11. Keep A Retention
11. Keep A Retention (Image 11 of 11)
At the end of the job, keep a minimum five per cent retention, even when your builder thinks he’s finished the job, and do your snagging list. If you’ve got an architect, he would normally do that for you. This retention should clearly be in the contract, and will specify that the builder is to put right any defective works.
There are a couple of stages that people forget about – but it’s in the JCT (building contract). One is the six months’ defects liability period. Once the job is finished you need to go around and make a note of anything not properly completed as per your contract (ie, to a reasonable standard) – taps are loose, the bath has no silicone around the edges, etc. If you’re a novice at this and are not sure, you’re going have basic standards, but are going to have to trust your builder a bit on this. He then has to agree to it and then do the work.
Once the snagging is finished, you still hold back the five per cent for six months. Unprofessional builders will probably hassle you for their money at this point. At the end of the six months, though, at their cost not at yours, they’re obliged to fix any problems. Maybe there’s cracking in the decorations caused by changing temperature in the rooms – that’ll happen in every house – they need to come back and fix that. This is ‘ideal world’ here – but it’s how it should happen if you’ve got a good contract. This is the simple basis of any building contract. If he won’t put things right, you’ve got every right to get someone else in and not to pay him this money.
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