Builder walked off the job — your options
The short answer: a builder who stops turning up — or stops work and demands more money before returning — has likely broken the contract (and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 duty to finish within a reasonable time). Do not panic-pay, do not strip the site, and start building your paper trail the same week.
REVIEWED BY: Sean McNamara on 2026-09-03
The first 48 hours
1. Write, don't shout. Send a short written message (email or text is fine): "You stopped work on [date]. Please confirm by [date + 7 days] when you will return to complete the works agreed in the quote dated [date]." Calm, dated, provable. 2. Photograph the site — every room, wide shots and close-ups, with something for scale. Date-stamp if possible. 3. Secure the site. If works are open to weather or unsafe (holes, unsupported structures, live electrics), spend what's needed to make it safe and keep the receipts — reasonable emergency mitigation costs are usually recoverable. 4. Check your contract for the payment schedule. If they have walked mid-stage, they are very likely in breach — but do not withhold a payment that is genuinely due for completed, conforming work without advice; stick to disputing the unfinished portion.
"They're demanding more money to come back"
This is the classic squeeze. Your position:
- If you agreed a fixed price, a demand for more to finish the same scope is, on its face, a repudiatory pressure tactic — the contract said what the work costs.
- If the demand follows genuine variations (you changed the scope in writing), those may be chargeable — but only if agreed. "Verbal instruction on site" claims need evidence.
- Put it in writing: "The quote dated [date] is a fixed price for the works described. I am willing to pay for agreed variations, supported by written confirmation. Please confirm a return date to complete the contracted works."
- A reasonable compromise (a small goodwill sum for documented, genuinely extra work) can be cheaper than months of dispute — decide with your head, in writing, "without prejudice" if negotiating.
Your options ladder
1. Formal complaint + letter before action — the structured route; most effective first formal step. 2. Report it — via the Citizens Advice consumer service so it reaches your local Trading Standards (abandonment patterns matter to enforcers). 3. Hire someone to finish, then claim the excess cost — get two or three written remedial quotes (independent builders, not your original builder's mates). The reasonable cost of completing is your damages — see the schedule of loss. 4. Small claims court — for totals within the limit (England & Wales: £10,000).
What NOT to do
- Don't remove their materials or tools — that can convert you from creditor to trespasser/thief in their narrative. If they have left materials, photograph them in place and leave them be.
- Don't pay cash "to get them back" without a written variation — it rewards the tactic and muddies your evidence.
- Don't rely on verbal promises to return. "I'll be back Monday" has no evidential value after the third Monday.
If they've disappeared entirely
- Check Companies House for the company's status (liquidation/dissolution changes your route — and a dissolved company doesn't remove your claim against it if you act within limitation).
- Check your home insurance for legal expenses cover — many policies include it and it can cover a small claims fight.
- Keep paying your own mortgage; a builder dispute is not a defence to your own lender.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Sources: Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.51 (reasonable time); CPR Practice Direction — Pre-Action Conduct. Verified 2026-09-03.
Preparing a claim? EvidenceCanvas (Casewright) helps you organise your evidence and draft pre-action documents for the small claims track. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.
Reviewed by Sean McNamara · 2026-09-03 · Independent information directory — not legal advice.