How customers are deceived: construction tricks and how air is sold

There is a guarantee

Experts warn buyers of new buildings: all engineering equipment in the house has a developer's warranty. Usually it is three years.

“We tried to change the sockets in the kitchen, and found that the wire section was smaller than necessary,” the owner of an apartment in a well-known Chelyabinsk new building is indignant.- I had to completely change all the wiring in the kitchen: otherwise, if several household appliances were connected at the same time, the wires would simply melt! Who was to blame - an overly economical developer or contractors who replaced the necessary wires with others, I do not know. There was no time to contact the developer, so we paid for all the wiring work out of our own pocket.”

Flaws and hacks are found everywhere. “All hired workers hack, of course,” Grigory, foreman of a construction site in the city of Zlatoust, complains. - For example, it is necessary to treat the wall with a primer before painting. They don't do it, they just paint right away. A year later, the paint falls off. A couple of such “jambs” in the work of unfortunate builders will turn out to be tens or even hundreds of thousands of rubles of additional costs for the customer. You need to look at how large the object itself is. Well, the qualifications of employees mean a lot. Came to us at the construction site as a brigade. They advertised themselves, “yes, we can do everything, but we will do everything for you now in a week!” And they started working - and it became clear that they did not understand anything in the construction processes. As a result, instead of the six designated days, it took them fifteen to work.

Revelations of the maids. How we are deceived in hotels and hotels
More

It would seem that there is a sure way to combat hack work - a clear system for monitoring the initial, intermediate and final results. After all, you can punish with a ruble, introduce penalties. But there are no guarantees that a new hack will not become revenge later.

“I have heard terrible stories about how, wanting to take revenge on a greedy customer, builders walled eggs in concrete,” Kamil recalls.“The eggs go bad and give off a terrible smell for years. Others bury rats in concrete instead of eggs. I also heard about a cruel joke: when building a house, an empty bottle is walled up in the wall with the neck out. With strong gusts of wind the bottle makes terrible sounds like a wolf's howl. It is impossible to eliminate these sounds later, except by disassembling the house brick by brick and putting it back together.

Problem two: “Have you already done everything? And now I want it differently"

This deception is not a scam or a scam. This can’t even be called a hoax, but the construction team’s nightmare is yes. The difficulty lies in the fact that the project turned out to be “raw”, the estimate was drawn up somehow, which allows the customer to make changes painlessly for him. But for builders, this is very painful.

Sometimes changes are made at the final stage of work, when everything is already done, but then the client wanted to add something, although initially everything was different in the plans. It can be sockets, other wallpaper, new flooring and anything. Any builder knows how much labor and money it takes to redo a finished repair. But the customer may refuse to pay, because "so he is not satisfied».

Many cases of deception are based on an artificial increase in construction estimates.

Starting to cooperate, representatives of a dishonest company try to make an estimate for work with a low amount. On its basis, a contract will be concluded with the client. The main purpose of such an event is to attract customers to work with this particular company. Then, previously unaccounted for work is gradually added to the estimate, and the client is convinced that their implementation is necessary. Many people who do not have experience in the construction industry fall for the bait.It is worth noting that such an approach can cause serious financial damage to the client. In some cases, the amount in the final settlement may be twice as much as the original.

Clients should remember that any work is subject to adequate payment, as well as the purchase of high-quality building materials will require money. This is especially true for the construction of country houses and, in particular, frame houses. Therefore, do not chase cheapness. It is better to try to find out in advance the prices for the desired materials, as well as the approximate cost of the work required for your purposes. These amounts must be compared with those indicated in the estimate compiled for you. If the numbers there are less than what you specified, most likely the company is trying to mislead you.

Project "by share"

“We decided to build a house “from scratch” and purchased a ready-made project from the company for a share. Made an advance payment. When it came to the construction itself, it turned out that a lot of things in the project needed to be changed. However, representatives of the company demanded decent money for every little thing. As a result, they paid as much for a typical project as much as an individual one would have cost. Yes, we spent a lot of time."

In the case described, the customers still got off lightly, since their project turned out to be working, that is, suitable for construction. Some buyers are much less lucky - not always the proposed solution can be implemented, since the authors of these "masterpieces" have little understanding of calculations and design rules. It happens that it is impossible to build a house in reality according to such projects.

