Redress against faulty work

[e-griff]

I have had a job done by a registered artisan (SIRET) which was paid for but has subsequently proved unsatisfactory. He will not respond to my appeals to come and inspect and fix the problem/complete the work. Have I any redress via the registration authorities to lodge a formal complaint, or to my local mairie?  What are my rights?

 

JohnG

[cooperlola]

Unsatisfactory how?  I only ask because my instinct would be to claim against his insurance if his work is proving to be faulty in some way.  I had some problems recently with completed work and my own household insurers (Pacifica) handled the claim for me.

[e-griff]

he 'repaired' a leak in the roof. he told me what (he thought) the problem was, and I think he did do the work to fix that, but  when the rains came again sometime later, it leaked just the same, and now my ceiling is cracking and crumbling. Bottom line - he was supposed to 'fix the leak' - and he hasn't.

[cooperlola]

Although your situation is a little different, you could approach it in the same way.  We found a lot of damage in the bathroom ceiling which was a direct result of the work done by our roofers.  My own insurers assessed the problem, paid in full for the repairs, and made the claim direct from the roofers.  We never had to argue the t*ss with anybody - it was all done for us.  We had to wait four weeks between the initial claim and the arrival of the assessors as, we were told, it is a statutory requirement to leave a four week period of grace for the other party's insurance to respond.  But it worked and the money was in our bank account 48 hours after the assessor left.  We got it all fixed at no cost to us (although our excess was withheld until my own insurers got their money back from the builder's insurance company.)

[Chancer]

Well if he quoted for and did the work pertaining to what he thought it was, unless the leak is coming through his repair I dont see how you can be unsatisfied with the work, with the diagnosis perhaps.

You would only have recourse to his insurers if he had replaced your roof in its entirety or just maybe if his repair has failed but I somehow doubt it.

[e-griff]

as I said. I told him we had a leak, and showed it to him. He went up and inspected it, said it was the flashing around the chimney, and I agreed he should replace it. But it leaks as bad as ever (which we only found out  months later when we had heavy rain). HE is the expert on roofs, not me, and it was his diagnosis. We've told him it leaks, but he hasn't come back to look at it even. Either it wasn't the cause of the leak, or it was, but he's fitted the new one badly - no other explanation.

You seem to be saying that if I took my car to a garage with a funny noise, and the bloke said 'it's the shock absorber causing that noise' and I agreed to have it replaced, then picked it up and the noise was still there, that would be somehow okay?

Not in my book. :-(

 

 

[Chancer]

But unfortunately here in France E-griff the artisan and judiciary world do not use your book.

The old "he is the expert not me" is a very English phrase of speech, the man is an artisan, not an expert which is a metier in itself in France, and in any case did you pay this artisan/expert for his diagnosis or just for the work specified on his devi?

If you are determined to pursue this roofer you will need to engage and pay your own expert for a report before you go to a tribunal, this this cannot be another artisan and has to be a bona fide tribunal approved expert.

Re your scenario with the garage, I think that you are trying to put words in my mouth, and whilst I would not say that it is OK, that sort of thing happens every day in garages the world over, your cry of "you are the experts" is perhaps less likely to be met with a gallic shrug in a UK garage.

Edit, If it is any consolation I had almost exactly the same situation with some roofing work which was done whilst I was travelling, the devi included fitting a chimney flashing where there was just a broken cement fillet, this amongst things was not done but the roofing company was paid by my friend in my absence.

I complained and they came and fitted a zinc flashing around the chimney although just shrugged their shoulders at the other missing items, te roof continued to leak, I went back several times, the patron like most others around here was charm itself, apologised profusely every time and promised to have a guy come the very next day just as they always do but of course no-one ever came.

In the end I demolished the chimney and in doing so found that the leak was nothing to do with their flashing but the existing zinc valley at rear (highest) face of the chimney that had perforated.

 

[e-griff]

I want my leak fixed - that is what I asked for. The man advertises as a roofing expert.

Anyway, I have asked a couple of new blokes, telling them the story about the failed repair, and I shall spread the word locally on the grapevine about the man. My problem, you understand, is while I understand how he might have got the diagnosis wrong (as the flashing was old anyway) not to have the pride or professional attitude to come back and try to fix the leak is unforgiveable. Shoddy. And that is no different in the UK or France, whatever excuses might be paraded.

I'm quite used to French ways. Several years ago I had a battle with a French car insurer, which after two years I won, after involving the French Commission for Insurers (whose French was so complex I could hardly understand it!) and who the MD was unfortunate enough to misquote in writing to me. The NEW MD of the company wrote to me personally and apologised, and they paid all the money owed, plus the two years' interest.

However, let it be said, the majority of the time, in fifteen years we have had good service and good relationships with various artisans. I find no difference between France and the UK in that - but there are bad 'uns on both sides of the channel. :-)

[woolybanana]

Check with your house insurance company as you should have cover to pursue the guy. They will engage the expert and do the rest.

[e-griff]

see below

[e-griff]

Thanks for that. Anyway, I just realised that the original question has been rather forgotten. Regardless of the individual case (and why I posted here for general interest) is what I asked: Have I any redress via the registration authorities to lodge a formal complaint, or to my local mairie?  I (doh!) explored the forums here a bit and found some info here : http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/465587/ShowPost.aspx

[Chezstevens]

Sadly some "roofers" appear to be the same.  In the UK we had a roofer that put no nails in the new build - after a lot of pressure, including pulling out the regs, NHBC upheld our claim.

Here, I explained to a Brit "builder" that I thought it was the flashing ... Oh no, it is the membrane the wrong way so we need to lift the tiles at the Gable end - 400 euros.  Next rain, leaked in same place .... went up and sorted flashing, surprise, surprise nothing since. The only satisfaction is that his competence appears to keep him unemployed for long periods.