Customer doesnt want us to complete!

[MTI]

Ok guys looking for some advice. Will be contacting my scheme provider and LABC tomorrow.

basically builder starts wiring an extension and then calls me in to finish it and sign off. I told them i cant do that and it will need putting right as i cant even see their first fix due to plastering. Expressed this to customer too.

customer asks you to do work in other areas to be renovated to include putting right existing (not builders work) and alter/upgrade things to suit building works. You agree to work direct for customer on agreed day rate plus materials.

You do all you can for customer and help out builders by fitting in with their work to suit as you go along. Bits get done here and there as needed. Things are incomplete here and there and certain things need putting right as agreed with customer prior to works starting

Builder takes tons of cash from customer and requests more and more in a short period of time equating to more than agreed price. Customer gets upset although you have worked directly for customer and are not involved because builder quoted a ballpark in his amount for electrical and you told customer that is nothing to do with you and you agreed a day rate and estimate timescale. I did a ton of work like i was on price!

Customer makes part payment for a couple of days work and materials delivered and is happy. You then go away for a few days to come back and find customer is v upset and cant afford to continue. On top of this, builder has tried to do more work to get further money, not be kicked off job and even has installed more circuits in many places, altered yours and caused chaos in a nutshell!

Given that id first and second fixed an area hoping to come and test and energize on my return to find out its been altered massively is not my fault. Another example is one area/new extension required a sub CU fed from main board so id installed some circuits before i went away and did a bit of 2nd fix here and there and mounted new said board. Builder alters and adds cables in non prescribed zones!!!! to suit further work whilst your away so they can board areas.

At the end of all this, customer will not pay up and i cannot complete the works i did, remove and put right the wrong bits that builders did nor test and cert. I cant even say if alterations are energized now where id been working and not got to complete as along with others were told to pack up and leave on what was just supposed to be another normal day at work!

its a real royal mess! please advise guys and please do not shoot me down. this is out of my control! and i said id never work for builders and i didnt - i worked for customer who shot me instead! out of pocket and out of mind!

 

[telectrix]

a frre thanks given to the first member who points out what is wrong with those bottles in my last post.

 

[valleybilly]

Until they pay up for the work u have done you don't have to cert nowt , your scheme provider should tell you this . Energize nothing till you get the cash . Inform your client all cables will need to be ripped out and re done £££££££££££££ costing even more if done again by a third party then play the waiting game . Once they pay you , don't finish the job for as long as they've kept you waiting for your dollars as this is the only justice you'll probably get .

 

[R G]

I had this out with an NIC inspector ,I told him I do not issue certs until payment is made, hesaid the payments are a seperate issue and certs still have to be issued!!

 

[telectrix]

well, he would. it's not his family that will starve if you don't get paid. sometimes witholding a cert is the only way to deal with these shyster clients.

 

[R G]

I had this out with an NIC inspector ,I told him I do not issue certs until payment is made, hesaid the payments are a seperate issue and certs still have to be issued!!

On another note though , if all you have done is first fix , then certs cant be issued anyway.

 

[MTI]

The thing is technically it is no longer my work and any work i did is incomplete. where do i stand? I have read that certs are seperate to any other civil or contract agreement. At the end of the day, if a mechanic built a car and then a paint sprayer altered a mechanical part for any reason then the mechanic is not at fault

 

[R G]

well, he would. it's not his family that will starve if you don't get paid. sometimes witholding a cert is the only way to deal with these shyster clients.

Exactly , I still would hold it back, That's the scams for you , they don't care about you!!

 

[chilliwilly]

Deleted.

 

[MTI]

On another note though , if all you have done is first fix , then certs cant be issued anyway.

some first and second fix but the thing is its been altered. Say you do a job (in general) and walk away having issued a cert for it and someone alters it then the cert is void. If it isnt at test and cert stage for the whole installation then no cert can be issued as you say but either way, its not my work now

 

[chilliwilly]

I had this out with an NIC inspector ,I told him I do not issue certs until payment is made, hesaid the payments are a seperate issue and certs still have to be issued!!

Yes that's right, certs have to be issued due to the nature of how the eaw regs are worded, if there's a loss your still liable even if you haven't been paid. But if there's no traceable agreement and only cash exchanged you woudn't be liable.

LABC is a grey area, as would be the case with a builder carrying out works with planning and not completing and the job not being passed.

 

[Gavin A]

a frre thanks given to the first member who points out what is wrong with those bottles in my last post.

that's easy. They're empty.

 

[moospark]

a frre thanks given to the first member who points out what is wrong with those bottles in my last post.

Theyre empty

 

[MTI]

Deleted.

cash and no agreement here but bring in the forensics and open a can of worms! i just gave a vague invoice for works to date at short notice in hope of payment before i left site for the final time but it didnt work. I usually attach my final invoice and any agreements or letters with the cert on completion. Thats what you get when a builder in a pub invites you on site

 

[telectrix]

exactly. worry not. do not, under any circumstances, issue any paperwork whatever, with the exception of an invoice for work done, and/or a threatening letter. the customer is in breach of contract. ( even a verbal one) and as such is in the wrong from a legal point of view. what proof does he have that any of the work is yours? if you want redxress for what is owing, then go the legal route. if not, just walk away, but make sure you grass the buggers up to LABC and your cps scheme.

 

[R G]

The thing is technically it is no longer my work and any work i did is incomplete. where do i stand? I have read that certs are seperate to any other civil or contract agreement. At the end of the day, if a mechanic built a car and then a paint sprayer altered a mechanical part for any reason then the mechanic is not at fault

No , you should be o/k there , you may have installed a few bits but work is incomplete , so no cert can be issued until completion, the customer has broken the agreement