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Hi All, I am a new user so bear with me please. My problem is full of information, so will try and keep it brief:
. Agreed contract with Anglian for Orangery in May 2014.
. Start date of 1.11.2014 supplied.
. Husband took day off work, we ordered a portaloo for site, arranged access around side of house etc but no one turned up - rang office, did not have us listed as per their confirmation letter, still on other job could not start until 01.12.2014.
. Contract states if their can't attend on the installation date specified they will supply notice in writing with a new date - which never happened.
. Quoted 4-6 weeks for works to complete, seeing as they would not now be able to complete by Xmas, which we thought they would if started on the agreed date of 01.11.2014, we had to cancel family xmas at ours and make other arrangements - upsetting and inconvenient.
. We asked them to instead supply a start date in March 2015 when weather was hopefully better and warmer.
. 2 x builders from Anglian arrived on 16.03.2015 as expected.
. What we did not expect were sub contractors - this was never advised to us.
. Sub contractors advised that they were meant to wear Anglian t-shirts and pretend they were employed by Anglian, but they didn't like doing so - they drove an Anglian van supplied to them as part of their sub contractor deal.
. The 2 man sub contractor team were father and son.
. I asked what time they were likely to be on site each day, as I advised I had a school and nursery run and would not be at the house between 8.40am and 9.15am - the older builder sniggered and said it would not be a problem, as there was no chance they would ever be at our property that early. This was the first time I learned that the Anglian depot carrying out our build was in Luton and we are based in Windsor, so the builders had a 1.5hour drive each way each day - not accounting for traffic.
. I contacted Anglian and asked why one of the nearer depots were in a 30 minute vicinity was not carrying out our build and they just said that is the way the job was allocated. I think that it was a supply and demand issue and they did not have the workers available although they took the job on and as such perhaps they shouldn't have taken the job on (this is an afterthought).
. The builders began work an arrived between 10.30am and 11.30am each morning dependant on whether they needed to stop for materials which they collected on daily basis (sand, bricks etc), we would have expected all materials to be supplied in one hit to save on time and to ensure sand and bricks and all materials are same calibre, colour etc. but builder advised that he had to pay for the materials himself and he needed to bill Anglian at intervals so could not supply / pay for all materials - our contract was with Anglian, not the sub contractor father and son builder team.
. Each day they left between 2.30pm and 3.30pm to "beat the traffic".
. I complained to the Luton Depot office but was ignored.
. We started to take photos during the build, more for interest than anything else, as my husband works often away from home and I wanted to keep him updated with progress.
. When we showed photos of the footings installed by Anglian to a family friend (who is a builder), he advised that he did not think the footings put in place were sufficient for the proposed build.
. We put the job on hold for a day while we asked the site manager to visit.
.We met with the site manager at our home and we relayed our concerns, he checked the footings and said he could guarantee that they were correct and sufficient.
. We asked if we should get a structural engineer to check the footings and the site manager advised it was not necessary and we would have to pay the cost ourselves which would be expensive.
. We asked if he would be happy to put in writing that the footings were correct and sufficient for build and he said he would be happy to do so.
. The site manager asked if they could continue with the build and we agreed that they could as long as we received in writing from him that the footings were correct and he said he would get it to us by the end of the week.
. The build continued.
. The second builder (son of the father and son team) broke his wrist while playing football the following weekend, so was no longer able to attend our job and work with his dad.
. The single builder on his own continued to build on his own, we asked him about getting a replacement as it was a 2 man job and he advised he was finding it difficult to find anyone.
. We spoke to Anglian about our concerns of a 2 man job being carried out by 1 man, in relation to the extension to the time it was taking and as pointed out to us when we discussed with people the concern of the 1x builder 'lone working' which I know believe contradicts HSE regulations in regard to his safety and insurance should he have an accident on site, but Anglian advised it was up to the sub contractor to find a replacement builder not them - again our contract was with them, not the sub contractor.
. It is worth pointing out that the reason we used Anglian, is because although we received cheaper quotes from other local builders, we assumed using a large reputable firm would be better for us, so that we would not have to project manage the job, as I say my husband works away from home and we needed someone to trust, we thought Anglian was the right firm to use.
. It is worth pointing out at this point that I have 2 x children, a 2 year old toddler and a 7 year old disabled son who suffers with chronic sickness, has a stomach feeding tube insitu and metal rods in his back, I am a full time carer for him, our time is spent at the John Radcliffe and Great Ormond Street children hospitals and again I needed not to be worrying about the build.
. Again later realised that the builder was using old fashioned building equipment i.e. bandstands as opposed to newly regulated platforms with railings that are HSE standards to be used on any building site, that would have made it easier for him to fall.
. The builder also refused to wear a hi-vis or hard hat even though my husband mentioned it to him, as he said it was no necessary.
. 2 weeks have gone by, only 1 x builder and no confirmation in writing regarding site footings from site manager.
. We spoke to site manager again with builder present at our home to ask why the footing confirmation has not been received in writing as promised and he advised that there was no need, as Anglian had taken photos themselves of the footings as was customary on all Anglian jobs and supplied them to their Luton depot where they had been checked by a senior manager who had signed them off and they were now added to our file - we did not know what to think.
. I tried to contact the site manager several times that week, the first day his phone went dead, so I rang the Luton office and they advised that he had forgotten his phone that day.
