If you are in a building dispute, the first week matters most: photograph everything, get the work assessed, put your position in writing, and understand which legal routes are actually open to you.
This is general information, not legal advice
This post sets out general information for homeowners in England and Wales. It is not legal advice about your situation. Where it mentions court, it means the court system of England and Wales. Nothing here tells you what a court, an adjudicator or a builder will decide or do in your case. If your dispute is serious or the sums involved are large, get advice specific to your facts.
1. Photograph and record everything, before any letter goes out
Before you write to the builder, walk the property and record the condition of every disputed item. Photograph each defect, note where it is, and keep a plain written log of what you saw and when. This record is what you will rely on later, whether the dispute is resolved by agreement or ends up in court.
This is also the point where an app like SayScope can help. You photograph and circle each defect, speak what is wrong while you are stood in front of it, and leave with a report grouped by room and by trade. Visits are free and unlimited, and each account can send one report a week free, with up to 10 jobs on that free report. A bigger visit, or a second report the same week, needs a plan.
2. Work out what you are actually entitled to ask for
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49, every contract to supply a service is treated as including a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill. If that term has been breached, section 55 gives you the right to require the service to be performed again to complete it properly. The trader must do this within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, and must bear any necessary costs, including in particular the cost of labour or materials. Repeat performance cannot be required if completing performance in conformity with the contract is impossible.
Where repeat performance is not available, or the trader has not done it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, section 56 gives you the right to require the price to be reduced by an appropriate amount. Any refund due under section 56 must be paid without undue delay and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day the trader agrees you are entitled to it, using the same means you used to pay, with no fee for making it.
3. Check whether adjudication is even open to you
You may come across adjudication mentioned as a fast route to resolve a construction dispute. The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, section 108, gives a party to a construction contract the right to refer a dispute for adjudication, with a timetable that secures the appointment and referral within 7 days of notice, and a decision within 28 days of referral, extendable by up to 14 days with the consent of the referring party. The decision is binding until the dispute is finally determined by legal proceedings, arbitration, or agreement.
4. Put your position in writing and understand the small claims route
Set out in writing what you say went wrong, referring to the specific items in your photographed record, and what you are asking the builder to do about it under sections 55 and 56. Keep a copy and keep proof of sending.
If the dispute cannot be resolved and the sum involved is modest, the small claims track under Civil Procedure Rules Part 27 generally applies to claims not exceeding £10,000. Rule 27.5 means no expert may give evidence, whether written or oral, at a hearing without the permission of the court. Standard directions require each party, at least 14 days before the final hearing, to file and serve on every other party copies of all documents relied on at the hearing. The strict rules of evidence do not apply and the court need not take evidence on oath. This is why the record you build in week one, dated photographs, a clear log, and your written correspondence, matters so much later.