View Full Version : F*****g Builders...
Christ, they would be less cowboy if they rode horses instead of driving vans!!!. Had the local firm contracted by the council out to replace our kitchen today, they arrive at 8:30 and make a start...turning off the electric without warning while i'm browing the 'net on one PC, with another running on the bench. They rip all the wiring out of the kitchen and run new stuff from upstairs, then **** off. Couple of hours later, the YTS lad turns up and proceeds to smash out the plaster where the new cables are to be run down the wall...inbetween selling 'something' to someone on the end of his mobile phone...sounded right shady to me, i can tell you. Anyway, he leaves...i still have no electric, can't even make a coffee. Little later some other guy comes round, removes 1 cupboard, slings it on the front garden and buggers off. Fed up of waiting i've just been to grab one of them now, except they have all ****ed off home. I've had to sort out all the dangling wires in the kitchen and turn my own power back on...WHAT A BUNCH OF HALF-ASSED, ****WITTED COWBOYS...
:mad:
:eek: How much you paying 'em?
Fireblade
17-11-2003, 19:44
If they're "contracted by the council" Forthy, he won't have t' pay a penny :D
Which is just as well by the sound of it :rolleyes:
Doh!
/me runs off to evening classes to learn how to read!
Anyway, if it's a freebie (and it sounds like it is) I ask you to remember the phrase:
PAY PEANUTS, GET MONKEYS
lol
master baits
17-11-2003, 20:33
Depends on the co , couple of years ago I had new dg , shower room , wiriing and gas central heating in the space of six months ...... all council.Never had a complaint about any of them , mind you I did my clerk of works bit though supervising , ie this goes here and dont think of doing it any other way than this mate.
What helped matters is the jobs had to be inspected by the council AFTER they said it was completed....or no payment , couple fault was found out it all ...... 2 wires werent numbered and a duff earth on the toliet radiator.
So phone your council and get the inspector down to eye it over , or at least mention to the sopervisa that its being inspected by them.
Monkey Rob
17-11-2003, 22:06
If they are contracted by the council, they will almost certainly have to provide a method statement for their works and be approved subcontractors.
I'm not too sure about this one but I think leaving you without electricity turned on while you occupy the house is illegal. It's certainly worth getting the council inspector around to suprvise the works and don't even THINK about signing anything until someone in a suit has given someone a certificate.
If they bother you, occasionally threaten them with getting someone around from the HSE and ask them if they are aware of their CDM obligations. (Don't worry about what CDM is, just watch them squirm) (Construction Design and Maintenance if you must know)
If really in doubt, lock the door and tell them to sod off until you get someone who's got more than half a City and Guilds to come and look at what sort of a pigs ear they're making.
-Don't sign anything.
-Don't pay anyone anything
-Make them a cup of tea now and again though (if the kettle works)
-Take photos
Did I mention taking photos? Leave the date stamp on too. If you don't have a Digicam borrow one.
Management not Maintenance, but pretty close. As the Principal Contractor, they are obliged not only to have method statements, but to produce the Health and Safety Plan. Ask them who the Planning Supervisor is. (The person who receives the Health and Safety Plan from the Principal Contractor). This is a book which not only has the method statements dictating the procedures they will adhere to, but it also lists the components used and materials under C.O.S.S.H. (hazardous materials, their symptoms and treatment).
Leaving you without power and with bare wires lying around, and leaving partially complete work in an occupied house is a no-no under anyone's rules. The Client (Local Council and their authorised representative) is being lax here.
Time for a polite complaint I think.
I had a friend who had her house rewired and a new kitchen and bathroom put in. The plumbers were pretty good and poilte but eh electricians were a bunch of arses! They went around the house and smashed huge holes in every wall of every room! They then demanded drinks and just carried on destroying the house! They broke three of the lampshades by throwing them across the room and didn't clean after themselves when they left. When I came round I thought someone had run round the house with a pick axe! I was disgusted! On top of all that a parcel arrived and they signed for it and then hid it behind a cupboard and didn't tell anyone about it. It was only found by accident weeks later!
glad i saw this... i have been thinking about getting a sparky in to run a new power loop through my upstairs office... running 19 plugs off 1 double socket like i am now cant be too safe.
/me makes sure to be very careful when picking contractor.
ParrotBoy
18-11-2003, 11:53
Running a new power loop is dead simple!
U got a spare socket on your mains box? And how many floors away is it?
Its only a looped series circuit, you could probably just extend the one you have up there...
ningmaster
18-11-2003, 12:00
Just a quicky for alan its C.O.S.H.H (Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health) Oh And i cant spell either But i say kill em all and ask for the councils health and safety supervisor :)
shifty.ricky
18-11-2003, 13:27
Originally posted by Forthy
Anyway, if it's a freebie (and it sounds like it is) I ask you to remember the phrase:
PAY PEANUTS, GET MONKEYS
lol
I can guarantee that the council isnt paying these people peanuts. There getting paid so should do a proper job where the end customer is paying for it or not.
Hmm - don't you just hate it when blatent humour is lost in the translation. I know I do, espescially when it's sooo obvious....
One of my wife's friends has been complaining of the smell around her house for NINE YEARS. Last weekend the HSE man finally diagnosed the problem. Toilet waste pipe went into the cavity wall, and another one went out the other side. Trouble was they did not did not connect. Nine years of effluent waste in the cavity. Talk about cr.appy cavity wall insulation...
Sinizterguy
19-11-2003, 01:27
Originally posted by Dingo
One of my wife's friends has been complaining of the smell around her house for NINE YEARS. Last weekend the HSE man finally diagnosed the problem. Toilet waste pipe went into the cavity wall, and another one went out the other side. Trouble was they did not did not connect. Nine years of effluent waste in the cavity. Talk about cr.appy cavity wall insulation...
I dont think I needed to know that :o
Originally posted by Dingo
One of my wife's friends has been complaining of the smell around her house for NINE YEARS. Last weekend the HSE man finally diagnosed the problem. Toilet waste pipe went into the cavity wall, and another one went out the other side. Trouble was they did not did not connect. Nine years of effluent waste in the cavity. Talk about cr.appy cavity wall insulation...
Jeez...i thought i was having trouble...
OMFG That is shocking! Nine years of crap! :eek:
Sinizterguy
20-11-2003, 18:18
Originally posted by Poogash
OMFG That is shocking! Nine years of crap! :eek:
Hahaa
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