legal and damp proofing question

[audicab]

Hi all, hopefully somebody may be able to help with a very annoying problem.

I've bought an old house and I am starting to renovate it, the house has damp along one wall but a damp proof course was put in in 1984. The damp proofing company gave a 30 year guarantee on the work and are still in business with the same owner, name etc.

I have contacted the ownerabout the recurrance of damp and he came out and surveyed the property and said yes the damp has come back. He now says the original work isn't covered under warranty as when he did the damp proofing he tanked the wall with bitumen after he infejcted the damp proof chemicals. He says this invalidates the warranty.

My question is, he must have known this invalidates the warranty when he did the tanking, we haven't done anything to the damp proof treatment which may invalidate the warranty, is he just trying to get out of redoing the work and what are the best next actions for me to take.

also if i incur any legal costs can I claim these back for the company.

Many thanks
Phil

[a2z]

Is the warranty insurance backed? May be worth speaking to them if it is.

[Wacky Racer]

He may have a get out, in that his contract was with the original owner, and the warranty was not transferable (In the small print)

[jamesuk28]

First the DPC

If he has tanked a wall, that wall must be lower than the surrounding ground level (cellar etc) or be very prone to damp due to local conditions. The tanking itself is a damp barrier and is used as an alternative to an injection system in such circumstances. I dont understand why he did both really.

DPC guarantees are not usually worth the paper they are written on. Anybody can set up in the damp proofing industry and issue their own guarantees. Unless they are under written by an insurance company like Zurich they are usually worthless. Some dpc companies trade for a few years and then fold, re-open under a different name so the guarantees they issued previously are relating to the folded company.

If your dpc firm is still trading after all these years it seems likely they are pretty legit. He should have been aware that as he says the tanking invalidates the warranty and he is therefore negligent. If you had the original work done you would be in a much stronger posision with him. I would threaten to take him to court, you may get upto 80% of your costs back through a cost order. What is his trading status is he LTD or a sole trader / partnership.