2 South West Building & Construction SOUTH WEST


May 2011


BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION


Tavistock Newspapers Ltd, 14 Brook Street, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 0HE. Tel: 01822 613666 Fax: 01822 618222


INSIDE THIS ISSUE


■ Environment Topics - Page 6 ■ Green Build Cornwall - Page 16 ■ Tinhay Building Supplies - Page 19 ■ Trebarwith Road Rustic Quarry - Page 20 ■ Aspects of Construction - Page 23 ■ Federation of Master Builders - Page 24 ■ Site safety and security - Page 26 ■ Products and Services - Page 30


CAPTION FOR FRONT PAGE PICTURES: News and information from the businesses on the front cover is featured in this issue of South West Building & Construction magazine.


Quote of the month


‘


Great music always comes out of adversity - Veteran pop star Roger Daltrey


Consider mediation STEPHEN


HOMER


Stephen Homer, a former chairman of the CIC South West (Devon & Cornwall), discusses a recent case.


THE recent case of Rolf v De Guerin involved building contracts for the construction of a garage (at a cost of £34,000) and a loft (at a cost of £18,000) between Mrs Rolf and a building contractor, Mr De Guerin. Mrs Rolf paid the contractor £28,000 in cash installments prior to a breakdown in the relationship and the contracts being terminated. The garage was left in a nearly complete state, but without a door or a roof, and the loft had barely been started and so Mrs Rolf had to pay £20,000 to a third party contractor to complete the works.


How you can contact us


EDITORIAL Editor: Paul White


Main contributor: Andrew Townsend Paul White Communications


PO Box 40, Callington, PL18 9WB ADVERTISING:


Judith Jewell Tel/Fax 01837 658941 E-mail judithjewell@btinternet.com


MAILING LIST


If you have a change for our mailing list Tel 01822 615007 Fax 01822 618971


E-mail swbmail@internet-today.co.uk ’


Mrs Rolf sued the contractor for a sum of £70,000, alleging that the projects had not been completed as agreed. The contractor’s defence was that the contracts were with Greyfox Project Management Limited, and not with him personally, and that the contracts had been repudiated by Mrs Rolf due to her refusal to pay any further installments towards the cost of the works.


Mrs Rolf made several offers to settle the dispute with the contractor, the first in the sum of £14,000 plus reasonable costs and a willingness to enter mediation to settle the dispute. This was ignored by the contractor, as were two subsequent offers. One week prior to the trial, the contractor


responded stating that he would pay £14,000 over 36 months. Mrs Rolf then amended her offer to £21,000, to which the contractor responded with his best offer of £14,000.


The trial judge rejected the contractor’s defence and held his acceptance of Mrs Rolf’s offer to be too late. The contracts were held to be between Mrs Rolf and the contractor, and they had been repudiated by the interference of Mrs Rolf’s husband in the works. Mrs Rolf was awarded damages of £2,500 and the remainder of her claim was dismissed. It was ordered that Mrs Rolf would pay some of the contractor’s costs.


On appeal, the judge changed the costs decision in Mrs Rolf’s favour and ordered that each party pay its own costs. It was clear that Mrs Rolf wanted to avoid litigation and would have been happy to settle the claim for less than she was claiming. The moral of the story is that parties to disputes should always respond to offers to settle and should consider mediation. In a small building dispute, a trial should be the last resort, with the court endorsing mediation over litigation. The issues in this case would have suited a mediation forum. If anyone has any queries


regarding this article, I can be contacted via email at s.homer@ashfords.co.uk.


South West Building & Construction Magazine


The magazine is now available to read on the world wide web


Visit: www.tavistock-today.co.uk and click on Special Publications


to view the magazine on line. Tel: Judith on 01837 658941 Email: judithjewell@btinternet.com


DISCLAIMER: The CIC SW (Devon & Cornwall) will not accept any responsibility for any loss occasional to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material included in this publication.


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