I have had to threaten 2 companies with issuing a summons through the County Court for failure to supply goods of a satisfactory quality in a timely way. Both sell double glazing windows & doors.
The company who supplied the sliding sash windows for the original 1930's house have to replace some fittings which don't match, fitted with some rusty screws. The windows were installed & left filthy inside & out, frames & glass, with labels on which I can't remove & no keys to a couple of casement windows. Some windows were not properly sealed on the outside. They are on the second design for my front door which was ordered & paid for in September last year. My original front door is not draught proof or fit for purpose. The work on the hall can't be finished until the door is fitted.
The company who supplied the windows & doors for the new extension have fitted a side door which is the wrong colour inside & doesn't match the frame or their other windows. The windows had the wrong colour trickle vents which haven't been replaced & no keys. I have non matching handles on the windows & doors, some white, some cream. The company was paid to supply & install everything, but they didn't install the door. The frame for the door is damaged because the hinges were put in the wrong place & holes were left. The exterior frame was never sealed.
A Quality Control inspector is coming from the company I bought my kitchen from this week because of issues with chipping paintwork & an extractor fan cupboard which bowed because it wasn't strong enough. I had already had an issue with the wrong configuration of the oven housing cupboard.
I could go on. The number of trouble free transactions during this build could be counted on the fingers of one hand. I have spent hours, days, weeks & months chasing suppliers, who often don't respond. British manufacturing & supply is in a dreadful state. The building trade has always had a bad reputation, but it is now totally unfit for purpose.
I actually don't blame the suppliers. It's the fabricators who are the problem. It is mostly down to the supply chain - difficulties sourcing materials & also a lack of a skilled workforce. The suppliers have justifiably irate customers on one hand & fabricators who seemingly don't give a toss, because they don't have to deal with the customer.
The customer is relatively powerless, at the mercy of companies who simply ignore the problem & bullshit & bluster their way through this mess. The customer is left just wanting the agony to stop & their build to be finished to a good standard & the builders to move on to some other poor client.
The building trade needs a good shake up. If Northern European countries can do it, why can't the UK? There needs to be proper quality control of both goods & tradespeople. The customer needs protection & enforcement of reasonable standards. Big builders have huge power & make huge profits. They are very effective at lobbying government, who do little or nothing to protect individuals like me who renovate old property.
My house will be very well insulated & fit for climate change. I have not had any financial support to do that. I won't live long enough to recoup the money. If I had known just how bad the building trade is I would never have started this because the mental & physical toll on me at 77 has been enormous.
It shouldn't be like this. What incentive is there for property owners to renovate old property. A conservative estimate is that 25 million homes in the UK need insulation.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/292265/insulation-in-dwellings-in-england-uk-y-on-y/
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