But more often they just show a large number of errors. If you're lucky, and there is a specialist who will fix them in time, then everything will work out. If you are not lucky, the construction will go with complications.Alterations of structures are very expensive, and it is not always possible. By the way, reworking a project is also not cheap, sometimes it’s easier to buy a new one for that amount.

So if you are purchasing a ready-made project, look for reliable companies with a portfolio of houses built according to their designs. Or those on whose projects your friends have already built and everything turned out well.

How to cheat when preparing mixtures for construction

During the period when mixtures are purchased, it is impossible to accurately determine the amount that will be required to successfully complete the work. Builders, on the other hand, constantly report that there are still some missing components, and ask to buy them in addition. They even offer to buy them cheaper and give the coordinates of a familiar seller

The legend may be different - it is important that the purchase is made from a specific distributor. Next, the “necessary” material is purchased, the seller issues a check for it, and after a while, secretly from the customer, the goods are returned untouched to the seller

The money received from the customer of construction work, the contractor and the seller will share among themselves.

Problem six: “You are great, but we will not pay you”

Another common scenario that operates where there is no legal working relationship. There is no legal piece of paper, so there is no area of ​​​​responsibility.

The thing goes like this: a worker hired in a brigade works with might and main in accordance with his field of activity, honestly fulfills all his obligations for construction or repair, and they refuse to pay him for work. This is done with entire teams or with individual workers.Moreover, both the employer and the customer may refuse to pay to a single builder or master finisher. Therefore, you should not start work without a formalized contract. If they refuse to conclude a contract, it is worth considering whether they are going to pay at all?

Smaller house

“We decided to build a prefabricated frame house. We signed an agreement with the builders, immediately made payment, as the company seems to be well-known. According to the project, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe house should be 90 square meters. meters. When they began to draw up documents for cadastral registration, the engineers took measurements, and it turned out that almost 9 square meters were missing. meters. The rooms turned out to be smaller than it was envisaged in the project. There were other shortcomings, but the main thing is that we overpaid for meters, and no one is going to return this money without a trial.”

The builders explained the discrepancy in the figures to the owners by the fact that, they say, their contract gives the values ​​​​of the area from the outside of the house. And BTI measurements were carried out indoors. The builders' excuses seem to look frivolous, because the SNiPs provide for certain rules for calculating the area of ​​\u200b\u200bhousing, these documents say exactly the sum of the areas of the floors of the building, measured within the internal exterior wall surfaces.

Nevertheless, anything can really be written in the contract, and universal advice - read the contract - is always relevant.

PROFESSIONAL ANSWERS

1. Is it a myth that builders will be deceived somewhere anyway? Or is that what happens most of the time?

Most often this is the case. Cheating, unfortunately, is profitable, and the market is almost unregulated.

2.Why in advertising they promise a finished house at the same price, but in practice it always turns out to be more expensive? Where is the price going up? How to insure against this?

This is due to the fact that the client is not always psychologically ready to hear the final price. They wind up on logistics, on related costs (change house, garbage disposal, crane, etc.). How to insure against this - specify in advance the cost of each stage in as much detail as possible and compare the estimates of different companies precisely according to the items house kit plus related costs.

3. Can you uncover the tricks and tricks of the builders? What can they save on?

At each stage, cheaper materials can be used. You can also save on hidden work when the result is not visible. You can also “cheat” at the stages described below, because in this case the customer’s problems will begin only after 1-2 years.

Roofing: if you choose low-quality materials, or materials that are not suitable for the environment, fungi, freezing or wetting of the roof will appear.

Assembly quality, designs and assemblies are also very important indicators, insufficient attention to which during the construction phase can cause serious problems during operation. four

How to get an inexpensive and high-quality house if you order it from builders from scratch? What are your tips?

4. How to get an inexpensive and high-quality house if you order it from builders "from scratch"? What are your tips?

Think over all the pitfalls in advance, take them into account when designing in the form of instructions, requirements, etc. Secure all agreements with the construction company only in writing.

The success of scammers - ignorance and delusions of the customer

Most often, the customer has minimal knowledge in the field of construction of private houses. Of course, this is ideal for deceivers: you can easily provide erroneous information about the characteristics of the material, its volume, about any construction methods - all the same, the customer will rely on the experience and professionalism of the builders.

Accordingly, you can safely overestimate the price, both for work and for material. In general, fertile ground for laundering other people's money.