. I tried to contact the site manager the following day, to no avail, I rang the Luton depot and they advised that he had forgot to charge his phone that day.
. Third day I tried to contact him, his mobile rang (hallaluha), but after 10 rings it went dead, with no voicemail to advise whether I had got through to Anglian or to Father Xmas, and no voicemail advising when he would be available or who to ring in his absence and no option to leave a message.
. Over the next day or 2 while considering what to do about the footings we noticed that the 5 piers required by the build were off kilter and not straight, you did not need a level to notice this it was plain to the eye.
. We rang the Luton office and halted the job.
. The site manager came out the following day and when I questioned him about his phone said that our job was such a long way from his home he often forgot his phone and could not return to collect it because it was too far and said he did not allow customers to leave a voicemail as did not like having messages left by customers. I suggested he put a spare phone in his car and also a phonce charger and that he leave a message so that people knew they were through to him and he just laughed. He said the piers were not too bad and they could knock money off the price. We advised that a reduction in cost was not the point and that a professional straight build is what was agreed to.
. The way the build was looking was a bit like if a child tried to copy a birthday cake made by a professional, we had purposefully ordered a orangery that was the exact same (apart from brick colour) as their showcase one at the local Long Acres garden centre and this makes us think about Trading Standards and how they are unable to deliver what they are displaying.
. We also found out later that although the builder had been a sub contractor to Anglian for years he had never before built an orangery of this type and to quote an Anglian representative "was quite nervous about building it"
. We also found out that this was the first orangery / build that the site manager had managed and again although he had been employed by Anglian for several years, his job had been to site manage the fitting of windows and doors. He himself admitted he had not been on a training course regarding orangerys or conservatories for 7 years and that the type of building required in that time had changed considerably.
. Therefore I don't feel either men were qualified to be able to do the job or able to carry it our with due skill and care.
. Several times, no one turned up for work and I was advised that the builder or the Anglian employees were sick.
. The brake through from the new build to our home was due to take place over the Easter weekend, we made arrangements to move the children to our family to be free of dust an debris as my 7 year olds health would struggle with such - but again, no one turned up, this should have been done by an Anglian employed team, not the builder, but all of them had a tummy bug at the same time - funnily enough over Easter weekend - all of our plans were ruined.
. The site manager advised nothing can be done about sickness I'm afraid you just have to live with it.
. At this point, I lost the plot, so I asked to speak with the site managers's supervisor and was put through to someone else at the Luton depot.
. They were very apologetic about the site managers issue with the phone and agreed his customer care skills were not acceptable; however, he advised that he did not know there had been an issue with the footings, that no photos had been taken by the site manager or the builder even though they both told my husband and I they had and no one had approved them at our request.
. Shocked, I sent the manager our own photos of the footings which had been concreted over and built upon with 5 brick pillars, windows and a roof - build was almost complete.
. The manager rang me back 30 mins to later to say 'sorry' but that looking at our photos he too thought that the footings were insufficient but would need to have that verified by a structural engineer.
. The structural engineer took 3 weeks for them to arrange, with the build at a standstill for that time.
. The children could gain no access to the garden in the nice weather (something my disabled boy loves and relies on) and something my 2 year old needs as was bouncing off the walls in doors.
. Not only was the build at a standstill for 3 weeks, but the steps leading from the build to our garden had had the tops removed and all that was exposed was hardcore, my mum took a fall down the stairs left in this inadequate state while trying to retrieve some of the childrens' toys, she is lucky she did not brake her ankle - we have photos of how the site was left. I advised that the site manager that this was not acceptable, his reply: " tough love, you are on a building site".
. When the structural engineer visited finally, the site manager's manager also came to site and was appalled at how our home had been left for 3 weeks, the very next day he had an Anglian person arrive to put temporary pltboard on the steps to make safe and to put safety cones and bunting around the drainage holes and hardcore -something that should have been done by the site manager.
. The structural engineer confirmed out worst fears, the footings were not sufficient for the build and if left like that the walls would likely crack and deflect within the next few years.
. The site manager said he did not see the problem - if the walls cracked and caved in in under 10 years we were covered by the Anglian 10 year guarantee and if it happened after this date we could claim on our house insurance.
. Surely there is a legal requirement for the build to be put in place properly to begin with?
. What if I don't want our house ripped apart again with more building works in a couple of years time which will again affect our lives and that of our children, why can't we legally expect the contract to be honoured and a properly built orangery build as per the premium price of £40,000.
. How can the site manager be allowed to lie like this and get away it?
. The senior manager advises that the build will have to come down and be re-built.
. Adding time to the job.
. At this point I am furious, as all of this could be avoided, so I advise the senior manager that it has to be built to the correct high standard agreed to in the first place shown by their template at the garden centre and reflected in cost and in order to do this they need to supply a different set of builders. 2 of them this time, preferably ones that live nearer and ones that are qualified and capable to carry out the job we have contractually agreed to.
. The senior manager said 'no', we can't supply you with different builders, we will ask the 1 x builder to find a 2nd builder to accompany him, but that if they supplied another builder they would have to pay the builders twice, I advised I would not think they would be paying the first builder at all and secondly, it was not our problem, our contract was with them. The senior manager said that he would talk to the builder, supply a new site manager to over see the build who had worked for Anglian for years and whom himself was a qualified bricklayer and who would oversee the quality of the build.
