Hi all, we contracted a company to build a deck for us on a fixed price contract. Because we live in the wops, he has over-ordered, and has about $500 of timber left over. He said he would pick it up before Christmas, then between Christmas and New Year, realistically how long should we wait until we use it lol? (It is in the way, and we could definitely make use of it). Thanks heaps. :)
russ18,
Jan 3, 7:22pm
So let him know you want to keep it and he can add it to the bill.
zirconium,
Jan 3, 7:44pm
Thanks Russ, we really want him to take it away! :) If he's going to leave it, we aren't going to pay for it!
krames,
Jan 3, 8:47pm
yes you will, one way or another
underconstructy,
Jan 3, 11:19pm
You probably already have paid for it.
spiritofgonzo,
Jan 4, 12:52am
no. They have paid the contractor to build the deck, if there is left over material then the contractor owns it. That's like saying they paid for their tools.
spiritofgonzo,
Jan 4, 12:53am
Perhaps you're being facetious
maclad,
Jan 4, 1:18am
Sounds a bit like poster #1 wants it both ways, if it is left for him to use, which he says he can do, then he doesn't want to pay for it. If it is taken away by contractor then it is a long costly trip from the "wops" to get more timber for his project.
zirconium,
Jan 4, 1:19am
This is what we were thinking. If he didn't have enough, he would have had to get more, and we wouldn't have paid any extra. Therefore, we don't own the extra that they provided.
The question is, how long does he get to leave it here? It really is in the way.
zirconium,
Jan 4, 1:21am
Lol, i'm a "she". Just asking how long is reasonable. 2 weeks? 2 months? 2 years? There has to be a time where they can't use it as "new" on another job.
maclad,
Jan 4, 1:34am
I read something about this recently and in the dim dark recess of my mind I believe you cannot take ownership for quite a while. More googling needed here. Like when my boarder vacated, many weeks unpaid rent and left all his stuff here. I was unable to do anything for a long time. I however did and he has never returned.
zirconium,
Jan 4, 1:41am
Thanks. :)
skin1235,
Jan 4, 1:43am
lets assume you were the contractor for a moment, you knew it was a long way to return for any shortfall, so purchased more than you needed, said amount charged to your trading account you get finished a few days before xmas and rush off to finish another couple of small jobs before xmas too, fully intending to collect any excess left at yor place at a later date ( knowing you've been charged for it at bunnings or carters or wherever your company has an account) In the rush of xmas, and staff holidays etc you don't get back to pick it up for a few weeks, and when you do turn up for it you find they have STOLEN it and cut it up for other projects
I expect you'll be happy to accept the excuse that you left it far more than the 3 days expected so forfeited ownership
skin1235,
Jan 4, 1:47am
its about 150 mts ($500) of decking timber, just stack it carefully under the deck and then keep your thieving hands off it, when things settle down the contractor will be back for it
and if that doesn't suit, give him a ring and tell him you intend to cut it up on thursday morning if it is still at your place he will immediately amend the account and charge you the $500 for it, annoying, but honest
ayjay1,
Jan 4, 1:57am
But the storage fees came to $500 so now you are quits and can go forth and build LOL
skin1235,
Jan 4, 2:15am
theres a layer of entitled folks around, and they leave a bad taste in the mouth
I was rebuilding a fence at a kindy, and had the van parked by the curb, took a wee break at 12 noon and stepped around the corner of the building into some shade next minute I hear the van sliding door open, so step back out again, some fekin idiot is half inside the van rummaging around, and when I yell at him he steps back with a paslode case under his arm and half a handfull of nails, and then wants to argue that they are his, he couldn't explain why he was inside the van but claimed that the paslode case with my name on it and the nails in his hand were actually his, he was carrying them home from his mates place after doing a wee job for him
not to be outdone that same afternoon ( when things settled back down again ) the van was parked across the road, had a tandem trailer hooked up ready to remove all the rubbish from the fence rebuild, the tandem had a folding camp chair laying in it some other random picks the chair out of the tandem as he goes past and carries on walking, my grand-daugther alerted me, and once again I yelled out for this dick to put it back
stupidly he decided to rush across the road with said chair in the fully raised to strike position A few seconds later he was getting a broken arm attended to and a large gash where the chair managed to clothesline him wrapped in a pressure bandage
thieving is thieving no matter which way you dress it up, if it does not belong to you , keep your mitts off it
zirconium,
Jan 4, 2:54am
Lol, skin1235, that was a BAD afternoon! Good on you for cleaning up your jobs too. :) - Needless to say that didn't happen here either.
skin1235,
Jan 4, 3:06am
it left me shaking my head for a few days for sure ( and had a sore hand for a week) can grin at most things but blatant theft doesn't turn the corners of the mouth up at all
I'm sure your issue can be resolved but it needs better communication from both parties so it is clear where the ownership lays, I certainly wouldn't be appropriating ownership at this stage
underconstructy,
Jan 4, 3:29am
Oh yeah that's how it works.
What if it was a fixed price tender and the contractor allowed 500m of decking but ended up only using 450m. Then they do own it.
underconstructy,
Jan 4, 3:32am
Tell me what contract conditions you engaged the builder under it NZIA, 3910, Master or Certified builder? Then I will tell you who owns the decking material and who is responsible for it.
underconstructy,
Jan 4, 3:37am
It also does sound kind of unreasonable to whinge about this on the 4th of January.
apollo11,
Jan 4, 3:46am
Just ring him and ask him when he intends to remove it. Get him to agree on removal before a certain date. If you have a use for it he may let you negotiate a cheaper rate for it just to get rid of the hassle of picking it up, but you won't be getting it for free sorry.
kenw1,
Jan 4, 3:48am
I would say its the builders responsibility to finish the job off in a clean and tidy manner, that includes taking excess materials away.
Too many odd job builders think they can use peoples residential properties as extensions of their yards to store random materials.
Pay the bill then, 7 days come and get it, or it will be disposed of.
kenw1,
Jan 4, 3:49am
The OP does not say how long it has been left it there, might be months for all we know.
zirconium,
Jan 4, 3:52am
Agreed about the time frame, but they aren't responding to messages, so am assuming they have taken time off over Christmas/New Year. I'm not entirely happy to be responsible for these materials, they are unsecured, and we can't always keep an eye on them. Contract to NZS 3604.
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