Help advice needed!!! - Loose slabs!

[seanandruby]

Are the steps working out at the same height for the treads? You are better off taking the lot up and relaying. Photo's are painful to look at, i feel for you m8

[Dicksons]

Thanks all for your responses, it is gutting for sure ... I have told him to leave the site and am having someone else who I know is brilliant rip it up and do it again... He also said it was shocking.... I haven't paid these guys a penny yet but they are chasing- any reccomendatiins? Can I just pay for the slabs?

[lemoncurd1702]

I guess if your going to re-use the slabs supplied then you will need to pay for them or ask him to take them away.
Why didn't you use the guy who is brilliant in the first place?

[Dicksons]

He is claiming I need to pay and let him repair the damage but of course I don't if it's awful? The guy we know was booked up and we are due a baby in a month so needed it doing. The firm that fifth is awful job are cheackatrade registered with really good reviews so we did do our research,.. Just didn't pay off!

[GB_Groundworks]

allegedly checkatrade is a joke its more a pay for a review type place than any real indication of quality

personal recommendation and viewing previous work only way to go

id ring citizens advice bureau its definitely not fit for purpose so you shoulnt be paying the full amount and they shouldn't be asking for it either.

[Tony McC]

He is claiming I need to pay and let him repair the damage but of course I don't if it's awful?

Consumer law says that you are supposed to give the contractor an opportunity to correct any unsatisfactory work, unless you have lost all confidence in their alleged abilities and/or you are feeling threatened or intimidated.

From the photies we've seen here (and I acknowledge that you may well have only published the worst images) it's hard to say that the contractor has the requisite skills to correctly install the paving as this is not just the odd one or two, but huge swathes of the paving which has effectively failed, and so I'd conclude that they do not have the requisite skills. Any competent pavior would not have laid the paving in that manner, initially.

As for costs, if you keep any of the paving and the contractor has provided it, then you owe for it. He can't make any charge for labour, as the workmanship is not acceptable, nor for bedding or jointing materials, because they have been wasted due to faulty/incorrect installation. In law, they are entitled to remove the bedding and jointing and take it with them, but how likely is that?

If any excavation, prep work, cart away, sub-base etc., has been undertaken, then you are liable to cover the cost of that, also.

In your position, I would instruct the contractor to remove all of the paving and take it with them. This means you are not liable for costs, but also ensures that when the new paving is laid, it's not damaged, marked, stained or scratched in anyway. More importantly, it ensures that if there were to be further problems with a replacement contractor, they cannot argue that the problems arise because you instructed them to lay reclaimed or sub-standard paving.