JTC and builders

[M C plumb]

hi all please help,

i'm a heating engineer and was employed to carry out extensive work on a house refurbishment, the builder signed a JTC he ask me to quote for the work which i did i was invited to a pre site meeting with the architect, the clients and the builder to discuss my quote and price after the meeting we shook hands and said that they accepted my quote and looked forward to doing business with my company, now the builder has refused to go back into the house as the client is over demanding, im still owed a lot of money on this job and it could send me under, the builder who is a very good friend has told me the client never paid on time and only a quarter of every invoice, i have asked the client for the money owed to me and has laughed at saying if i continued in seeking money off of him he will get me done via the police for intimidation and extortion, is there anyone out there who can shed some light on this subject??????

mike

 

[Michael Gerard]

Mike,

Firstly, it is a JCT (Form of Contract), not a JTC.

From your post, it is not fully clear who has employed you (I assume it is the builder?). Therefore, before I (or anyone else) make any further comment on your situation, please confirm the following:

- What party employed you - the builder or the employer?
- Is there a written quotation from you?
- Are there any terms in writing between you and the party you have contracted with?
- Approximately what sum of monies are in dispute?

Try and be as succinct, clear and accurate with the answers as you can.

 

[M C plumb]

Thanks for your reply, and yes it was a jct and not a jtc, ok I was brought in by the builder to give a quote for the works which I did but I was brought in on the pre-site meeting to clarify my works I ask was my quotation was ok and the client said and shook my hand saying looking forward to doing business with me , I was paid through the builder via my invoices but not one invoice was paid in full and no Vat was ever paid on the invoices as well this when I stopped work the builder showed me invoices to show what he put in and what he was being paid and even his invoices wasn't paid in full this when I stopped work and asked for a meeting which never came about I am owed about £2300.00 this is for the boiler on the wall that I have to still pay for,

I hope this answer everything you need

Mike

 

[Michael Gerard]

Your quote is to the builder, so although the builder does not appear to have expressly or verbally accepted your quotation, your conduct should be enough to establish that you have contracted with the builder (I assume that your invoices was made out to the builder and not the employer). Your action therefore lies against the builder.

That said, ignore the employer (ie the builder's client). Whatever the builder says about the employer, or shows you what he has been paid by the employer, this is of no concern to you.

My advice is to submit to the builder a position statement (or Letter of Claim). This should set out the facts including making reference to the contract (verbal or otherwise), the gross valuation of the work done and the monies now owed. You should give the builder 28 days to pay or a reason for non payment. If you do not receive the monies and are unhappy with the reason, your only option is to issue proceedings (you can do this after 14 days of issuing the LOC if there is no response), but with a view of perhaps applying for summary judgement.

Because the value is small, I would not recommend adjudication (if you are able to adjudicate) or mediation (although Mr Ross may argue against me on this one!). You should be able manage the litigation process by yourself, as it is simple and cost effective and can be done online.

As with the builder against the employer - advise him to carefully read his JCT!

Best of luck.

 

[jules12345]

Maybe you would like to pt a post on my site forum for small claims...you dont have to join.

http://www.smallclaimsme.com

See if anyone is interested in taking up your case.

Regards
Jules

 

[The Resolver]

Because the value is small, I would not recommend adjudication (if you are able to adjudicate) or mediation (although Mr Ross may argue against me on this one!).

Charlie is right that a typical building dispute (ie if issues of standard of workmanship etc arise) for recovery of £2,300 would indeed likely be too complex to justify a fee low enough to be proportionate. My fees start at £500 if done online but only where its a simple issue and then rise to about £2,000. Bear in mind each party pays half.

In this case it seems fairly straight forward - liability seems 100% (although I have seen no paperwork etc so thsi is just an assumption) so its about helping you both reach an arrangement that helps you both better than falling out with each other through the courts. So let me give you a steer as you may be able to mediate yourself. You say he is a very good friend. Well can he help you as a friend in a more valuable way than ensuring you are paid in full on this one job , ie by bringing you into other jobs in future? If he helps you avoid having to be openly competitive, you might even be able to add a margin on future jobs to begin to recover your loss. In turn you can let him off the hook for now (you have 6 years to sue) but with him agreeing to continue to press the client and pay you when he succeeds. That is one route I would be looking at . If an informal chat with the builder suggest this might be 'on' then I can finalise a binding agreement for you both, and cover some satellite issues, at my bottom price.

I would also be happy to quote to mediate the dispute between the builder and client which is likely to be far more proportionate cost wise than litigation or arbitration.

One preliminary issue to clear up at outset is whether your terms allowed you to retain ownership of the boiler until payment?

 

[Michael Gerard]

That is a sensible idea from Graham - it is the builder's dispute which really needs settling and thus, retrieving your monies owed should also be that much easier to secure, although it appears that the OP is in bas need of the cash and perhaps cannot wait that long.

Along with mediation between the builder and employer, I would have recommended [contractual] adjudication (the JCT has an adjudication clause as well as an arbitration clause), but from case authority, a business attempting to adjudicate against a consumer is fraught with jurisdictional difficulties.

Graham also makes a valid point concerning retention of title, but in my experience, even if there is a valid Romalpa clause, it is impossible to implement once a fixture or fitting (in this case a boiler), is annexed to the fabric of the building.

 

[The Resolver]

Graham also makes a valid point concerning retention of title, but in my experience, even if there is a valid Romalpa clause, it is impossible to implement once a fixture or fitting (in this case a boiler), is annexed to the fabric of the building.

Yes but recovery will depend on whether the boiler can be removed without leaving damage. If not then dangerous to seek to recover. But its something for the builder to have up his negotiating sleeve- even though may never enforce.