Don't worry I won't be bullied.
Please see email correspondence below how they are trying to get at my surveyor!
And what I have said to them
Mr&Mrs: I have had a lot of time to do some research over the Christmas break and from comments made at our last meeting, I have decided that **** ******* was possibly right about me being an engineer and possibly looking at this building/defects too much. This as discussed could be causing me to have an eye winch is a little demanding. So with this in mind I am now seeking the help of a professional snagging inspector. This will hopefully get a comprehensive list of the issues which need attention but also the above details that I may see as an issue, may after all not be one.
The guy I am going to use is a chartered Building Surveyor who has 35 years’ experience in the building industry. I trust you will fully accept his findings and then apply a plan to correct all of his findings. This is going to be at a large cost to me but I feel I must seek this advice from the comments made by **** at our last meeting. I am however finding more issues and these will be looked at by the surveyor which again will make sure that I am not being overly "picky".
The survey will be taking place on the 20th January 2016. I will send you a copy as soon as I get the official report, can you please supply a postal address for this? I will then give you 7 days from receipt to write back to me with your proposed plan of action.
Avant: Further to your below email, to try and assist with all this, as I am conscious time is dragging on, I have had a think about how to move things along more swiftly. I therefore propose that we appoint a surveyor ourselves to attend with your surveyor so they can agree then and there common items or debate/agree/disagree any queries then and there rather than wait for a report to be issued, considered and potentially challenged if there is a difference in professional opinion.
Ultimately your surveyor is of course entitled to record whatever he wishes in his report, which we will respect, but in my experience this could potentially save a lot of time and things going backwards and forwards, as the two surveyors will deal with matters professionally and in a considered manner relative to NHBC/Building Regulations and Standards with no axe to grind so to speak.
If you can confirm this is acceptable to you and you can confirm the time and date of attendance I will put this in place.
Mr&Mrs: Many thanks for coming back to me with positive thoughts. I have spoken with my surveyor and he has come back with a suggestion that I feel will best suit us all. He has suggested that he first completes his inspection by himself, once completed he is willing to meet with yourself and your representative and agree /disagree the findings. I believe this will be a better way as he will be able to do a full unhindered inspection.
Obviously we can then all sit down and agree a way forward. He is doing his inspection on Friday the 20th of January. Myself and the surveyor will be available from 2.30pm onwards to discuss the findings and hopefully agree the corrective actions and start to put this to bed. I trust this is acceptable from your side?
Regards
Avant: Yes that makes perfect sense. I will set this up for the 2.30 appointed time.
Avant: Hi Mr ****** Apologies for asking, but our surveyor is unable to attend at 2.30pm on the 20/01/16, would it be possible for you to rearrange the appointment for a morning visit ?
I’m sorry for the inconvenience and would like to reassure you that we have your best interests at heart.
Mr&Mrs: Unfortunately that answer would be no. I am not having my surveyor hindered in his contracted work. I have spoken at length with him regarding this and he has tried to do this on behalf of a customer before. What happens is whilst he is doing the snagging, measuring and inspection, the 3rd party starts questioning things and it ends up in a bun fight. The inspection then takes a lot longer. Also I have again had to book time off work and this again is at my expense. I have already taken days off work regarding the issues in 2016.
The cruxes of the issues are that this house has been thrown together and no care has been taken. The defect list is growing arms and legs. I have had to take this approach as I can see a long process in getting what I paid for, which a house is built to a set of standards. As you have already seen the tilling has not been done to the manufacturers recommendations. Floors are moving and creaking, doors fitted without security plates and the list goes on. I am sorry to have to put this in writing and do this, but if this was a car I would have had my money back now.
The house I sold to Avant was 12 years old and there were the odd creak in the floors but nowhere near what is in my house already, and some are in areas where you have already completed reworks. I took a lot of time researching builders and issues over the Christmas break and with what I found I have had to do this. Avant will not be the first builder to have to rip a house apart and this has been through incorrect installation of engineered joists. The NHBC standard for fitting these joists, noggins etc. is purely designed to stop creaking floors, what I found is where there are floors creaking it is 99% of the time due to faulty installation. And to remedy this it involves all the floors being removed. I understand you say you have my best interest at heart, but to be honest I don’t trust anyone at this moment in time. As we have been in this house for 5½ months and so far we have had nothing but broken promises. The only people I will trust is someone who I am paying, I will end up being £1,000's out of pocket on this, as your so-called tradesmen cannot be trusted and I will be forced to have someone standing over them when they do the remedial works.
Would your site manager not be available, or you as it is just being snagged against the NHBC standards which as I know are easy to read? It will be purely black and white, the standard says X, delivered is either X or Y. If it is X then OK, if it is Y then it needs putting right?
Avant: Thanks for getting back to me, I'll inform our surveyor you are unable to alter the date or time.
Mr Sad lol