We're coming to the end of some major alterations and have received our final bill. We've no quibble with our builder but there are a number of outstanding "snagging" jobs. What percentage of either the final bill or the toal cost would be reasonable to keep back until the snagging jobs are completed?
Tim
in article snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net, Tim Downie at snipped-for-privacy@obviousyahoo.co.uk wrote on 4/9/08 11:43:
I'm not sure I can give a percentage of either of those things, as I don't know how much the final bill is, or what proportion of the total it is, or how much there is on your snagging list.
I'd estimate what it would cost to get in another builder/decorator to do the list, plus 30%-50% for your inconvenience of finding another builder, and take that off the bill. If there was anything significant on the snagging list, I'd not think about the final bill until I was happy.
Ben
Your builder probably doesn't expect you to pay /any/ of the final bill until the snagging is complete. I suspect the point is that he has standard 30 day terms, and he wants the 30 days to start ticking from now, not from when the snagging is complete.
Things might be different if one of the snagging items is a matter of ordering and fitting a new whatsit and that is on 60 day delivery. In that case, price up the particular snag as Ben Micklem suggests.
Read your contract? you set up with the builder and go from there.
It all depends if he's drawn up a contract with the builder? and whether the builder has followed that contract ie "plaster wall and fit socket" if the sockets not fitted then he shouldnt pay up,just a scenario.
The company currently building my extension deducts 5% off each invoice, to be paid to them 6 months after the job is complete, presumably after they've sorted out any teething problems once we occupy the new space. This seems like a reasonable figure to me.
Tim,
Usually 10-15% of the contract price and payable after a 6 month retention period (this is bare bones information BTW as other conditions can affect this).
Now that would apply if you had set up a written contract with your builder
*prior* to the contract starting so that you are both aware of the terms - it cannot be applied retrospectively by one party, or aired at the end of the contract (whether at the practical or final completion stages)If you have received your "final bill", then in reality that is what you will have to pay - unless there is a dispute over outstanding works, materials or quality.
Tanner-'op
10%-15%. You should make this clear at the outset. You need enough to ensure that its not woth the builders while to walk away. I.e. the retained amount should always exceed the likely cost of fixing the snags, so that in extremis, you can always get another builder to finish the job properly.
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