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I am wondeirng if anyone can advise if they think we have a claim against our Builders for compensation.
Bit of a long winded story so I will attempt to cut it short but make it as clear as possible.
House purchased as a new build from a National Builder in October 2002. On the day of exchange of contracts we were advised that there was a problem with the build of the Chimney and building work would take place the following week inside and outside of the house to rectify this.From my knowledge the chimney had been built incorrectly. They came in , pulled down walls, repositioned the chimney stack and I think maybe the flue and off they went. In the meantime many more issues came to light which were to our knowledge rectified. In 2003 we bought a fireplace , when it came to be fitted we were told it was not possible as the flue on the roof had been positioned to close to the Chimney stack therefore not leaving enough air flow ( I think I am getting the details correct) . We contacted the builders advising them of this , I have letters from them to say they would come and take a look, appointments were made, they never came. In the meantime as we had concerns we hired a Structural Surveyeur who wrote a report, he found other problems ( I honestly cant remember what they were, I need to go in the loft and find the paperwork) The builder denied any problems the surveyour had hilighted and we were told we would need to take them to court but if we lost would cost us in the region of £26,000 which we couldnt risk and therefore nothing further was done. 10 years down the line we are unable to have a fireplace in the house still.
Last May we discovered birds and birds nests in the roof. A ridge tile had come away and the birds had got underneath the flashing and nested. We thought it was an insurance problem due to the tile coming away. Unfortunately due to mix up with the Insurance Company it took them until September to send an assesor to take look. His first reaction was that it was not an insurance problem but a build problem. We contacted the NHBC who came out 2 weeks before our 10 year Guarantee was up. They were also in agreement that it was a build problem and took on the repairs. We mentioned the original chimney problem to them which they also looked at. The builder was once more contaacted and asked to meet with the NHBC at our property and take a look. The Director that arrived was known to us, he clearly remembered us from 10 years previously and couldnt get out quick enough refusing even to look at the probems but told the NHBC to do whatever was necessary. They were offered the job of repairing the chimney and the roof but declined and the NHBC has sub conracted it out.
The builders begin work in a months time, in the meantime we still have a hole in the roof. They estimate in the region of three to four weeks work inside and outside to repair the roof and the chimney , the stack and flue are once again being repositioned. There will be scaffolding erected (we live in a town house) a make shift roof erected and our roof ( of which there are two, bit of an unusual house) will be opened up to do the repairs. They are unsure what else they made find upon closer inspection of the roof.
So..... my question is, do we have any comeback whasoever to the builder for all of the inconvenience and disruption this will cause. Obviously we are pleased to finally be getting the work done. Should we pull out the paperwork from the structural surveyour and go through it all again and see what he highlighted at the time ? . Shoud we be asking for compensation from the builder.
Sorry for the long winded story and also if posted in the wrong place.
Any advice whatsoever would be appreciated. Please forgive any sketchy building / technical details.
Thankyou.
Bit of a long winded story so I will attempt to cut it short but make it as clear as possible.
House purchased as a new build from a National Builder in October 2002. On the day of exchange of contracts we were advised that there was a problem with the build of the Chimney and building work would take place the following week inside and outside of the house to rectify this.From my knowledge the chimney had been built incorrectly. They came in , pulled down walls, repositioned the chimney stack and I think maybe the flue and off they went. In the meantime many more issues came to light which were to our knowledge rectified. In 2003 we bought a fireplace , when it came to be fitted we were told it was not possible as the flue on the roof had been positioned to close to the Chimney stack therefore not leaving enough air flow ( I think I am getting the details correct) . We contacted the builders advising them of this , I have letters from them to say they would come and take a look, appointments were made, they never came. In the meantime as we had concerns we hired a Structural Surveyeur who wrote a report, he found other problems ( I honestly cant remember what they were, I need to go in the loft and find the paperwork) The builder denied any problems the surveyour had hilighted and we were told we would need to take them to court but if we lost would cost us in the region of £26,000 which we couldnt risk and therefore nothing further was done. 10 years down the line we are unable to have a fireplace in the house still.
Last May we discovered birds and birds nests in the roof. A ridge tile had come away and the birds had got underneath the flashing and nested. We thought it was an insurance problem due to the tile coming away. Unfortunately due to mix up with the Insurance Company it took them until September to send an assesor to take look. His first reaction was that it was not an insurance problem but a build problem. We contacted the NHBC who came out 2 weeks before our 10 year Guarantee was up. They were also in agreement that it was a build problem and took on the repairs. We mentioned the original chimney problem to them which they also looked at. The builder was once more contaacted and asked to meet with the NHBC at our property and take a look. The Director that arrived was known to us, he clearly remembered us from 10 years previously and couldnt get out quick enough refusing even to look at the probems but told the NHBC to do whatever was necessary. They were offered the job of repairing the chimney and the roof but declined and the NHBC has sub conracted it out.
The builders begin work in a months time, in the meantime we still have a hole in the roof. They estimate in the region of three to four weeks work inside and outside to repair the roof and the chimney , the stack and flue are once again being repositioned. There will be scaffolding erected (we live in a town house) a make shift roof erected and our roof ( of which there are two, bit of an unusual house) will be opened up to do the repairs. They are unsure what else they made find upon closer inspection of the roof.
So..... my question is, do we have any comeback whasoever to the builder for all of the inconvenience and disruption this will cause. Obviously we are pleased to finally be getting the work done. Should we pull out the paperwork from the structural surveyour and go through it all again and see what he highlighted at the time ? . Shoud we be asking for compensation from the builder.
Sorry for the long winded story and also if posted in the wrong place.
Any advice whatsoever would be appreciated. Please forgive any sketchy building / technical details.
Thankyou.
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