NFS Screeding Ltd, Company Registration No. 8945777 (Need for Screed) - **Judgment debt paid**

[BankFodder]

Please tell us the name of the company you are dealing with and also how much you paid to them for the job. Also when did this happen?

I'm afraid it's going to be complicated.

You will have to start off by getting an independent examination of the quality of the job which hopefully will confirm your view that the work is defective and will also identify why it is defective and whether there are any remedial solutions or whether the work needs to be undone and then redone.

You will also need to get to independent quotations for the remedial work or for the removal of the floor and replacing to a proper specification.

These quotations need to be given by somebody who did not carry out the initial inspection. If you have to pay for the inspection or for the quotations then as long as what you suspect is borne out, then you will be able to recover this money from the original company which did you work.

Let's have some more information please

[BankFodder]

I understand that the quotations which are to be provided to you have been made without a direct examination of the work.

I think you will need to organise a visual inspection which you need to send to the other side and which provides  a detailed opinion and photographs.

 

I'm afraid I don't know who is best placed to do this. I have no expertise in this area.

However I'm sure that the inspirational will cost money.

 

It might be an idea to write to NFS ltd and put them on notice that you are taking this action and that you are enquiring costs on their behalf which they will be required to reimburse when the matter is settled. 

 

You can tell them they can avoid this if they will engage with you on this matter and take up the obligations in a responsible way.

 

You can can let them have at least one of the quotations which you have already put in hand and suggest to them  that if they don't engage and you will commission an independent report and which will probably incur a fee as a precursor to beginning a legal action.

 

This then give them a final opportunity to avoid expense and also you'll be able to demonstrate that you have always kept them fully informed about your intentions and about costs which might be incurred on their behalf.

 

I have to say that I feel uncomfortable about any company which is prepared to give quotations based simply on a verbal account of the work needed by a client who has no particular expertise in the matter.

 

While all of this is taking place you should start making sure that you are familiar with the steps needed to bring an action in the county court.

 

It is straightforward but it is worth being properly prepared so that you're confident about the steps you are taking.

 

Based on what you have said about the cost of the work, it may well be that you will incur the same amount again to to undo their work and then a further £900 also to to carry out the work again.

 

So you may be looking at a small claim for about £3,000 also no but you really would need to proper quotations based on visual inspection before you bring a legal action.

 

 

Also when you contact your screed company you should offer them their own opportunity to carry out a visual inspection.   You need to make sure that this is set out in writing and you need to bend over backwards to act reasonably towards them.

 

You're only other problem will be whether you have confidence in them so that if they offer to carry out their own remedial work whether you feel happy about letting them do this.

 

In principle you should give them this opportunity if they ask.

 

Frankly I would feel unhappy about it but you may not have a lot of choice. Although I think that it would be reasonable to explain to them that you are happy to let them carry out their own inspection and to propose their own solution but that you would require their solution to be subject to independent third party supervision which would also incur costs which they would have to face..

 

I can imagine but they would not be happy about this proposal and I think that this puts you in a position where you can say that you have acted reasonably  towards him in view of the circumstances also you have made a proposal which is a reasonable proposal to protect your own interests given their initial breach of contract

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

Your letter seems to be highly technical and so it certainly seems as if you are in control of the technology.

 

You have given them a detailed account of the solution that you require. I don't think this is a good idea because if they decide to adopt your solution and it turns out to be wrong then they will be able to say that they have simply followed your instructions.

 

I think you should simply request that they solve the matter but they must come up with their own specification.

 

It is day you must identify the problems and recommend a particular course of action. You can then agree it or not as you wish. However as you have already pointed out in your letter, it should all be subject to third party independent scrutiny, the cost of which they may have to foot.

 

Also, you are only asking for your money back but this does not take into account the cost of removing the present installation and then replacing it with a correctly implemented screed.

 

You should stop doing things on WhatsApp. This is no longer a social media game. This is a serious matter and you should restrict yourself either to email or to written postal correspondence.

 

You have suggested mediation from their own professional body but in our experience, is generally speaking is not very useful and only serves to cause a further delay in the eventual and  inevitable bringing of proceedings before the court

 

 

[BankFodder]

I think that this is a contemptuous response to your letter.

 

 Quite simply telling me that they will have a look at it in due course has been designed to make sure that you don't have any control over the situation.

 

I think it is unfortunate that your response appears to be that you will see what happens.

In other words you seem to be accepting but they should control the timescales.

 

I think that you should set about arranging a proper professional inspection.

 

What date does the 14 days that you gave them in your letter expire?

I suggest that you you make an appointment for a full inspection on about day 15 or 16 and respond to the message that you have just received and tell them that " in due course" is of no interest to you and that the 14-days would you gave them in your letter is running and it expires on xxx date and you have already made an arrangement to have the work inspected on xxx date if they have not responded within the 14 days which you gave them.

 

Tell them as soon as the inspection has been carried out and confirms your view that the work is is defective that you will then be sending them a letter of claim and you will begin legal proceedings without any further exchange of dialogue in the absence of a fully co-operative response from them.

 

I'm afraid that you're passive attitude to the problem and to them is unhelpful and you are simply being taken advantage of.

 

I think you need to start working on changing your mindset

 

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

Have you told the inspecting companies who the original company is?

[BankFodder]

good.  Keep it that way

[BankFodder]

Please begin by posting his response without any comments.

[BankFodder]

Don't worry. We can deal with the wording later on the. It won't be complicated.

 

The important thing is to have inspection which creates a written report which identifies the effects and the solutions needed.

