A number of my constituents have contacted me in the past four weeks in frustration at the way they have been treated by builders who have taken on refurbishment work in their houses. In all cases they are young couples who have taken out large mortgages or loans to upgrade their homes who now find themselves with a botched and unfinished job and the possibility of the need for further extensive rehabilitation work to be carried out on their property.
In good faith these young people engaged builders whom they considered to be reputable. The builders were registered with the CIF. The customers assumed the builder would deliver a quality product on time for the price agreed. They were not unreasonable in their expectations and they were aware of practical difficulties arising that might delay the work, therefore, they made allowances accordingly. It is understandable that customers are extremely upset when they find themselves the victim of a poor product and told their only recourse is to take a civil action against the builder. These young couples cannot afford to get into further debt with the additional risk of being unsuccessful in a court case. It must be in everyone's interest to ensure there is a quality of service that can be reasonably expected. Recourse to the courts is not an option for people who find themselves with an unfinished poor quality job on their hands.
The Minister of State should consider the need for a public awareness campaign to advise the public what to look out for and what standards to expect when engaging a builder. When a builder goes out of business or goes bankrupt, the customer is left to pick up the pieces. It seems there is very little easy access to recourse for the consumer or the customer in this case. I want the Minister of State to consider a registration procedure for all builders and only those on a recognised and independently moderated list to be approved. It would also be in the interest of the vast majority of builders who are competent and reliable that such a register process would be established. A second step would be to demand that registered builders would be obliged to have some form of bonding or insurance such as applies to the travel industry, for example. This would ensure that the customer would not suffer financially if the builder was unable to complete a job due to financial default.
The appointment of an ombudsman who would be independent and impartial would help to reassure people undertaking building work that he or she would mediate in the event of a dispute. There are many precedents in place for such an ombudsman in other industries whose role is to deal impartially with complaints. Rogue builders do enormous damage to the good name of the majority of builders who are reputable and reliable. The victims are often those who are vulnerable because of their financial circumstances and have a right to be protected without having to engage in expensive legal procedures.
