What to do now?

[JoeJoe]

The two clowns (sorry plumbers) that my builder sent to do all the plumbing work in our extension have been a disaster. We bought a bath tub with the taps in the middle (lengthwise) against the wall. I just finished tiling the wall above the bath and putting silicone around it to discover that:

1. they swapped the hot and cold pipes when they connected the tap.
2. The fitted the tap (a single lever one) ON TOP of the protective film that the plastic bath came with. This cannot now be removed properly from under the tap.
3. Fitted the waste ON TOP of above film.
4. Never tested the overflow that leaks badly.

Number 3 & 4 I can get fixed easily as the bath panel is not yet fitted. However there is no sufficient space to access the tap, so I cannot see any way of fixing 1 & 2 without:

1. removing silicone and probably bottom row of tiles above bath
2. dismantling built-in base unit that is jammed against the bath (MFI kitchen-like base units, with the last one silicone against the side of the bath)
3. removing bath
4. connecting pipes properly, and fitting tap properly (i.e. removing film from under).

A big job, especially as the bathroom is now all but finished...

Is there anyway around it? I still owe the builder quite a lot of money, so he will not get paid for this until I am happy...

PS: Perhaps I would not have been so pedantic had they not also managed to:

1. perform similar quality of work on the two shower enclosures that they also fitted.
2. Broke (and forgot to mention...) the screw covers of the towel rail that they fitted (they carefully balanced them on the screws before they took off...)
3. Drilled holes that are too big to fit the toilet to the floor with, resulting in it rocking all over the place.
4. etc, etc...

[Owain]

Don't deal with the plumbers.

Tell the builder's site manager / foreman that the work is not satisfactory and he has 7 days to get a competent plumbing squad on site to remedy this work, including replacing any materials damaged, and reinstating your tiling and cabinetry, within 14 / 21 / 28 days, or you will pull him off site as main contractor.

Tell him this face to face as you show him the defective works, but give him a letter saying this at the same time.

Owain

[John Rumm]

How about swapping the feed to the pipes elsewhere (even if it means another swap latter to fix other taps etc that get reversed by the first swap)?

I would make a point of this being his problem and not yours!

[Guy King]

The message from "JoeJoe" contains these words:

Well, there's you answer then. You've wisely reserved payment until the job is completed to your satisfaction - now reap the rewards.

[JoeJoe]

Thanks for the advice - that's what I also thought. It is just that after two months we are all well fed up with sleeping on the floor in the lounge with no bathroom and kitchen, and really want to see the back of them...

[JoeJoe]

Good point that I didn't think about. Probably not going to work though as the feed comes from the neighbouring en-suite that is already tiles throughout with pipes under/behind tiles walls/floors.

I think I am just going to make it their problem...

[Owain]

What was the agreed programme of works and completion date? What were the agreed liquidated damages for late completion?

Owain

[JoeJoe]

Thanks for that - pretty much what I had in mind. The reason I asked the question in the first place was to see if there is anything that can be done to rectify the problem without having trash half the bathroom. We are getting pretty tired of sleeping on the floor in the lounge without a bathroom, kitchen, etc... Two months have been enough and we really want to see the back of these guys...

[meow2222]

I think thats what they count on. If you cant swap the pipes, how bout fitting a heat pump between hot and cold? Yes, I am joking.

Unfortunately theres generally nothing you can do about the time aspect, other than give them a deadline, after which you can employ someone else and claw back the cost from your clowns.

NT