Builders hit with fine for breaking the rules (From Swindon Advertiser)

Builders hit with fine for breaking the rules

12:01pm Thursday 6th March 2008 in Local By Matthew Pardo

A SWINDON company has been slapped with a £13,500 fine after it admitted breaching building laws.

And now the the woman whose house was made unsaleable' is is chasing South Marston-based Kingswood Group Limited for compensation.

In court yesterday the firm was fined £13,500, and ordered to pay £1,425 in costs, plus a £15 surcharge.

Now Avril Thomas, 51, of Plymouth, is chasing the firm through for compensation and to make her home saleable.

At court Avril's sister Veronica Manghnani said that after the work was carried out, floors shook, plaster fell off, cracks appeared in walls, and some parts of the property had shrunk.

Mrs Thomas claimed that her house was left in such a bad state after Kingswood, which sponsors Swindon Town Football Club, carried out its work that her 82-year-old mum, who had lived with her for 18 years, had to go into residential care after social services said it was not healthy for her to live there.

The company was facing three counts of not complying with building regulations when working on Mrs Thomas' property between July 24 and September 20, 2006.

The firm had originally pleaded not guilty. But on Tuesday, under a prosecution brought by Plymouth City Council, magistrates heard that the firm had pleaded guilty by letter. No-one from Kingswood was in court so magistrates heard the evidence in the company's absence and found the case proved.

They had heard from Mrs Thomas that representatives of Kingswood knocked on her door and offered to find her a £91,500 mortgage so that she could buy her home from the council for £51,000, spend £31,500 on repairs which they would do, with the rest going on fees and expenses.

Andrew Ogalo, prosecuting, said that Mrs Thomas agreed to the mortgage and to Kingswood carrying out repairs.

The contract made Kingswood Group Ltd responsible for ensuring building regulations were met.

But the company failed to comply with building regulations by not informing the council when they started work, failing to inform the authority of on-going work, and not giving notice of the completion of work.

Christopher Wherry, acting buildings control manager for Plymouth council, said that during Kingswood's work the upper floor of the property had not been supported properly, a damp course had not been laid down correctly, and that wall construction was not satisfactory.

He added that he found "floor movement", that partitions had moved away from ceilings, and that cavity installation was defective.

He added that he saw cracks in the wall and in an adjacent property.

He said of Mrs Thomas's house: "It will settle further. It is not dangerous or likely to fall down, but it is definitely unsaleable and not in a nice condition to live in."

After the hearing Mrs Thomas said that she was staying with relatives rather than living in a house which she felt was unsafe.

Kingswood director Brendan Mitchell said the firm had no comment to make.