Nightmare builder - New driveway needing to be dug up and re-done

[tld2004]

Hi All

New here and after some advice please.

We contracted a local builder to do a resin driveway comprising of excavating/digging out front garden, re-build outer walls, prepare new driveway foundations, lay tarmac base, and then finally the resin finish. Circa £20k's worth of work.

We've had 'mares with the builder from the start, with the job overrunning to the point where he disappeared for months on end and only coming back for a few hours here and there...but to summarise, he basically did all the work up until just before the resin stage (as his resin sub-contractor had fallen ill and was unable to lay the resin finish), so he got in his tarmac contractor who laid the tarmac, and then said he couldn't do anymore.

Wasn't a massive issue at the time - despite there being all sorts of drama's with the builder, we were 90% of the way there, and just needed to order the resin and find another resin contractor to provide the labour, which was what we did...

The resin contractor we found ourselves came round to inspect and was not happy with the levels of the tarmac that had been laid stating it had not been laid flat (meaning the driveway is 'domed' in the middle) and the tarmac height is too high by the block border so the resin would spill over the edges of the block. It is also the incorrect type of tarmac (they have laid 20mm, not the required 10mm tarmac for resin finishing). Understandably, the resin contractor was not happy to lay the resin saying we won't be happy with the result once done, as the dome would be more evident with resin down.

He gave us a choice, contact the builder for him to put right, or he'd lay the resin but wouldn't be liable if we wern't happy with how it looked.

We then got a second opinion from a local tarmac surfacing company who do resin prep and they basically said the same - the tarmac's not right, not been rollered properly and the levels are off, so it really needs to be dug out, levels corrected, and fresh (10mm) tarmac laid. We've received a quote in excess of £5k for the new tarmac contractor to do this before the resin guys could come back.

We contacted the builder (as the person we contracted with) to discuss, and he said that theres nothing wrong with the levels or the tarmac type and that we didn't say that we weren't happy with the tarmac at the time. My partner did raise the tarmac levels with him at the time but not being a driveway expert, he assured her that it was fine and wouldn't be noticeable.

Despite trying to be reasonable and ask him to come round to have a sensible conversation about how we can work together to resolve this, he's refused.

One point to note, the builder had arranged the tarmac contractor (arranged the type of tarmac that needed to be laid, date of it being laid etc), but we had to pay the tarmac contractor ourselves directly via bank transfer instead of paying the builder, and him then paying the tarmac co. Bit annoying in hindsight.

What are people's thoughts on the above? Do we have a leg to stand on with the main builder as he was the main contractor, his tarmac co, or both?

Thanks in advance

[tld2004]

Hi All

An update on the above thread if anyone can help with some advice please...

After backwards and foreward's with the builder, he agreed to give us a partial refund in December, and then very quickly reneged and withdrew his offer of a partial refund and told us not to contact him again and has blocked us via all comms, meaning our only option now is via the legal route. We've paid him all this money, and the driveway now needs to be dug up and done again.

Would be greatly appreciated if someone can confirm if the legal route is something worth pursuing considering the following:

Even though we contracted with the builder directly, we paid his tarmac sub-contractor directly for the work thats now insufficient.

I'm of the view that because we had entered into an agreement with the builder (as the main contractor) then our contract is with him, and he's responsible for the work despite the fact that we paid the tarmac contractor directly on his instruction. The reason for this was because he said it would make things easier if we paid them directly for the work that he arranged, rather than us paying him and then him paying tarmac contractor). In hindsight, we should have paid the money to the builder for him to settle up, but its too late now...

He confirmed to us that the tarmac had been laid correctly and we were good to pay the invoice. We had no prior involvement in the tarmac arrangements - it was all arranged by the builder.

Thanks