Damage to my house by next door neighbours builder, who's responsible?

Happy Friday all, my neighbours have had builders in recently to render their house. We are a semi and as such we have their scaffolding on our side of the boundary which was placed close to my house. Understandable, and not a problem. I have just finished renovating my own houses, new windows, new render, everything in a new condition.

Throughout this whole process I have made it clear to both my neighbour and their builder on numerous occasions that they need to put down sufficient protection down etc. Next doors builders have just finished and unsurprinlsngly they have damaged 2 of my new windows including cills (scratches to the aluminium sash's) plus splatters of next doors render on my new render. My render is silcone coloured render so it's not simply a case of painting over the affected area.

I'm not happy about this, and made my feelings known to the builder and neighbour. Neighbour has washed his hands of it and tells me to deal with the builder but I'm annoyed he won't take ownership of the problem and deal with it.

Before I go nuclear, who is my beef with - neighbour or builder?

Thanks in advance.

I would say your neighbour as you have no contractual relationship with the builder?

I know it’s after the event, did you undertake and agree a condition report/survey before works commenced? Even if you have photos before, during and after the works.

Source costs to remedy the issues as well.

Just as a note, remember it’s your neighbour and I would try and work with them.

Good luck

B

Talk to your house insurer, ask their advice re-liability.

The neighbour is liable, the builder is working on behalf of your neighbour and is in effect his subcontractor.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

An employer is liable for the actions of his employee. BUT a builder is hardly ever employed by the customer. As a business in its own right as I see it the building firm is liable for damage it causes to third parties.

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Originally Posted by draftsmann

An employer is liable for the actions of his employee. BUT a builder is hardly ever employed by the customer. As a business in its own right as I see it the building firm is liable for damage it causes to third parties.

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^^^ This, your neighbour contracted a professional to work on his house, a professional that has to have insurance to cover any damage either directly or third party, however as it was your neighbour who contacted the builder it is his responsibility to talk to the builder,

I’d say the builder as they are the party responsible for the damage, their insurance should cover it. As previously mentioned contact your insurer for advice.

It's the builder's fault - if he ran your dog over you wouldn't be blaming your neighbour. Mind you, the neighbour should be telling the builder to sort it out in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by number2

Talk to your house insurer, ask their advice re-liability.

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This would seem a sensible move especially as they'll be stumping up if you don't get resolution by any other means.

There is some well meaning but potentially misleading advice on here.

In principle, it appears that the damage is a result of the builder acting negligently. The builder would therefore be liable in tort.

As has been said, speak to your insurer regarding liability in the first instance.

Edited to add: Stringer's post below is spot on.

The Builder is to blame.

They have been negligent and you don’t need to have had a contractual relationship with the Builder in order to pursue them – they owed you a Duty of Care (working beside/on your property), the damage was entirely foreseeable (you warned them on several occasions) and they have clearly breached that Duty of Care and directly caused damage to your property.

But your Neighbour (if the decent, supportive type) should be using their existing relationship to lean on the Builder to make good the damage.

It depends upon a few factors, but on balance it’s unlikely the Neighbour will be classed as the Builder’s Employer – more likely the Builder is a Bona-Fide outfit.

The Builder should have Public Liability Insurance to meet claims arising from Damage caused to Third Party Property. Their own Excess level should start in the region of £500-£1,000. Of course, Public Liability Insurance is not legally mandatory, so they may not have it. Regardless, it doesn’t change or remove your right to pursue them to make good the damage from their own pockets.

As mentioned, any records, documents, photos etc. you have will support your case.

Ideally, the Builder would do the right thing and fix the damage, but if not, then you’re into a longer, harder battle.

In that event, the simplest way to deal with this is to contact your own Home Insurer now.

Firstly, see if they will accept the claim as Accidental Damage, or similar (if you carry that Peril). If they do, then they can pay to fix matters. Then, it’s for your Insurer – and their well-oiled legal machine – to Subrogate against the Builder, who is ultimately to blame, and sue them on your behalf to recoup their claims outlay. If full recovery is made from the Builder – which will take a long time – then the claim will amount to very little, if anything, on your Home Insurance claims record, and will not overly count against you. This gets your property fixed the quickest and leaves the nasty, drawn-out stuff to your Insurer. You may have additional Uninsured Losses e.g. your Policy Excess, which the Builder still remains liable for.