The most “funny thing” is that it is difficult to protect yourself in this case. You will have to study tons of materials on the subject of building a cottage, and anyway, this will not give complete information either about what kind of soil is on the site being built up, or about which project can be implemented, and which one is a failure in advance. Geodesy is also comprehended not so simply. In any case, when a professional is taken to solve such issues, then a reliable foundation is built, and a solid house.

How then should the customer proceed? Is it possible to trust the work of an architect, surveyor, engineer, geologist, designer and a group of construction workers. The question is what and how the client is deceived - and more on this in the article below.

How not to be deceived when choosing the right construction company

Choose several organizations that seem suitable to you and send an application so that the necessary calculations are made according to your data.
After receiving the estimates, compare the data and figures indicated in them.
Immediately separate contractors who indicated prices for work much lower than others

There is also a slight difference in the prices of building materials, but not more than 4-5%.
Read and analyze the contract, paying attention to the details.View the warranty statements, and also find out about the responsibility that the company will assume

The cost indicated in the estimate may be final, but there are options in which the amounts will be adjusted during the execution process.

After reviewing the points listed above, it is worth choosing a contractor who is able to offer a closed estimate. During the construction process, unforeseen expenses should not be foreseen.

In order not to be deceived, the customer is advised to independently control the entire workflow. Participate in the procurement of materials and immediately check prices and amounts. The client can visit the object daily and inspect the results of the work done during the day. It is better to work with a firm based on documentation than with private contractors.

Repair by a private owner or company

Most customers think that a private trader will make repairs cheaper than a company. And 2017 showed that this delusion has become massive. According to a representative of the company, which is also engaged in finishing work, last year there was a boom in private traders, while many firms “sank”. As soon as the customer found out that the repair would be done not by one person, but by a team, the services were quickly refused.

Related article

Revelations of "men for an hour". What do call masters actually do?

It looks logical: the company will take the same amount as the repairman, and even wind up their percentage. But this is only at first glance.

“In fact, it turns out to be more expensive for private traders,” says installer Valery. - Firstly, at the expense of building materials.Firms, as a rule, have a large distribution discount in construction hypermarkets, while a private trader can literally count on the same price as the customer himself if he just goes to the store. Secondly, if the repair will include several types of work: painting, tiling, installing plumbing, then the help of several workers will be needed, everyone will have to pay separately and everyone will “wind up” their percentage.”

A separate field for maneuvers for repairmen is the price of work. Many, throwing a cursory glance at the room, immediately draw the amount, say, 10 thousand rubles. “This is a scam,” says Alexander, a builder with almost 20 years of experience. Where did he get this number from? In the course of the repair, the vision and requests of the customer, as a rule, change, and instead of slopes, the window opening, for example, was decided to simply be painted. The repairman immediately throws off 2 thousand. Why not more?

You can't trust scammers like that. The amount of materials and work, if not reflected in the estimate, is taken, in fact, from the ceiling.

Any adequate estimate must be spelled out in full in order to understand what can be adjusted in it. There has never been such a thing that the order was not corrected.

Related article

Luminous ceiling and pink color. Master - about trends in apartment renovation

During the work, there are always changes at the request of the customer, because the architecture of the room changes, and so does the perception. An experienced worker makes an additional estimate right there on paper, the customer signs the consent. If there is no estimate, then confusion begins: we agreed on 10 thousand rubles, but it turned out 20 - I did not take into account painting, etc. there.

All relationships must be recorded on paper or in electronic form, including changes in any type of work (repair, construction, planning, design). All this must be preserved."

Method 1: lowering the base price for the construction site

Scammers really like this option of deception. Everything looks decorous and solid, the customer is even pleased with the care from the contractor: out of the kindness of the soul, the prices are not overpriced, but proportionate, so you can save money, after all!

The process goes like this: a small price is set for all the work, the customer pecks at such an offer. Soon he already sees the first results of construction work, but suspicious problems begin: something is wrong with the installation of the landing, then ventilation was not taken into account, the chimney was not erected. It turns out that these are necessary things, but for some reason they were not included in the base price, you will have to pay extra, and, as a rule, a lot.

Underpricing by scammers takes place in two ways:

1. Positions for specific types of work are immediately removed from the estimate. Surprisingly, insidious scammers may not even include the ceiling of the basement or interior partitions in the estimate, and the customer will easily not notice this, because we read the paragraph above: lack of knowledge in the field of construction is a godsend for a deceiver.

Entire sections on finishing the basement, ventilation work, filing the roof canopy, even finishing the facade may be missing. Cases can be absolutely egregious, but, unfortunately, this is the reality.

