Help! I want to sue my builder

[rennogirl]

...but I need to know what the statute of limitations is. He finished his shoddy work in December. Main thing he did was drill through the damp course all over the flat to put in new sockets. His wiring was also shocking - pun intended but true. There were sparks coming out of the wall and there was damp all round them. Highly dangerous. That set off a chain reaction and I fired him and got another builder in to fix his work and it cost me £10000. The whole flat needed to be done. I already paid him £6500. Apart from the money I also had the inconvenience of living in a building site for 3 months.

What is the cut off period. How long do I have before I won't be able to sue him? Is it 6 months? One year?

Please advise. Thank you.

[Old Cogger]

was he part of a trade association ? if so complain to them, sure others will advise also.

[rennogirl]

Thanks for your reply. I don't think he is. Do you know how long I have to sue him if he finished the job in December?

[steampowered]

In England & Wales the statute of limitations for breach of contract and civil torts of that nature, as well as most other things, is six years. You have plenty of time.

 

Obviously you'd want to get the process rolling sooner rather than later - particularly if an independent expert will be required to assess and report on the damage, they won't be able to do that once the botched job has been fixed.

[i hate bailiffs]

Was he part p regersted to do the electrics?

 

Touching electrics without that can be a substantial fine

May be worth having a chat with building control at the council

See what advice they give you

[rennogirl]

I don't think the guy who did the electrics was a qualified electrician. but i didn't know that til after the fact. I will indeed contact the council. thanks for the advice.

[havinastella]

You may find it extremely hard to sue the builder. Was it a LTD company etc. He will just desolve and start a new company. You need to find out as much information as possible before you waste any more money!