In addition, your Home Insurance Policy may come with a Legal Expenses extension as an extra (which you may have had to opt-in & pay for), which may meet the costs (up to circa £50,000 typically) of pursuing legal recourse against the Builder. If so, there will be a free 24/7 Legal Advice Helpline you can call to discuss initially. Cover is likely to be subject to a ‘reasonable prospects of success’ caveat, but it sounds like it’s pretty clear cut in this instance.

This Guardian article explains it a bit: https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...consumerissues

As above, but just watch as the builder takes all the funds out of buildercompany#45 ltd just before you go to court ... as you'll be taking the ltd company to task rather than the builder himself. He'll also be a director of buildercompany#46 ltd, buildercompany#47 ltd ....

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Originally Posted by troymcclure72

As above, but just watch as the builder takes all the funds out of buildercompany#45 ltd just before you go to court ... as you'll be taking the ltd company to task rather than the builder himself. He'll also be a director of buildercompany#46 ltd, buildercompany#47 ltd ....

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Take the builder to court under his own name and address rather than the co name should it go that far.

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Originally Posted by number2

Take the builder to court under his own name and address rather than the co name should it go that far.

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You do post some tripe on here. Do you have any actual understanding or do you enjoy making it up?

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Originally Posted by Mr Pointy

You do post some tripe on here. Do you have any actual understanding or do you enjoy making it up?

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Hi,
Amongst other things we have a portfolio of properties so I deal with builders frequently and FWIW we've taken quite a few people to court and never lost a case, but do feel free to 'crack on'.

Was there a party wall agreement in place? Where there is then it is typically the requirement of the neighbour to deal with it:

Surveyors should require the building owner to ‘make good’ damage caused by the works where appropriate under the [Party Wall] Act. Express provision will usually have been made for this in the primary award (see paragraph 7.3).

The adjoining owner can instead require the surveyors to determine the cost of the making good, and this sum must then be paid to the adjoining owner in lieu of making good.



Alternatively the builder should have public liability insurance against which you could make a claim.

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Originally Posted by number2

Amongst other things we have a portfolio of properties so I deal with builders frequently and FWIW we've taken quite a few people to court and never lost a case, but do feel free to 'crack on'.

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Are you saying you have sucessfully sued ex-Directors of folded limited companies for issues generated by the company when it was in operation?

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Originally Posted by Mr Pointy

Are you saying you have sucessfully sued ex-Directors of folded limited companies for issues generated by the company when it was in operation?

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Actually yes,

Thanks all, appreciate all the input and glad i asked as this is a headache too far for me right now all things considered.

This is super advice, i've checked and have legal cover so going to pursue this and see where we get to. :eagerness:

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Originally Posted by Stringer

The Builder is to blame.

They have been negligent and you don’t need to have had a contractual relationship with the Builder in order to pursue them – they owed you a Duty of Care (working beside/on your property), the damage was entirely foreseeable (you warned them on several occasions) and they have clearly breached that Duty of Care and directly caused damage to your property.

But your Neighbour (if the decent, supportive type) should be using their existing relationship to lean on the Builder to make good the damage.

It depends upon a few factors, but on balance it’s unlikely the Neighbour will be classed as the Builder’s Employer – more likely the Builder is a Bona-Fide outfit.

The Builder should have Public Liability Insurance to meet claims arising from Damage caused to Third Party Property. Their own Excess level should start in the region of £500-£1,000. Of course, Public Liability Insurance is not legally mandatory, so they may not have it. Regardless, it doesn’t change or remove your right to pursue them to make good the damage from their own pockets.

As mentioned, any records, documents, photos etc. you have will support your case.

Ideally, the Builder would do the right thing and fix the damage, but if not, then you’re into a longer, harder battle.

In that event, the simplest way to deal with this is to contact your own Home Insurer now.

Firstly, see if they will accept the claim as Accidental Damage, or similar (if you carry that Peril). If they do, then they can pay to fix matters. Then, it’s for your Insurer – and their well-oiled legal machine – to Subrogate against the Builder, who is ultimately to blame, and sue them on your behalf to recoup their claims outlay. If full recovery is made from the Builder – which will take a long time – then the claim will amount to very little, if anything, on your Home Insurance claims record, and will not overly count against you. This gets your property fixed the quickest and leaves the nasty, drawn-out stuff to your Insurer. You may have additional Uninsured Losses e.g. your Policy Excess, which the Builder still remains liable for.