. So reluctantly, with no choice due to the state of the build on the back of our house we agreed to proceed on that basis, although I advised the senior manager that I had no intention of paying the full price of the build after the lies we had been told and the distress we had been put through and he replied that he didn't blame us and didn't expect us to but that he would discuss this with us once they got the build correct.
. it is worth mentioning that we were due to have a family holiday to Spain in half term (a rarity with the health of my 2nd son), but we could not go due to Anglian being on site and we could not trust it to leave them at our house alone, my husband had to go alone as he had arranged a business meeting to coincide.
. In the first instance the negligent build needed to be taken down, the builder began to do this and asked if he could work at the weekend, we said we would leave him entry to the garden by the side of the house, but that we would be away for the weekend.
. My second son began an episode of his chronic sickness on the Friday evening and we had to cancel our weekend away, when I arrived back from the Supermarket late Saturday morning, I looked out of my kitchen window to see a blond woman we did not know in our garden wearing builders gloves and removing bricks from the wonky pillars that needed to be taken down.
. I opened the back door and asked her who she was and why she was trespassing on our premises and she advised that she was the builders wife who had come day for the day to help him with the job as their son had broken his wrist!
. The women did not work for Anglian.
. What if the women had had an accident in our garden, would we have been liable, whose insurance would she have been covered under?
. I have since been informed that due to this act Anglian invalidated their own guarantee when non subcontracted 3rd parties entered site too undertake work.
. I followed the Anglian specified complaints procedure and logged a complaint, the resolve was to send my complaint to the Luton depot to be dealt with, which I advised defeated the point as the depot was the problem.
. I then put a formal complaint in writing and sent it to Anglian's MD and asked for a full investigation.
. I did not hear back from the MD but from the head of customer services who advised that the Luton Regional manager would investigate and respond to my complaint.
. I then found out that the regional manager was the brother of the original negligent site manager and contacted to the head of customer services to ask if a different person could be put in charge of the investigation as it would put the regional manager in a difficult position and the outcome may be adversely influenced by nepotism. The head of customer services replied 'no' that the regional manager was a professional and able to carry out a non biased investigation.
. New site manager arrived, began liaisng with the builder and promised the earth.
. The builder was able to find a second builder for 3 days of the build only. So again was building on his own.
. New site manager asked builder to adhere to PPE requirements and HSE regulated equipment, builder refused so Anglian brought in their own H&S officer for a day to monitor the builder (which the builder did not like) the difference of the action taken on site was remarkable, all of the site was marked out with danger zones, a proper platform stand was brought in for the builder to work on, he had to wear appropriate PPE but none of this had been adhered to previously - it showed the builders incompetence.
. The builder on his own began to build again and again the piers were not straight, the new site supervisor stopped him half way and made him rebuild some again, third time he could still not get perfectly straight.
. The site manager to decided to withhold payment to the builder as he agreed he could not get the job done right, they had several arguments in front of my husband and I.
. My husband had to take more and more time off work to project manager as the new site manager could not be on site every day a he to lived in Luton!! An had several other jobs on the go including another as problematic as ours.
. The builder got it done as good as he could, but not 100%, the pointing of the bricks was never right which the site manager agreed with, he wanted the builder to re-point the whole build, but I said 'no more', we were now at 13 weeks since they had first started work on our property, the psychological and emotional distress was shocking.
. Not once did Anglian carry out a duty of care assessment, i.e. how many people live in your home, is there anything we need to be aware of, do you have any holiday's planned, does anyone have any disabilities and by law I think they should have to do this and adapt their work schedule accordingly.
. I still had not heard back regarding the investigation.
. I told the site manager that we would have a different builder re-do all of the pointing and that I could not tolerate the single 1 man team builder on site anymore and we needed to move forward.
. I have since been advised that Anglian withheld some of the builders payment and the builder was not pleased and he has left their sub contractual employment.
. Also, the señior manager who appointed the structural engineer and the new site manager and who had been our point of contact since the original footings were proved negligent advised me that he was going into hospital for surgery and would be back to work in a couple of weeks.
. We then had no managerial contact and no one familiar with all the things that had gone wrong with our job, he never returned to the Luton depot and I do not know whether he moved to a different depot or left Anglian all together.
. I began to research my rights and came across the Goods and Services Act 1982 and felt that we fell into the majority of categories, it advised about a Time of The Esssence contract, so I advised the new site manager that I was putting a time of the essence contract in place with him / Anglian and that they had 3 weeks to finish the job -by Friday 10th July, I advised if it was not finished by that date I would ask Anglian to leave site, as the children would be braking up from school and garden access was no longer a want by a necessity. The new site manager agreed to this date.
. It now became apparent that there was a slight design flaw and that the coping stones would not fit on the roof with the drain pipe in its current position.
. We questioned the wall insulation but told it was added properly to the walls and questioned floor insulation, but the builder advised that the plasterer would fit the floor insulation when he screened the floor.
. 3 different Anglian employees tried over the course of 3 days to try and fit the builds bi-folding door, but could not get it to fit as the pillars to hold it were still not straight and this affected the frame.
. When my husband intervened they told him to mind his business.
. Again we complained to deaf ears.
. The brake through from the build to our home was again planned, we made arrangements again for the kids, it was due to take place on a Friday and be completed by the Monday.