2. Deceivers can reduce the actual volume of building materials. This is done so that the final price of a turnkey cottage does not scare a potential client.And the benefit for the contractor is as follows: when all the work is on the verge of completion, the customer is given a new estimate, which takes into account all the additional materials used and previously unaccounted for work. Legally, everything is clean, since the prices are correct, but the contract usually includes a clause stating that there may be an increase in the amount of work and materials. You need to read more carefully!

How to protect yourself from such a scam

Problem Five: Dishonest or Incompetent Colleagues

Here we are not talking about deception on the part of the client, but an unsuccessful choice among colleagues in the shop is to blame. It happens that in the work you need to replace someone or attract a specialist from the outside. The foreman is responsible for this, and if a new colleague breaks his word, does his job poorly, or simply disappears, then all builders can suffer.

It is especially scary if the work is done poorly, it needs to be redone, and the previous employee received the payment. It turns out that all the jambs need to be redone for free. As a result of such dishonest colleagues, the reputation of the firm can be seriously damaged. The same thing awaits the builders, if suddenly some worker from the brigade did not leave or simply disappeared. It is especially sad if he was paid for his work not done, and now someone else has to do it.

The cheapest materials

Buyers of new buildings on Internet sites and various forums leave a lot of angry reviews about the quality of windows, finishes, etc. Developers use the cheapest materials. For example, beautiful stretch ceilings are only saving on plastering and leveling the slab, but also the ability to hide all your mistakes under the material. Well, of course, pulling the canvas is cheaper and faster.

Sometimes, when painting walls, builders save or neglect technology, and fresh repairs quickly become unusable.

“Wallpaper is glued at random,” says Evgeny Gurvich, “they are glued from pieces, and for some reason they stopped wallpapering behind batteries, radiators, although according to the norms, gluing should be ubiquitous from solid canvases. Usually, according to the project, a reinforced concrete panel does not involve leveling with plaster mixtures. Those. gaps-holes are covered, and the panel is puttied, and wallpaper is immediately glued. Of course, later they can swell and collect wrinkles ... There are a lot of problem apartments, with terribly crooked walls and floors. Not only do uneven reinforced concrete panels come across, they also do not always fit well, with deviations. We had cases when the difference in one room on the floor reached seven centimeters! And do you know what the developer offered in response to the claim? He said: "You put something under the closet!"

According to experts, most of the shortcomings in modern new buildings were initially provoked by the developer's desire to make money as quickly as possible. In Soviet times, the construction of a four-entrance ten-story building was planned for at least nine months. Today, some developers build such houses in three months. Build faster, sell faster.

Related article

Repair at the service station. Revelations of mechanics or how we are deceived in car services

“Therefore, reinforced concrete panels are mounted before they have gained the necessary strength,” says Gurvich. – In this case, the walls turn out to be crooked, and the seams crack and leak. Heat engineering often suffers, both in panel houses and in frame houses. Somewhere the developer himself saves on insulation.Therefore, it is better not to buy end apartments: there is a high risk of freezing in winter. There are great difficulties with ventilation: it is present everywhere, but does not work everywhere. Because of this, the apartment may smell of dampness, and mold may form on the walls. Sometimes the reason for the failure operation of the ventilation system - a neighbor: he blocked the vent valve from above - and there was no draft on the lower floor. We had a unique case - the whole apartment was covered in mold, there were blue-green spots under the wallpaper. And no one could understand why. Bye management company representative did not tear off the ventilation grill and did not find that the ventilation hole was tightly sealed with adhesive tape. And so it was with all the ventilation openings in the apartment - in the kitchen, and in the bathroom, and in the toilet. Can you imagine?! Who did this is still a mystery. Perhaps someone took revenge on someone in this way. The most interesting thing is that for four years the owner rented an apartment to a family with a child. As soon as the tenants discovered the growing mold, they immediately moved out.”

Saved on concrete - ruined the foundation

“The construction team poured the foundation for the house. We paid for the work, although it immediately seemed that something was wrong with the quality. We decided to consult with other builders. It turned out that the first contractors did not add a few cubic meters of concrete. It took a little digging, literally, and we saw that reinforcement was sticking out at the corners of the foundation, and the depth was a third less than required.

