How does one select an honest builder

[Gwin]

Finally settled in my new home(well new as in moved in, in September) and started planning renevations. I was very wary of employing tradesmen as have heard so many horror stories, so asked for recommendations, read local English rag reviews and interviewed severial potental builders before making my choice. Big Mistake! After a large hole (door size) left in a supporting wall with no support and two floors laid with no damp proofing and concret with no reinforcing (allthough the builder tried to convince me there were re enforcing fibres in it ( concret firm confirmed it was plain concret, no adatives or re enforcing fibre) field drains incased in concret, no stone lining ditch and kitchen waste connected to same pipes. When challanged builder stated, Oh thats ok to put  waste into field drain and soak away, a heavy rain and that will wash all the fat out of the pipes. Field drain was to help rectify flooding from neighbours property which is undermining my utility wall.

So finally I lost patience and sent the builder packing.

Question  :even with a siret number how does one know your not employing a cowboy

This man has a history of bad workmanship, only found out since sacking him

5000 Euros out of pocket what redress do I have, if any, his contract is worded very cleaverly, no mention of re enforcing floors just general discription of laying new floors.

And finally being a women by myself how do I find an honest competant builder?[:'(]   

[Gyn_Paul]

You poor thing, you do seem to have found a complete rotter. I think really the answer to your question lies in your pen-pen-ultimate sentence: 

"This man has a history of bad workmanship, only found out since sacking him"

No matter how good a builder - or indeed any tradesman - seems to be, I reckon you only get a full story from previous clients. No artisan worth his sel should be afraid of giving you the names of past clients whom you can talk to.

p

[Iceni]

[quote user="Gwin"]

And finally being a women by myself how do I find an honest competant builder?[:'(]   

[/quote]

Personal recommendation is the best way. Visit other sites of his, past and present, and listen to his clients. Other than that pray hard.

John

[Jacqui Too]

[quote user="Gwin"]

............And finally being a women by myself how do I find an honest competant builder?[:'(]   

[/quote]

You do seem to have had some bad luck!

But you must learn from your mistakes, first of all why did you let him do so much work that you where dissatisfied with? surely if the alarm bells were ringing why didn't you sack him earlier?

My husband is a building contractor here in the UK, so I know what I am talking about [:)] my advice would be: Ask other people for recommendations, these could be at the Marie, neighbours, friends, never the local rag! good tradesmen don't need to advertise in places like that, they are to busy! Yellow pages are a bit better!(I know you said you had done this, but) Meet the person face to face and tell them what you want and ask how they will do this (hopefully you can spot the difference between a genuine artisan and a Bullsh*ter). Next ask them to give you a devis for a small job and see how they do that. If you are satisfied you can ask them to do further work. Always write down exactly what you want to be included in the devis and check that the wording is correct, always ask what their terms are and what guarantees they will give you.

Know what you want doing and find out how it should be done properly, so you can spot if someone is cutting corners!

Unless you can afford a project manager then you must be one yourself [:-))] If they think you wouldn't recognize a proper job, that's when they could take you for a ride!

One last thing: money isn't everything, don't always pick the cheapest you may end up paying more or have an inferior job done.

Good luck