And another
Logical, but don't trust builders and tradesmen as far as you can throw them. Keep them in sight at all times if possible, because it's more than likely something will have gone walkies when they're finished...

When ordering readymix concrete, make sure you work out just how much you're getting, and where it should come to when the trench or wherever is filled. A Cement Truck can hold 6 cubic meters (not much really when you think about it) and it's not unusual for a driver to drop off some of your concrete at a mate's house or whatever, yet still charge you for it and hope you don't notice.

Bricklayers are generally paid by the brick, so don't stand around talking to them too long as every minute is bricks not laid and they're more likely to rush and botch the wall you asked for.

As I understand it, all of you selling houses, Home Information Packs should not cost anywhere near what the papers say. You can get a fair amount of it done by your solicitor, apart from the most important thing, the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). This is a piece of paper with the pretty A - G (or whatever) Green To Red diagram on it (like on a fridge) with a score expressed as a figure. The higher the figure, the better, but quite what the figure means or where it comes from is never clear.

On that subject, when the EPC is done, Man With Badge comes and looks at your windows and whether you use Energy Saving bulbs or not. No invasive work is done, and I can assume that he takes your word for it as to how the house is built, from what materials etc. Load of rubbish really.

For us housebuilders, a legal requirement to pass local council building regulations is the SAP energy rating. This number is calculated (usually by an outside company, not the builder) using proper data and plans, material choice etc. It tells the builder far more than the EPC tells the householder, and actually contains all the right information for an EPC and more. The problem is, houses can be sold off-plan using the SAP rating, but when completed, need an EPC. The builder, with all the right information, is apparently not qualified to do so, and the aforementioned Man With Badge is needed to do his own work. Unnecessary, and creating jobs for the sake of it to massage unemployment figures.
( mr_wicksy is.... old., Thu 27 Sep 2007, 22:01, Reply)