. The kids return on Tuesday, but there was dust everywhere, the tarpaulin that had been put up did not provide enough coverage to our homes kitchen, the insufficient tarpaulin was left up for a week and no one liaised with us, we tried to contact the site manager but he was being kept busy on the other problem job and could not get to us, we could not use the kitchen for a week and could not allow the children near the kitchen, we were told and promised by the site manager that this would be managed properly. Half of the insufficient tarp fell down but was never replaced and as it fell down the tape it was stuck up with ripped the paint of the kitchen walls leaving damage and an eyesore.
. On the 3rd day of trying to get the bi-folding door to fit, I had a knock on the front door at 4.45pm from one of the Anglain 'handy men' for want of a better word, I am not sure of their levels of competency either, he advised that in trying to fit the door he had broken the lock and there was nothing he could do about it tonight as he had to get home, but he had left a small block of wood keeping the door closed.
. I advised that we would need to take a look together and if I pushed the wooden block the whole bi-fold door opened and gave access to the whole of our house as they had now broken through to our main home.
. I stated that we could not stay like this tonight as I had 2 small children to be responsible before and anyone could break in, the Anglian 'handy man' said it was his dinner time and there was nothing more he could do, so he left.
. I rang the site manager and asked for a lock smith, but he said he couldn't arrange.
. We waited an hour for another Anglian team who were doing a job near by to arrive and they tried to fix the door in place with bigger pieces of wood to give me better piece of mind, it still was not acceptable but we were given little choice.
. The following day we found out that not only had the lock been broken but the key to the other part of the door lost.
. Still no answer to my formal complaint.
. The plasterer then came to site and was due to screed the floor on a weekday morning, but he rang and said something had come up and he new were were working to a deadline, could he come and screed the floor on Sunday morning - we said yes.
. If the plasterer had come in the week, my husband would have been at work, as it was my husband was home with it being a Sunday morning he joined the plasterer to make him a cup of team, while watching what he was doing my husband asked why he was not putting the insulation in the floor, the plasterer advised that he did not need to as the builder would already have fitted the insulation (if you recall my earlier point, the builder told us opposite), as this point my husband had to ask the plasterer to go to Wickes and purchase the necessary insulation and fit it.
. The windows are not fitted great either and they have large gaps which should have been a better fit.
. The 10th July arrived, bearing in mind we had not seen the site manager for over a week as he was concentrating on finishing the other job which was now finished and he could come back to concentrate on us.
. At this point, the bi folding door was still not fitted well and leaked, the barrels for the keys came off with the key when you tried to open the windows, no coping stones had been supplied or fitted, the roof and its insulation and not been fully fitted and the insulation left sitting out in the garden without cover in the rain.
. No resolve had been suggested to coping stone and drainage issue.
. The internal roof had tarp hanging in off the roof and the site manager advised us that the finish was say was the final finish with the internal roof even though you could see the rough workmanship, we preceded to show him photos of the show orangery at the garden centre, where edgings had been fitted so that the workmanship was concealed and did not show the reflection of metal in the roof.
. The site manager said, look just a few more weeks, we are nearly there. I advised him that there was not a few more weeks that I had adhered to the law in respect of the Goods and Services Act 1982 and given them the opportunity to put their work right and also given them a time of the essence contract that they had chosen no to adhere to in view of another customer. i told the site manager that I considered Anglian to be in breach of contract and said I would not allow Anglian back on my premises and that we would pay for the remaining coping stones materials and that I would employ a reputable local builder to finish the job and glazer to attempt to fit the windows.
. The site manager did not know what to say so he left.
. I had still not received a response to my formal complaint.
. A few weeks later the regional manager contacted me and never mentioned my complaint, he advised he was confident they could finish the build to a high standard, but I advised that in legal terms I had 'lost all faith' in their ability and that no one would be stepping foot on my premises from Anglian again as I was within my legal rights to do.
. I sent an email and advised all of the above including the criminal trespass, non adherence to HSE guidelines, the original negligent footings and the non answer of my formal complaint, but he mentioned none of these things.
. As far as he is concerned they rebuilt the orangery and we owe the full cost.
. The thing that I am struggling with, is if we had not been vigilant enough to take photos, if we had not happened to show them to our builder friend, if my husband had not been there when the plasterer screened the floor then we would have paid £40,000 for a building we thought had been built properly and professional in adherence with building regs. but in actual fact the footings, would have been insufficient and led to deflection and the floor would have no insulation.
. I am loathed to part with any monies when I may need it in the future to rectify any more issues. Obviously there is no guarantee, not that one from Anglian is worth anything.
. I am loathed to part with any monies that pay the wages of inexperience, unqualified negligent managers and site builders.
. I am loathed to pay profit to Anglian when they turned out to be a middle man who only project managed and could not even do that.
. Anglian advise they do not need to build to building regs as the size of the orangery is under the necessary measurements.
. My question would be what standard / regulations do they build to - are they a law unto themselves.
. It seems they have also avoided the need for building regs by the sales man asking us to tick a box that says we need a put in place a permeant barrier after they carry out the brake through, but we do not know what permeant barrier means and it was not explained to us at the time of contract. So it seems the sales rep may be guilty of misrepresentation.
. It seems we cannot get the build covered by our house insurance.
. It seems it may be a problem if we want to sell our home in the future.
. Anglian now want to take us to court to receive their money.