This story has a continuation - the owners made a preliminary recalculation of the estimate. It turned out that the first contractor did not buy materials for the foundation of the house by about 80 thousand rubles.But how to hold contractors accountable and force everything to be redone, customers do not know. Experienced people advise in the future not to give all the money for work at once, but to pay in stages. It’s good that the owners realized it in time - the entire structure of the house depends on the quality of the foundation, so this stage in construction must be monitored especially carefully.

The first thing to pay attention to is geology, and it is often forgotten about. Soil heaving leads to cracks in the foundation and cracks in the walls, says the expert

– The quality and brand of concrete matter. If you perform work and choose materials not according to the recommendations of the designer, then cracks will appear. Reinforcement, piles and knitting play a huge role in the strength of the structure. The process of pouring concrete must be carried out strictly according to technology.

Inexperienced workers

Work at a construction site, whatever one may say, is low-paid, because of this, young people do not want to go to study for working construction specialties. The result is the absence of high-class specialists who are ready to perform concrete work, put up formwork, deal with masonry, plastering. It is clear that at any construction site, as in any other place, there is work that does not require extensive work experience and qualifications. Builders like to hire students for such work, they can be entrusted with dismantling and a number of other auxiliary works. And students, in turn, get experience and some kind of earnings.

“Almost all countries of the world are divided into those that supply labor to other countries, those that are transit countries, and those that receive it at home,” explains Kamil, a project manager at a Chelyabinsk construction company. – Russia fulfills all these three functions.Our people go to Turkey, Europe and Australia to dance in bars, work as nannies, pick grapes and oranges. Unskilled workers travel from Asia to Europe through Russia. And people come to us from underdeveloped countries to work. For example, a builder in Tajikistan receives about five thousand rubles a month. With us, for the same amount of work, he receives many times more. Of course, not all of them are specialists. By and large, many labor migrants do the same work as student trainees. However, even among the guest workers there are professionals in their field.”

Problem 4: “I was renovated, but I don’t want to do it this way, do it differently”

Nightmares with thrifty customers are also a common occurrence for construction crews. First, the client decides that it would be wiser to save on specialists, and hires those who are ready to work for a small price.

It is natural that low-paid work often corresponds to no less low qualifications: the walls are not familiar with the concept of “smooth”, the ceiling is also made incomprehensibly, and even with serious problems with wiring.

After such an unfortunate repair or unsuccessful construction, a person decides to hire new specialists, hoping to save money again. The reasoning is usually like this: “Well, there’s a little bit to redo, not from scratch!”. In fact, rework is often more expensive than starting from scratch. But to prove this to a bewildered customer is sometimes unrealistic.

They took payment and disappeared.

“The most common variant of deception during individual construction or repair is to simply take the money and disappear,” says Nikolai, an experienced employee.- Classics of the genre! Usually such dealers come across to those who build or make repairs for themselves: you don't use public procurement, do not play tenders, which means it is easier to deceive you. At the first meeting, you will be convinced that the repair will be carried out by real professionals who have been working for "...twenty years on the market." To your logical question, they say, why is it so inexpensive, they will answer: “We are ready to earn a little less than our competitors, so that we always have a job.” After all the approvals and approval of the estimate, the client is charged an advance payment in the amount of half of the total cost of the work, but the work never starts. I know guys who did this. And they never had anything for it. The customers failed to find or punish them.”

Another well-known way for builders to rob a client is to order more materials than necessary in order to take the excess for themselves or resell.

“We bought an apartment in a highly advertised area, moved in April,” says Anna Krivova, an AiF reader, “and in May, a sealant leaked in a double-glazed window. Such greasy streaks inside the glass that cannot be eliminated on your own. A friend suggested that if this issue is not resolved immediately, then the double-glazed window will dry out and it will be cold in the room in winter. We hurried to replace the double-glazed window. The master who made the replacement stated that the defective double-glazed window was "second-hand"! And, true, around the perimeter it was all pasted over with adhesive tape. The master suggested that the contractors who installed windows in the house decided to change the double-glazed windows in their apartments. That is, they took new ones from the facility, and they put our own, old ones, for us.

Related article

Revelations of conductors. How we are deceived on trains

“This is logical: when people are paid little, they try to steal, resell, profitably sell, in general, at least have something to fuck! - confirmed the representative of the Chelyabinsk consumer protection organization Evgeny Gurvich. - The whole problem is that developers are trying to save money. Hence the marriage. It is logical to assume that if a developer saves on labor force by attracting labor migrants, then he saves on many other things.”