In addition, your Home Insurance Policy may come with a Legal Expenses extension as an extra (which you may have had to opt-in & pay for), which may meet the costs (up to circa £50,000 typically) of pursuing legal recourse against the Builder. If so, there will be a free 24/7 Legal Advice Helpline you can call to discuss initially. Cover is likely to be subject to a ‘reasonable prospects of success’ caveat, but it sounds like it’s pretty clear cut in this instance.

This Guardian article explains it a bit: https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...consumerissues

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The builder has primary responsibility. However, if you made it sufficiently clear to your neighbour that you reserved the right to hold them liable for any damage too as an express condition of agreeing for the scaffold to encroach on your property then you can equally join them into any action. Always best to be clear with a neighbour that you reserve the right to hold them jointly and severally liable for any damage caused too as a condition of allowing encroachment on your property, as that way they have a vested interest in ensuring the builder takes due care too.

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Originally Posted by ~dadam02~

Happy Friday all, my neighbours have had builders in recently to render their house. We are a semi and as such we have their scaffolding on our side of the boundary which was placed close to my house. Understandable, and not a problem. I have just finished renovating my own houses, new windows, new render, everything in a new condition.

Throughout this whole process I have made it clear to both my neighbour and their builder on numerous occasions that they need to put down sufficient protection down etc. Next doors builders have just finished and unsurprinlsngly they have damaged 2 of my new windows including cills (scratches to the aluminium sash's) plus splatters of next doors render on my new render. My render is silcone coloured render so it's not simply a case of painting over the affected area.

I'm not happy about this, and made my feelings known to the builder and neighbour. Neighbour has washed his hands of it and tells me to deal with the builder but I'm annoyed he won't take ownership of the problem and deal with it.

Before I go nuclear, who is my beef with - neighbour or builder?

Thanks in advance.

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Your beef is with the builder but your neighbour sounds like a total knob which is of course, no use to you at this time. Sorry to hear you're having a bad time with it.

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Originally Posted by ~dadam02~

Thanks all, appreciate all the input and glad i asked as this is a headache too far for me right now all things considered.

This is super advice, i've checked and have legal cover so going to pursue this and see where we get to. :eagerness:

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Precisely the right thing to do.

That they are knobs unfortunately, in most cases you can't choose your neighbours. We have alot of sms back and forth conversations with our neighbours both before, during and after the work giving clear instruction and gaining positive acknowledgment that they would make sure the builder sufficiently protected our property. They obviously failed to do that.

I feel for you and hope you get it sorted without too much grief!!
As neighbor's being knobs I also feel your pain!!! Funny how nice they are when they need something like access or scaffolding etc and then once its done they turn back into knobs again...
Best of luck for what it's worth I think using your insurance is the best way forward as it removes you from a potentially awkward situation ....

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The problem with speaking with your insurance company is that they will still put a marker on your file even though you're not to blame.

Eddie

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Originally Posted by Arcam

The neighbour is liable, the builder is working on behalf of your neighbour and is in effect his subcontractor.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

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CDM regulations to which all building work is covered no matter how small make the client responsible
Ie your neighbors
If the builder is crap or causes damage the client should have done diligence
You claim off neighbors they claim off builder
Simples

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Originally Posted by ragerover

CDM regulations to which all building work is covered no matter how small make the client responsible
Ie your neighbors
If the builder is crap or causes damage the client should have done diligence
You claim off neighbors they claim off builder
Simples

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1) CDM 2015 deals with ensuring Health & Safety standards in construction - outside of that, it doesn’t act as an arbiter as to where other legal liabilities should rest.

2) Re CDM 2015, as a Domestic project those CDM responsibilities of the Client Homeowner will transfer to the Contractor:

Application to domestic clients

7.—(1) Where the client is a domestic client the duties in regulations 4(1) to (7) and 6 must be carried out by—

(a)

the contractor for a project where there is only one contractor;

(b)

the principal contractor for a project where there is more than one contractor; or

(c)

the principal designer where there is a written agreement that the principal designer will fulfil those duties.