plumber problem

[wonkylegs]

also posted in legal

I am usually the neutral party on disputes (Architect) such as these but as its personal this time I want to check my perspective.

We employed a plumber/bathroom fitter to fit 2 bathrooms & a downstairs WC. The works included some building work (removing a stud wall between the WC & bathroom) & new soil & rainwater pipes.
I specified & purchased all of the bathroom fittings, gave a full spec for building and plumbing work & a full set of plans & elevations. As it was school holidays I was also available at the house if there were any questions or problems....... oh boy there were problems.

We have a catalogue of errors fully documented and dated & several times we had to talk to him about his work, & several times we seriously considered completely removing him from the job (we didn't as this would leave us with no working bathrooms - as despite being asked to do each one sequentially so we would always have a working room, came back one day to find he had gutted both rooms.

Problems include 7 leaks through ceiling/floor (over my brand new kitchen ) , hot water flowing out of cold taps, no hot water to shower, shower cubicle installed backwards so you couldn't get in it, noisy drain, leaking drainpipe, drain not draining, flushes & wastes not installed properly

I have had him back to fix (bloody great big) snags a few times now after he said he had 'finished' , as well as pulling him up and getting him to continually correct work whilst he was here.

We have no problem with the other trades he employed - electrician, plasterer, tilers, builder/joiner - there work is fine. It is the plumbing work that has been disastrous. I am an extremely pragmatic and patient person but I wouldn't want to be left alone in a room with this man as he has driven me so mad with this that i'm not sure I could restrain myself.

We still owe him the final 3rd of the payment & he has also sent us a request for further money as he ' underestimated how much time it would take him & how much materials would cost' - it was a fixed price quote.

After the last time he came to fix his mistakes, I was going through checking stuff and have found yet more problems - I am now reluctant to let him come back yet again. I believe that he has broken his end of the contract as he has failed to do the work with due care & competence. I also am concerned about further damage he could cause to our house.

We would like to send him a letter outlining all the issues and say that due to the continual problems we have lost faith in his ability to do the work competently. We will be getting another qualified plumber in to fix these mistakes, check the rest of the installation and will deduct this and the cost of the redecoration (following the leaks) from the final payment. Once this has been done if there is any money left we will finalise the bill according to the original invoices. If this sum exceeds the final payment we will be seeking redress through the small claims court.

Does this sound reasonable? Any better suggestions?
Thanks for reading this far.