 

You will present that to the original company together with a letter of claim giving them 14 days after which you will begin a legal action.

 

They will have to be given an opportunity to carry out their own inspection and you will have to be prepared to get another inspection by somebody else that provides a corroborating opinion.

 

Start reading up on this forum about the steps involved in taking a small claim in the county court.

 

Also visit the county court money claim website and see about opening up an account

 

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

Please can you remind us about the pattern of exchanges to date.

 

Have they responded to all of your messages?  Have they been reluctant to engage?

[BankFodder]

Okay, nothing much we can do until Friday.

Make sure that the people coming to see it not only suggest solutions but also identify all the defects. This is extremely important

[BankFodder]

I think that you should wait. Make no contact until you have received the report. Then we will draft a letter and send them a copy of the report with the letter.
If there is no satisfactory response in a very short time then you will have to begin a legal action.
You have any idea what the value of the remedial work is going to be?

[BankFodder]

It's not much longer.

 

Wait until you have the report and post a copy here. Then we will draft a letter to NFS

[BankFodder]

Can you post the original PDF please

 

Also can you respond to them specifically about your question as to the suitability of the thickness of the screed.
They have invited questions so ask this question and any others you have.
I would rather have it from them than simply relying on your assumptions about lab tests et cetera

[BankFodder]

Additional question – because you have suggested that only one tin of membrane was used. This opens it up to verification by the screeding company.

Is the amount of membrane which appears to have been applied consistent with only a single 25 L tin having been used

You would like a link to the website where it talks about this particular brand of membrane being rather thin

[BankFodder]

Separately, I suggest that you do some Internet research and see if you can find any reviews or criticisms of the Wickes product

[BankFodder]

Clearly you don't get it.

We want it from them and we want it in writing

[BankFodder]

Yes, but what we really need is a direct reference to the wording on the website and a requirement from your inspector.

Obviously taking screenshots of the website will be extremely helpful and you should make sure that you have got complete copies of all useful information published on the Wickes website – that we need some direct references from your inspector, not simply oblique references.

I'm trying to help you make your evidence bundle as watertight as possible. We need to have direct expert references. We want to try and avoid asking the court to look at one document and then another document and then asking the judge simply to put two and two together.



 

[BankFodder]

The next step will be to let NFS see a copy of the report and invite their comments.

At the same time I would start to obtain quotations to address the issues contained in the report.

 

Quote

Dear XXX

As you know, I have been very unhappy with the quality of the work which you carried out on my property and I have already draw your attention to this.

I have now commissioned a report from XXX surveyors and I have attached a copy of that report to this email.

I am inviting you to make your comments and any proposals.

However, I should inform you that if you propose any remedial work, that I shall want the work surveyed and approved by an independent inspector. I think that this is the best way forward for both of us because it puts the quality of any further work by yourselves beyond question.

You should understand though, that based on the attached report the screening which you applied to my property needs to be completely taken up and the job needs to be redone.

I'm also letting you know that I am currently obtaining quotations for doing this work from other companies.

I shall keep you in the loop and I shall provide you with copies of all other information which I obtain in order to give you an opportunity to comment.

Yours faithfully

 

I have been a bit out of the loop recently and so you need to look at what I have suggested above and see if that is everything. I have scanned through the thread but I'm not sure that I have fully caught up

[BankFodder]

You will occupy the high ground if you constantly refer to them and give them an opportunity to comment. This doesn't mean that you have to accept what they say but at least they will never be able to say that they were not aware of what was happening or that they were unaware of possible costs.

At every step of the way you need to keep them informed and give them a few days to respond before you proceed onto a next step.

If you have already spoken with an alternative company, then what have they said? Have they confirmed the report? Have they given you a quote?

[BankFodder]

Well I'm sorry but I think that you will have to you get the quotes again based on visual inspections and the report. Don't forget that the report is your base document.

Quotations based on simply a lay customers point of view – particularly when that lay customer is an interested party – are going to be unhelpful at the very least.

You will need the quotations in writing including a description of the work that they are proposing.

[BankFodder]

You will be entitled to claim as much as it takes to put you into a position where you have the work completed to an adequate standard and you are out of pocket only to the tune of the originally agreed contract price.

Plus interest on any money paid to NFS – normally calculated at 8% simple.

The overall objective is to put you into the position that you would have been in had there been no breach of contract in the first place

[BankFodder]

Yes, send them a note of correction. Also, I would have thought that a few days was a bit longer than 3 days.

[BankFodder]

Sorry, I've been a bit preoccupied with some domestic things.

I'm sure you appreciate that the technicalities that you are referring to are outside our experience and not the kind of thing which we would advise on anyway.

If you are sure that you can make a case to support your position then the next step will be to send a letter of claim giving 14 days and then to sue.

You have to be clear as to the sum for which you are claiming.

Also, I can foresee that this is the kind of case where a joint expert will have to be appointed. This means that you both agree on an independent survey which produces a report which will then be put to the judge and it is likely that the judge will accept the conclusion arrived at in the report.
If the report favours you then after that it would simply be a matter of arguing over the cost of implementing the reports recommendations. If the report favours the outside then you lose and you will have to pay the costs incurred by the other side which will be minimal because it will be a small claim. I'm assuming that the whole thing will come in at less than £10,000.

If you want to proceed then draft a letter of claim.
Post it here for us to have a look.

 

[BankFodder]

And please post a draft here so that we can have a look.

Keep it brief and a minimum of detail.
 

 

[BankFodder]

Did you not pay anything for reports so far?