- - - Updated - - -
God, this thread is longer than I realised - sorry
. Agreed contract with Anglian for Orangery in May 2014.
. Start date of 1.11.2014 supplied.
. Husband took day off work, we ordered a portaloo for site, arranged access around side of house etc but no one turned up - rang office, did not have us listed as per their confirmation letter, still on other job could not start until 01.12.2014.
. Contract states if their can't attend on the installation date specified they will supply notice in writing with a new date - which never happened.
. Quoted 4-6 weeks for works to complete, seeing as they would not now be able to complete by Xmas, which we thought they would if started on the agreed date of 01.11.2014, we had to cancel family xmas at ours and make other arrangements - upsetting and inconvenient.
. We asked them to instead supply a start date in March 2015 when weather was hopefully better and warmer.
. 2 x builders from Anglian arrived on 16.03.2015 as expected.
. What we did not expect were sub contractors - this was never advised to us.
. Sub contractors advised that they were meant to wear Anglian t-shirts and pretend they were employed by Anglian, but they didn't like doing so - they drove an Anglian van supplied to them as part of their sub contractor deal.
. The 2 man sub contractor team were father and son.
. I asked what time they were likely to be on site each day, as I advised I had a school and nursery run and would not be at the house between 8.40am and 9.15am - the older builder sniggered and said it would not be a problem, as there was no chance they would ever be at our property that early. This was the first time I learned that the Anglian depot carrying out our build was in Luton and we are based in Windsor, so the builders had a 1.5hour drive each way each day - not accounting for traffic.
. I contacted Anglian and asked why one of the nearer depots were in a 30 minute vicinity was not carrying out our build and they just said that is the way the job was allocated. I think that it was a supply and demand issue and they did not have the workers available although they took the job on and as such perhaps they shouldn't have taken the job on (this is an afterthought).
. The builders began work an arrived between 10.30am and 11.30am each morning dependant on whether they needed to stop for materials which they collected on daily basis (sand, bricks etc), we would have expected all materials to be supplied in one hit to save on time and to ensure sand and bricks and all materials are same calibre, colour etc. but builder advised that he had to pay for the materials himself and he needed to bill Anglian at intervals so could not supply / pay for all materials - our contract was with Anglian, not the sub contractor father and son builder team.
. Each day they left between 2.30pm and 3.30pm to "beat the traffic".
. I complained to the Luton Depot office but was ignored.
. We started to take photos during the build, more for interest than anything else, as my husband works often away from home and I wanted to keep him updated with progress.
. When we showed photos of the footings installed by Anglian to a family friend (who is a builder), he advised that he did not think the footings put in place were sufficient for the proposed build.
. We put the job on hold for a day while we asked the site manager to visit.
.We met with the site manager at our home and we relayed our concerns, he checked the footings and said he could guarantee that they were correct and sufficient.
. We asked if we should get a structural engineer to check the footings and the site manager advised it was not necessary and we would have to pay the cost ourselves which would be expensive.
. We asked if he would be happy to put in writing that the footings were correct and sufficient for build and he said he would be happy to do so.
. The site manager asked if they could continue with the build and we agreed that they could as long as we received in writing from him that the footings were correct and he said he would get it to us by the end of the week.
. The build continued.
. The second builder (son of the father and son team) broke his wrist while playing football the following weekend, so was no longer able to attend our job and work with his dad.
. The single builder on his own continued to build on his own, we asked him about getting a replacement as it was a 2 man job and he advised he was finding it difficult to find anyone.
. We spoke to Anglian about our concerns of a 2 man job being carried out by 1 man, in relation to the extension to the time it was taking and as pointed out to us when we discussed with people the concern of the 1x builder 'lone working' which I know believe contradicts HSE regulations in regard to his safety and insurance should he have an accident on site, but Anglian advised it was up to the sub contractor to find a replacement builder not them - again our contract was with them, not the sub contractor.
. It is worth pointing out that the reason we used Anglian, is because although we received cheaper quotes from other local builders, we assumed using a large reputable firm would be better for us, so that we would not have to project manage the job, as I say my husband works away from home and we needed someone to trust, we thought Anglian was the right firm to use.
. It is worth pointing out at this point that I have 2 x children, a 2 year old toddler and a 7 year old disabled son who suffers with chronic sickness, has a stomach feeding tube insitu and metal rods in his back, I am a full time carer for him, our time is spent at the John Radcliffe and Great Ormond Street children hospitals and again I needed not to be worrying about the build.
. Again later realised that the builder was using old fashioned building equipment i.e. bandstands as opposed to newly regulated platforms with railings that are HSE standards to be used on any building site, that would have made it easier for him to fall.
. The builder also refused to wear a hi-vis or hard hat even though my husband mentioned it to him, as he said it was no necessary.
. 2 weeks have gone by, only 1 x builder and no confirmation in writing regarding site footings from site manager.
. We spoke to site manager again with builder present at our home to ask why the footing confirmation has not been received in writing as promised and he advised that there was no need, as Anglian had taken photos themselves of the footings as was customary on all Anglian jobs and supplied them to their Luton depot where they had been checked by a senior manager who had signed them off and they were now added to our file - we did not know what to think.
. I tried to contact the site manager several times that week, the first day his phone went dead, so I rang the Luton office and they advised that he had forgotten his phone that day.
