and Greek:
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That English is what you speak!" Hunting of the Snark - Lewis Caroll
Match your presentation to the reader!
The joy of food lasts but an hour, of sleep but a day, of a woman, but a month, but the joy of a building lasts a lifetime. Syrian proverb.
Comments and observations leading to improvements in the translation of FIDIC Red & Yellow books into Romanian prior to approval by FIDIC (reference 'Preface to the Romanian edition')
Question We have had construction in my master bath going on since November of last year. They have set in chipped tiles, grouted in spacers, "borrowed" tools that were never returned, used my towels to wipe up their grout and paint (they don't speak English, and it did wash out), they borrowed my child's play broom to sweep up their messes and then broke it, hid it in the garage. Put a bunch of our bathroom items in a box - for the garbage man. The tile job is sloppy at best, not level in places, too close together and too far apart in others. Shower door is in crooked and he sawed off the top of it, then tried to hide it with caulking, broke the towel bar/handle on the shower door and spliced a piece of metal, this was jagged and therefore dangerous. They have come out to fix and re-fix problems, they have re-installed a new shower door even. We have let many things slide because we simply want to have our bathroom back. Now, the door of the shower does not close and lock properly; and there is a chipped tile in the shower they need to fix. I have made many notes and have taken pictures.
I had told the contractor in the beginning, we wanted a waterproof backing in the shower and on the floors as the builders simply mounted the tiles on the sheetrock, thus the bad leaks now. He assured me that would be done....
We have had another company come in and finish the bathroom floor out; they discovered no board but yet a product called dura-rock. This product looks similiar to lava rock with all the holes in it, it's gray, and has styrofoam balls in it. It crumbles easily. While they were doing the floor they knocked a side of my tub step and most of the side of the step fell because it was held up by only two nails and had that dura-rock on it.
I am tired of calling these people out for things that should have been done correctly in the first place. When I do call, they show up whenever they feel like it, rarely a phone call.
The supervisor they had for the job, had wonderful ideas and was likeable. However, when I had a problem he would tell me, "That's the best we can do, we are only human." He has since quit and come to find out, the female owner told me they hired him away from a bank! He didn't have experience. The new tile layers from another company had also told me that we have too large of a tile on the shower floor (8x8); it should be no bigger than 2x2, due to the sloping and weight of a person and the water.
We are so discouraged and have spent too much money as it is. We have a special needs child and this is where I money has to be spent.
Your opinion is appreciated.
Answer Hi Wendy,
Builders from hell! You can find them everywhere. You have done correctly in keeping photographs and written records of everything.
Get quotations from three reputable companies to redo all your work. Advise the original contractors that you intend to appoint the most economically advantageous of the bidders, if they do not repair/complete the work within 3 weeks of the date of the letter. Also that you intend to claim all your reasonable costs, including replacement of broken items, in repairing the work from them. Get a friendly lawyer to write the last letter, without cost, pro bono.
Although you do not state the cost of the work, it is possible that you could make the claim through your local small claims court, with its simplified procedure. Plenty of information about the procedures on the web.
If you have a special needs child, then it is likely that you are a member of a support group. Get another member to represent you, so that they are not emotionally involved. It is essential that all contacts are objective and reasonable.
Finally, if all else fails, contact the local media and give the Contractor's some adverse publicity to warn others of the quality of their work. It may not get your bathroom finished, but it is very satisfying. Again, it is essential that all contacts are objective and reasonable.
