Industry arbitrator/ombudsman? - Expert opinion sought to resolve dispute

[janicearcher]

Thanks to everyone who posted a reply to my post re "what do you make of this mortar".

Clearly me and the contractor fellow ain't going to reach an agreement. Having paid 5K I am not happy with the quality of the work, and if I have to I'll be going to court with this.

Before I go down that path I'd like to get a view from an respected industry "expert". Can someone point me to either a recognised industry body who might have an adjudicator in matters of dispute, or some other professional body which would carry some weight in the industry in terms of professional opinion?

Thanks again for the replies to the previous post.

J A

[Ted]

http://www.adjudication.org/

http://www.sew.org.uk/

http://www.expertwitness.co.uk/

http://www.arbitrators.org/

Alternatively a good (construction) solicitor will advise on a suitable expert.

[lutonlagerlout]

Clearly me and the contractor fellow ain't going to reach an agreement

someone will get rich out of this,probably the legal people,do your best to get it sorted out of court
cheers LLL

[matt h]

agreed. If you contact your local trading standards office, they may be able to assist.

[Ted]

You have to make sure your expenditure on experts and lawyers is appropriate to the size of our claim.

If it goes to court you will only get back 80% or so of your costs; this is to prevent costs spiralling. If the other side tries to settle out of court and you don't accept and it goes to court and you are only claiming a little more the court will not be that favourable to you as it will regard you as wasting the courts time.

Unfortunately British courts don't offer much in the way of compensation for stress etc (not that a faulty patio should cause that much stress!) unlike the American courts.

All you need at this stage is a concise report stating that in the expert's opinion, the patio has not been laid with the reasonable care and skill that would be expected of a competent paving contractor.

I would imagine that an expert could write the report in half a day if it is a small patio in question so with a site visit it may be a day's work with some travel expenses.

Hopefully it shouldn't cost more than about GBP500 tops.

GBP means pounds by the way; I have a foreign keyboard!

[Tony McC]

Take advice from Trading Standards. The "roll-a-six-to-start" nature of civil courts in England (slightly different in Scotland and NI) means that some local courts insist on using a joint expert and will flatly reject any "expert" opinion proffered by either side without prior consultation. There have been several instances this year where clients have asked me for an expert witness report only to find it would have been 'dead money' because they hadn't sought agreement from the would-be defendant who would have been able to have the report rejected solely because they had not been informed of the claimant's intention to commission such a report. I always check that both sides have agreed to an expert report, or that the courts have accepted that both sides will provide independednt experts, before I undertake any such work.

[janicearcher]

The responses here have been a tremendous help. Much appreciated. The way ahead is clear, I have over the past few days spoken to trading standards, and the legal advice line provided by my own insurers. Very clear as to where I stand legally, and in terms of settlement what is realistic.

will post the final outcome!

many thanks to everyone who has contributed.

Cheers,
J A

[BGHSE]

May be coming in a bit late in this matter, but thought my own experience with trading standards might be useful.

I had a dispute with a contractor, but because I had 'invited' the contractor (rather than he cold canvassing at the door) my local trading standards claimed they themselves were unable to take action with the contractor.

They were very keen to help me take the idiot to court, by which I mean that they would mark / correct my homework before I issue the summons, but I had to do the work and take court action at my own risk.

Can explain the problems with this idiot, including pictures, if sufficient interest.
Will also divulge his identity non-publicly for anyone in Surrey / south London area likely to suffer this idiot.

BGHSE

[DeckmanAdam]

I would like to see the pictures of the work if you dont mind...Not really interested in the name though as im up norf.

[Tony McC]

Trading Standards were wrong to say they couldn't intervene because the contractor wasn't a cold caller. They have a duty to help members of the public regardless of how the contractor was sourced, if said m.o.t.p has a legitimate complaint regarding goods or services.

Admittedly, there's a lot of variation in the degree of assistance provided by TS from council to council, and some choose to keep a low profile, but they *should* be willing to assist with advice and paperwork. What they can't do (other than in exceptional circs) is take legal action on behalf of a m.o.t.p.

[BGHSE]

Thank you Tony, exactly was I was trying to say.

DeckmanAdam, will post some pics when I learn how to attach them to this forum!

[Tony McC]

To post photies, see this post



Edited By Tony McC on 1195050488

[Ted]

Since the three messages are pointless without the pictures I suppose all three should be deleted, if you would?

Goto www.photobucket.com and set up an account...

It is easy to use and you should then be able to post up your photies.