. I tried to contact the site manager the following day, to no avail, I rang the Luton depot and they advised that he had forgot to charge his phone that day.
. Third day I tried to contact him, his mobile rang (hallaluha), but after 10 rings it went dead, with no voicemail to advise whether I had got through to Anglian or to Father Xmas, and no voicemail advising when he would be available or who to ring in his absence and no option to leave a message.
. Over the next day or 2 while considering what to do about the footings we noticed that the 5 piers required by the build were off kilter and not straight, you did not need a level to notice this it was plain to the eye.
. We rang the Luton office and halted the job.
. The site manager came out the following day and when I questioned him about his phone said that our job was such a long way from his home he often forgot his phone and could not return to collect it because it was too far and said he did not allow customers to leave a voicemail as did not like having messages left by customers. I suggested he put a spare phone in his car and also a phonce charger and that he leave a message so that people knew they were through to him and he just laughed. He said the piers were not too bad and they could knock money off the price. We advised that a reduction in cost was not the point and that a professional straight build is what was agreed to.
. The way the build was looking was a bit like if a child tried to copy a birthday cake made by a professional, we had purposefully ordered a orangery that was the exact same (apart from brick colour) as their showcase one at the local Long Acres garden centre and this makes us think about Trading Standards and how they are unable to deliver what they are displaying.
. We also found out later that although the builder had been a sub contractor to Anglian for years he had never before built an orangery of this type and to quote an Anglian representative "was quite nervous about building it"
. We also found out that this was the first orangery / build that the site manager had managed and again although he had been employed by Anglian for several years, his job had been to site manage the fitting of windows and doors. He himself admitted he had not been on a training course regarding orangerys or conservatories for 7 years and that the type of building required in that time had changed considerably.
. Therefore I don't feel either men were qualified to be able to do the job or able to carry it our with due skill and care.
. Several times, no one turned up for work and I was advised that the builder or the Anglian employees were sick.
. The brake through from the new build to our home was due to take place over the Easter weekend, we made arrangements to move the children to our family to be free of dust an debris as my 7 year olds health would struggle with such - but again, no one turned up, this should have been done by an Anglian employed team, not the builder, but all of them had a tummy bug at the same time - funnily enough over Easter weekend - all of our plans were ruined.
. The site manager advised nothing can be done about sickness I'm afraid you just have to live with it.
. At this point, I lost the plot, so I asked to speak with the site managers's supervisor and was put through to someone else at the Luton depot.
. They were very apologetic about the site managers issue with the phone and agreed his customer care skills were not acceptable; however, he advised that he did not know there had been an issue with the footings, that no photos had been taken by the site manager or the builder even though they both told my husband and I they had and no one had approved them at our request.
. Shocked, I sent the manager our own photos of the footings which had been concreted over and built upon with 5 brick pillars, windows and a roof - build was almost complete.
. The manager rang me back 30 mins to later to say 'sorry' but that looking at our photos he too thought that the footings were insufficient but would need to have that verified by a structural engineer.
. The structural engineer took 3 weeks for them to arrange, with the build at a standstill for that time.
. The children could gain no access to the garden in the nice weather (something my disabled boy loves and relies on) and something my 2 year old needs as was bouncing off the walls in doors.
. Not only was the build at a standstill for 3 weeks, but the steps leading from the build to our garden had had the tops removed and all that was exposed was hardcore, my mum took a fall down the stairs left in this inadequate state while trying to retrieve some of the childrens' toys, she is lucky she did not brake her ankle - we have photos of how the site was left. I advised that the site manager that this was not acceptable, his reply: " tough love, you are on a building site".
. When the structural engineer visited finally, the site manager's manager also came to site and was appalled at how our home had been left for 3 weeks, the very next day he had an Anglian person arrive to put temporary pltboard on the steps to make safe and to put safety cones and bunting around the drainage holes and hardcore -something that should have been done by the site manager.
. The structural engineer confirmed out worst fears, the footings were not sufficient for the build and if left like that the walls would likely crack and deflect within the next few years.
. The site manager said he did not see the problem - if the walls cracked and caved in in under 10 years we were covered by the Anglian 10 year guarantee and if it happened after this date we could claim on our house insurance.
. Surely there is a legal requirement for the build to be put in place properly to begin with?
. What if I don't want our house ripped apart again with more building works in a couple of years time which will again affect our lives and that of our children, why can't we legally expect the contract to be honoured and a properly built orangery build as per the premium price of £40,000.
. How can the site manager be allowed to lie like this and get away it?
. The senior manager advises that the build will have to come down and be re-built.
. Adding time to the job.
. At this point I am furious, as all of this could be avoided, so I advise the senior manager that it has to be built to the correct high standard agreed to in the first place shown by their template at the garden centre and reflected in cost and in order to do this they need to supply a different set of builders. 2 of them this time, preferably ones that live nearer and ones that are qualified and capable to carry out the job we have contractually agreed to.
. The senior manager said 'no', we can't supply you with different builders, we will ask the 1 x builder to find a 2nd builder to accompany him, but that if they supplied another builder they would have to pay the builders twice, I advised I would not think they would be paying the first builder at all and secondly, it was not our problem, our contract was with them. The senior manager said that he would talk to the builder, supply a new site manager to over see the build who had worked for Anglian for years and whom himself was a qualified bricklayer and who would oversee the quality of the build.
