Don’t mess with this builder

[Dustydazzler]

Furious builder destroys £500k home and fills garden with rubble after payment dispute

 

[DPG]

Be interesting hearing both sides of that I reckon.

 

[LukeD]

There is a LOT more going on there ! And The builder will come off badly in the end .YOu cant wreck or remove stuff like that in law

 

[David Prosser]

The owners 200 miles away but has chosen to stay on holiday rather than return to try and sort it out??

Croyde is in Devon not Cornwall!

 

[i=p/u]

No payment what do they expect... this is where architect should have control and pay accordingly but think they charge upto 20% for this service.

Builders take advantage all time . They for one aint loosing out if the cost spirals.

 

[LukeD]

If the builder is a cowboy then hard luck .But all this rubbish in peoples terms about "stuff belongs to us until paid for " is worth zero f's in a court. You cannot remove stuff from a property .Its theft .

 

[i=p/u]

Cant pay we take away. Only fair.

 

[ipf]

What was that one a couple of years back where a scouser drove a digger through a Travelodge causing about half a million quid's worth of damage because of owed wages? There was a film of it. He locked himself in the cab and just went berserk.

Found it but I don't know how to copy it to here.
Type 'Travelodge' in 'search'. It was a post by LeeSK

edit, Most have probably seen it but quite a few haven't, so have a look.

​

 

[snowhead]

Did £443k worth of damage and got 5years in jail although that's probably 18months in real money.
All over £600 owed.

 

[LukeD]

Many stories flying around that this is a "Planning permission scam" type of thing .The owner hoping the house will need taking down and he can then rebuild .JUST like the expensive house in london that "fell down " 2 years ago .100% scam !

 

[7029 dave]

If the builder is a cowboy then hard luck .But all this rubbish in peoples terms about "stuff belongs to us until paid for " is worth zero f's in a court. You cannot remove stuff from a property .Its theft .

If goods are not payed for how can that be theft to remove, surely its stealing on the home owner for not paying for the goods.

 

[Dustydazzler]

If the goods can be removed without causing any further damage then I don’t see any issue with a contractor taking back his supplies.

If the goods / materials can’t be removed without causing damages then let the courts deal with and sue the customer

 

[Rockingit]

If the builder is a cowboy then hard luck .But all this rubbish in peoples terms about "stuff belongs to us until paid for " is worth zero f's in a court. You cannot remove stuff from a property .Its theft .

Sorry chap, but you're wrong there. Under law it's called 'Title of Goods'. It's fundamentally no different to buying a car on HP - it's not yours until you've paid every last penny of the agreement otherwise the HP firm is entirely valid in towing it away. What you'll find in most T&C's is a clause that states title of goods does not exchange until full payment has been made - in other words if a job is £50 materials and £500 labour then if there's £250 been exchanged the customer can't claim they've paid for the materials and consider the labour only worth £200. CRUCIALLY, though, this HAS to be in your trading terms.

What you can't do is cause another offence in enacting retrieval - so trespass, entering, damage etc etc - that's where you'd need a court to appoint baillifs for you. But if for arguments sake it was a pallet of bricks on a drive then absolutely nothing to stop you grabbing it back.

 

[LukeD]

Sorry chap, but you're wrong there. Under law it's called 'Title of Goods'. It's fundamentally no different to buying a car on HP - it's not yours until you've paid every last penny of the agreement otherwise the HP firm is entirely valid in towing it away. What you'll find in most T&C's is a clause that states title of goods does not exchange until full payment has been made - in other words if a job is £50 materials and £500 labour then if there's £250 been exchanged the customer can't claim they've paid for the materials and consider the labour only worth £200. CRUCIALLY, though, this HAS to be in your trading terms.

What you can't do is cause another offence in enacting retrieval - so trespass, entering, damage etc etc - that's where you'd need a court to appoint baillifs for you. But if for arguments sake it was a pallet of bricks on a drive then absolutely nothing to stop you grabbing it back.

Not exactly wrong .If the gate is locked you cannot force , you cannot enter a property without consent etc .The police would arrest any trades if they entered a house etc and started to remove items . What happens with a court order is very different .And those that dont like to pay tend to know the law and how to use it

 

[LukeD]

If the goods can be removed without causing any further damage then I don’t see any issue with a contractor taking back his supplies.

If the goods / materials can’t be removed without causing damages then let the courts deal with and sue the customer

Denial of access etc .He has to enter into/onto private property .Its a messy game .I know someone who got arrested .charged and a criminal record for theft etc due to this many moons ago. Far too many sharks out their .Thats why 3 embassies In london have to pay in full now before any work is carried out at their properties etc .They just got use to thinking they didnt have to pay . At the end of the day . If a guy has done work . the customer is not paying and they are in the customers house .Its going to be a real issue if the trade person wants to start removing stuff or wanting to access the property .In most cases it will never be worth the problems with police etc . Especially if it turn into a fight