SHIELD BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS LTD
SHIELD BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS LTD - Company number 06809329
Based at The Garden Society, Fair Oak.
Job contracted: Single story extension & project management of all aspects.
Overall ratings:
Overall job: 5.5/10.
Customer Service: 4/10.
Snagging list resolution satisfaction: 2/10
Finished job: Looked ok at the time of completion. Unfortunately, beneath the overall aesthetic, I have significant concerns of which, not all have been resolved.
Areas of concern:
Underlay does not meet drip edge in several areas around roof base. Shield did not address this issue in full – NOT RESOLVED
Risk of leaks - Pitch of roof inadequate for tile type used – 3 independent roofing companies & a RICS surveyor all agree the type of roof tile was not correct for the pitch of the roof – NOT RESOLVED
Not supplied with building regs certificate at time of completion – provided 3 years later.
No Electrical installation certificate received at time of completion – provided 3 years later.
The good:
- A nice extension was completed (apart from original dry ridge system).
- Reasonably priced compared to competitors
- Most of Shield staff/contractors were friendly
- Project was competed to a tidy standard within good time
Middle:
- The original dry ridge system originally installed had gaps in the ridge lining, so I asked Shield to check. After 18 months of not checking, I arranged for the mucking in of the ridge tiles at 100% cost to myself. 18 months later the roof leaked, during a heavy wind driven storm, Shield & I disagreed what was the cause of this…either the mucked in ridge tiles, or the wrong tiles installed for the roof pitch (or a combination of the two).
- Shield & I agreed to split costs (50% each) on replacing the ridge tiles & addressing the lining falling short of the drip edge in several places. The lining & pitch measurement issue was not addressed/checked correctly when the ridge tiles were redone this year in 2021, as agreed….so the agreement fell though. I requested to then go halves again via mediation & outside it, to strip the roof & to put the correct tiles on the roof/sort the underlay out. Despite the RICS survey report, further remedial works was rejected by Shield. I stated that I would pay my (complete half, for all total remedial costs) once the survey recommendations had been adhered to; this remedial work is still outstanding.
The bad:
- Failed to complete/issue building regs & electrical certificate at the time of completion
- Both above issued in the 4th year after informing court action may follow along with the assistance of an ADR mediation. Both issued without extra cost to myself.
- When problems were not in agreement, Shield appeared to me to become unprofessional/personal re content in their e-mails.
- Lack of communication at times
- Poor reasons as to why the building regs/electrical certificate & areas of work around the roof had not been completed, that I personally felt were more like excuses to me.
- Caused me a huge amount of stress, time, chasing, extra cost & aggravation.
- It will cost me £3000 extra so the roof falls in line with the RICS Survey reports recommendations.
To conclude:
I base a company on their professionalism & aftercare. I can only speak for my own experiences, but Shield failed me here. I did eventually get my building regs, electrical certificates & guarantee paperwork which I was grateful & thanked Shield for, but these should have just been provided to me at the time of the extensions completion & not without having to ask for them. Instead, I had to spend months chasing them year’s later, preparing possible court action & using ADR/mediation services to arrange for paperwork to be completed.
As I didn’t appoint an architect, I should have asked to see the basic measured plans for all aspects of the building before works started.
I should have appointed an independent surveyor to check the work that had been done prior to any payments being made on completion.
Re building regs, I should have insisted Council only building inspectors. I wasn’t comfortable with the reasons why my building regs were never completed at the time my project was completed.
I had to do a lot of chasing/checking myself which I was not expecting to have to do.
I wish I had paid close attention to every detail. Based on my experiences, I would personally not use Shield again or recommend them to family/friends. For fairness, as mentioned there were areas they did well in & I hope this review will work as feedback for them to improve their customer service delivery moving forward.
If you, the reader do decide to use Shield, please consider my experiences & come to your own decisions accordingly. Thank you for reading.