. So reluctantly, with no choice due to the state of the build on the back of our house we agreed to proceed on that basis, although I advised the senior manager that I had no intention of paying the full price of the build after the lies we had been told and the distress we had been put through and he replied that he didn't blame us and didn't expect us to but that he would discuss this with us once they got the build correct.
. it is worth mentioning that we were due to have a family holiday to Spain in half term (a rarity with the health of my 2nd son), but we could not go due to Anglian being on site and we could not trust it to leave them at our house alone, my husband had to go alone as he had arranged a business meeting to coincide.
. In the first instance the negligent build needed to be taken down, the builder began to do this and asked if he could work at the weekend, we said we would leave him entry to the garden by the side of the house, but that we would be away for the weekend.
. My second son began an episode of his chronic sickness on the Friday evening and we had to cancel our weekend away, when I arrived back from the Supermarket late Saturday morning, I looked out of my kitchen window to see a blond woman we did not know in our garden wearing builders gloves and removing bricks from the wonky pillars that needed to be taken down.
. I opened the back door and asked her who she was and why she was trespassing on our premises and she advised that she was the builders wife who had come day for the day to help him with the job as their son had broken his wrist!
. The women did not work for Anglian.
. What if the women had had an accident in our garden, would we have been liable, whose insurance would she have been covered under?
. I have since been informed that due to this act Anglian invalidated their own guarantee when non subcontracted 3rd parties entered site too undertake work.
. I followed the Anglian specified complaints procedure and logged a complaint, the resolve was to send my complaint to the Luton depot to be dealt with, which I advised defeated the point as the depot was the problem.
. I then put a formal complaint in writing and sent it to Anglian's MD and asked for a full investigation.
. I did not hear back from the MD but from the head of customer services who advised that the Luton Regional manager would investigate and respond to my complaint.
. I then found out that the regional manager was the brother of the original negligent site manager and contacted to the head of customer services to ask if a different person could be put in charge of the investigation as it would put the regional manager in a difficult position and the outcome may be adversely influenced by nepotism. The head of customer services replied 'no' that the regional manager was a professional and able to carry out a non biased investigation.
. New site manager arrived, began liaisng with the builder and promised the earth.
. The builder was able to find a second builder for 3 days of the build only. So again was building on his own.
. New site manager asked builder to adhere to PPE requirements and HSE regulated equipment, builder refused so Anglian brought in their own H&S officer for a day to monitor the builder (which the builder did not like) the difference of the action taken on site was remarkable, all of the site was marked out with danger zones, a proper platform stand was brought in for the builder to work on, he had to wear appropriate PPE but none of this had been adhered to previously - it showed the builders incompetence.
. The builder on his own began to build again and again the piers were not straight, the new site supervisor stopped him half way and made him rebuild some again, third time he could still not get perfectly straight.
. The site manager to decided to withhold payment to the builder as he agreed he could not get the job done right, they had several arguments in front of my husband and I.
. My husband had to take more and more time off work to project manager as the new site manager could not be on site every day a he to lived in Luton!! An had several other jobs on the go including another as problematic as ours.
. The builder got it done as good as he could, but not 100%, the pointing of the bricks was never right which the site manager agreed with, he wanted the builder to re-point the whole build, but I said 'no more', we were now at 13 weeks since they had first started work on our property, the psychological and emotional distress was shocking.
. Not once did Anglian carry out a duty of care assessment, i.e. how many people live in your home, is there anything we need to be aware of, do you have any holiday's planned, does anyone have any disabilities and by law I think they should have to do this and adapt their work schedule accordingly.
. I still had not heard back regarding the investigation.
. I told the site manager that we would have a different builder re-do all of the pointing and that I could not tolerate the single 1 man team builder on site anymore and we needed to move forward.
. I have since been advised that Anglian withheld some of the builders payment and the builder was not pleased and he has left their sub contractual employment.
. Also, the señior manager who appointed the structural engineer and the new site manager and who had been our point of contact since the original footings were proved negligent advised me that he was going into hospital for surgery and would be back to work in a couple of weeks.
. We then had no managerial contact and no one familiar with all the things that had gone wrong with our job, he never returned to the Luton depot and I do not know whether he moved to a different depot or left Anglian all together.
. I began to research my rights and came across the Goods and Services Act 1982 and felt that we fell into the majority of categories, it advised about a Time of The Esssence contract, so I advised the new site manager that I was putting a time of the essence contract in place with him / Anglian and that they had 3 weeks to finish the job -by Friday 10th July, I advised if it was not finished by that date I would ask Anglian to leave site, as the children would be braking up from school and garden access was no longer a want by a necessity. The new site manager agreed to this date.
. It now became apparent that there was a slight design flaw and that the coping stones would not fit on the roof with the drain pipe in its current position.
. We questioned the wall insulation but told it was added properly to the walls and questioned floor insulation, but the builder advised that the plasterer would fit the floor insulation when he screened the floor.
. 3 different Anglian employees tried over the course of 3 days to try and fit the builds bi-folding door, but could not get it to fit as the pillars to hold it were still not straight and this affected the frame.
. When my husband intervened they told him to mind his business.
. Again we complained to deaf ears.
. The brake through from the build to our home was again planned, we made arrangements again for the kids, it was due to take place on a Friday and be completed by the Monday.
