Suing a builder (or his insurer) for poor workmanship

[frank]

Hi.

An elderly English friend of ours has a second home near to us that was once a barn which he had renovated about seven years back. The last time he was here he there had been a lot of rain during the weeks before and he noticed a strong smell of damp on the lower level of the building. There was no visible mold but he had the feeling that behind the tiled wall in one room there must have been some sort of water penetration. He's sure, and so am I, that there may be some nasty molds back there. I feel dizzy when I go down there and he always says he feels quite sick after a while when he stays in the building. Our friend was living in the UK at the time the builder was doing the renovation so was not aware of how it was being done but was told some time ago by his neighbours that the builder had not gone deep enough with the delta MS (I think it's called) and had not gone completely round that particular corner of the building, thereby not ensuring adequate protection from rain water penetrating the stone walls below ground level. So there's a good chance the plasterboard and insulation behind the tiles are harbouring mold.

The builder has since gone bankrupt but did have insurance when he did the work. Has anyone any idea how our friend should tackle this problem? He daren't live in the place because he says he feels so ill when he's there so he wants to see if he can sue the builder or his insurers for the poor workmanship and for the costs of having the work redone or even claim some sort of compensation because the house may now be uninhabitable.

Does he go to a lawyer of some sort, a notaire perhaps? Is there any sort of legal protection for situations like this? Any ideas of what the costs for such legislative action may be? I think he's right to be worried that he may lose this building completely because the work was not done properly years ago by the builder.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Frank

[andyh4]

First port of call is to get another builder or an engineer to establish if there is a problem and if so what that problem is. You might contact the insurance company and ask if they would like to nominate an individual or company, but do not be surprised if they decline at this stage.

Only once you have a report showing a deficiency in the work done can your friend begin to think about taking this further. Having a feeling - no matter how strong - that there is a problem is as useful as a chocolate fire guard. A strong smell of damp may be down to nothing more than poor ventilation.

Once in possession of some facts then your friend will be in a stronger position.

[Val_2]

If he decides to go the legal route via avocats and tribunals etc, he will wait years for any sort of judgement to take place plus a court appointed expert would have to make a visit and do a report which costs from €2500 and he will have to pay this possibly at the outset and then claim it back if he wins.The original artisan is no longer in the frame nor liable now but there should have been insurance details given by him to the client so to be honest, first port of call is his own property insurer to get the ball rolling and take it from there before going very very very expensive legal route. Hopefully it will be a simple remedy which to be honest would be worth paying out for rather than pay thousands and thousands and wait years for what would probably be a non-goer with litigation!

[Val_2]

Something important I forgot to mention is that should someone else touch this problem even just poking around with it, they then are then deemed responsible being the last to touch it and not the original artisan or his insurers - that was made very clear by a court appointed expert in our case and people make this mistake very often of investigating problems before an official can and do more damage than good!

[dave21478]

Its a sad truth, but yes...the legal side could take years, possibly even decades to be resolved and will involve massive upfront costs that your friend has absolutely no guarantee of getting back, even if he were to "win" in some cases.

Not housing obviously, but a friend went to court over bodged car repairs done by the local "mechanic" who afterwards went bust. It took well over 2 years to resolve that relatively simple case and despite winning she was still very much out of pocket and had been forced to buy a new car in the interim as hers couldnt be repaired until various experts took their sweet time inspecting it. With hindsight she says she should have taken the repairs on the chin and not bothered with the courts.

[PaulT]

'An elderly friend' - he also needs to think if he wants the stress at his time of life.