. The kids return on Tuesday, but there was dust everywhere, the tarpaulin that had been put up did not provide enough coverage to our homes kitchen, the insufficient tarpaulin was left up for a week and no one liaised with us, we tried to contact the site manager but he was being kept busy on the other problem job and could not get to us, we could not use the kitchen for a week and could not allow the children near the kitchen, we were told and promised by the site manager that this would be managed properly. Half of the insufficient tarp fell down but was never replaced and as it fell down the tape it was stuck up with ripped the paint of the kitchen walls leaving damage and an eyesore.
. On the 3rd day of trying to get the bi-folding door to fit, I had a knock on the front door at 4.45pm from one of the Anglain 'handy men' for want of a better word, I am not sure of their levels of competency either, he advised that in trying to fit the door he had broken the lock and there was nothing he could do about it tonight as he had to get home, but he had left a small block of wood keeping the door closed.
. I advised that we would need to take a look together and if I pushed the wooden block the whole bi-fold door opened and gave access to the whole of our house as they had now broken through to our main home.
. I stated that we could not stay like this tonight as I had 2 small children to be responsible before and anyone could break in, the Anglian 'handy man' said it was his dinner time and there was nothing more he could do, so he left.
. I rang the site manager and asked for a lock smith, but he said he couldn't arrange.
. We waited an hour for another Anglian team who were doing a job near by to arrive and they tried to fix the door in place with bigger pieces of wood to give me better piece of mind, it still was not acceptable but we were given little choice.
. The following day we found out that not only had the lock been broken but the key to the other part of the door lost.
. Still no answer to my formal complaint.
. The plasterer then came to site and was due to screed the floor on a weekday morning, but he rang and said something had come up and he new were were working to a deadline, could he come and screed the floor on Sunday morning - we said yes.
. If the plasterer had come in the week, my husband would have been at work, as it was my husband was home with it being a Sunday morning he joined the plasterer to make him a cup of team, while watching what he was doing my husband asked why he was not putting the insulation in the floor, the plasterer advised that he did not need to as the builder would already have fitted the insulation (if you recall my earlier point, the builder told us opposite), as this point my husband had to ask the plasterer to go to Wickes and purchase the necessary insulation and fit it.
. The windows are not fitted great either and they have large gaps which should have been a better fit.
. The 10th July arrived, bearing in mind we had not seen the site manager for over a week as he was concentrating on finishing the other job which was now finished and he could come back to concentrate on us.
. At this point, the bi folding door was still not fitted well and leaked, the barrels for the keys came off with the key when you tried to open the windows, no coping stones had been supplied or fitted, the roof and its insulation and not been fully fitted and the insulation left sitting out in the garden without cover in the rain.
. No resolve had been suggested to coping stone and drainage issue.
. The internal roof had tarp hanging in off the roof and the site manager advised us that the finish was say was the final finish with the internal roof even though you could see the rough workmanship, we preceded to show him photos of the show orangery at the garden centre, where edgings had been fitted so that the workmanship was concealed and did not show the reflection of metal in the roof.
. The site manager said, look just a few more weeks, we are nearly there. I advised him that there was not a few more weeks that I had adhered to the law in respect of the Goods and Services Act 1982 and given them the opportunity to put their work right and also given them a time of the essence contract that they had chosen no to adhere to in view of another customer. i told the site manager that I considered Anglian to be in breach of contract and said I would not allow Anglian back on my premises and that we would pay for the remaining coping stones materials and that I would employ a reputable local builder to finish the job and glazer to attempt to fit the windows.
. The site manager did not know what to say so he left.
. I had still not received a response to my formal complaint.
. A few weeks later the regional manager contacted me and never mentioned my complaint, he advised he was confident they could finish the build to a high standard, but I advised that in legal terms I had 'lost all faith' in their ability and that no one would be stepping foot on my premises from Anglian again as I was within my legal rights to do.
. I sent an email and advised all of the above including the criminal trespass, non adherence to HSE guidelines, the original negligent footings and the non answer of my formal complaint, but he mentioned none of these things.
. As far as he is concerned they rebuilt the orangery and we owe the full cost.
. The thing that I am struggling with, is if we had not been vigilant enough to take photos, if we had not happened to show them to our builder friend, if my husband had not been there when the plasterer screened the floor then we would have paid £40,000 for a building we thought had been built properly and professional in adherence with building regs. but in actual fact the footings, would have been insufficient and led to deflection and the floor would have no insulation.
. I am loathed to part with any monies when I may need it in the future to rectify any more issues. Obviously there is no guarantee, not that one from Anglian is worth anything.
. I am loathed to part with any monies that pay the wages of inexperience, unqualified negligent managers and site builders.
. I am loathed to pay profit to Anglian when they turned out to be a middle man who only project managed and could not even do that.
. Anglian advise they do not need to build to building regs as the size of the orangery is under the necessary measurements.
. My question would be what standard / regulations do they build to - are they a law unto themselves.
. It seems they have also avoided the need for building regs by the sales man asking us to tick a box that says we need a put in place a permeant barrier after they carry out the brake through, but we do not know what permeant barrier means and it was not explained to us at the time of contract. So it seems the sales rep may be guilty of misrepresentation.
. It seems we cannot get the build covered by our house insurance.
. It seems it may be a problem if we want to sell our home in the future.
. Anglian now want to take us to court to receive their money.
- - - Updated - - -
God, this thread is longer than I realised - sorry
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