Let's not forget that Brabus is supposedly a "Professional" and not a common artisan hence he should be able to act accordingly.

We did not have a gentlemans' agreement, we signed a contract and it was my intention to see it through to the very end. If he had kept to it, none of this would have happened. As a project manager you should know that if you have essential items that are at variable cost, you should secure them at the earliest opportunity rather than later as long as all the funds are available. He had all this at his disposal.

I travelled the day I handed over the keys to him and returned a week later. I went straight to the site from the airport and noted the good progress that had been made. Based on this, I advanced him a cash sum of 50k, and a cheque for his outstanding.

It has been stories galore since.

The Guest room a/c has been coming for 2months, he couldn't think of looking for a new carpenter to finish the cabinets till today. Not to talk of my outstanding?

What more do I have to do.

Most things in life don't always end the way we thought it will, if I tell you guys how many times I have went off the mark in this business of building, you will be surprised. I urge all parties to hold on, go private and seek a more lasting solution, very little could be achieved by our arguing about this private matter online.

Thank you for your comment Spyder. You have to understand that there is no argument here as I'm simply reporting the progress of the work since Brabus has refused to update the thread.

Anyway, I called him this evening and he told be that the work will have been completed by Saturday morning. We have a meeting scheduled for 10am. I hope to be pleasantly surprised when I get there.

Spyder880, I like the way you are trying hard to make peace between Brabus and Ahonohai. Being in the field it is to be expected. But while you are trying to pacify the client, understanding professional constraints also calls for you to understand the aggrieved client. The perceived problem or the excuse, going by Ahonohai's words for shoddiness, over-budget and complete lack of financial accountability is inconsistent and unpredictable price movement in Nigeria. I don't think this is entirely the case.

The project is a renovation job that should last for circa 45 working days. And for a renovation job, the only item with volatile price movement is cement. All other items needed for the job don't experience such volatility. The client paid immediately in full. Why didn't Brabus go out and secure immediately mostly cement. For a project with a very short lead time like a renovation job, am struggling to see how brabus will suffer so high a price differential as to stall the project this long. This may be why Ahonohai is obviously barking annoyed and standing his ground.

If we need to pacify Ahonohai, we need to press it upon Brabus to come clean with his client. Lets not forget that Brabus himself in one of his posts stated that there was a cost over-run and was accommodated by the client. But despite this accommodation, the job is yet to be delivered, there is the case of N115k and A/C units unaccounted for and not delivered. And to think this is just a small renovation job. If we must find peace, we should do so from Ahonohai's end of the spectrum and not trying to justify brabus failings.

.

Good morning, I didn't know all this was happening. I'll handover my clients key to him tomorrow.

I will also plead with him for time to resolve the following:
1. His Refund - N132
2. Oscillator
3. Toilet Doors except he will take the ones he rejected.
4.His Understanding.

I didn't squander his money.

Thank you. Cost Breakdown to follow soon

The cost breakdown attached excludes transport fare and revision work done.

I don't think you owe any of us the breakdown really.  It's your client that needs it.  Let me ask, how much is needed to finish this project, including items your client pointed out?

N50k or less than. This is apart from his refund. Just the bathroom wall partition and the toilet doors we are replacing.

My client is not ready to see the breakdown as well but I think a breakdown vis-a-vis what was agreed on paper would be fair.

Then, take my advice and look for the N50k to finish the job and hand over the keys tomorrow as you promised. If he has rejected the doors, replace them (you can still use it in another project or take it back to the seller at a reduced price). I am sure you agree N50K is too small an amount to rubbish what you have done on this project and built over time. Even if it means the money has to come from your own fee!

Dirordaves, you have spoken well.

Brabus, you have to listen to your client's grouse. Check this:

ahonohai:


As per private meeting, he was supposed to meet with me on Saturday morning but he was no where to be found. I ended up calling him on Monday and he gave me excuses upon excuses. He could have simply called me up on Saturday afternoon and said he wouldn't be able to meet up. Where is the integrity?

ahonohai:

Anyway, I called him this evening and he told be that the work will have been completed by Saturday morning. We have a meeting scheduled for 10am. I hope to be pleasantly surprised when I get there.

Now you have siad this:

NextHome:

Good morning, I didn't know all this was happening. I'll handover my clients key to him tomorrow.

Please let your client and all of us be pleasantly surprised.

You have to understand things from the point of view of your clients. You don't promise what you cannot deliver. And if you know there are changes to arrangements, then you have to communicate before. Not meeting appointments and allowing him to call you days after is not good for business.

Looking at the issue from your client's point of view, we must commend him for his patience and understanding so far. You really owe him a lot of apologies, the first step being handing the keys to him tomorrow as you promised. Imagine if this was a rented apartment and 2 months is gone already out of 1 year's rent without having to enjoy the house you rented!

The refund mentioned is what you can discuss with him tomorrow after his anger must have been pacified when he collects the keys.  I am sure there can be amicable solution to that once you meet up because, right now, trust is at stake. You can actually go a bit further by bringing part of the refund money tomorrow as well, with a promise to give him the balance at an agreed date. Please don't forget to have a bottle of wine (non alcoholic preferably!) ready as you hand over the keys! Little things can go a long way to appease an aggrieved client you know!

Thank you all for your love. I pray God should judge everything on this project.

I was at the site on Saturday, although got there very late due to terruble holdup in Ibafo (anyone who was on that road on Saturday can attest to this) and my phone battery was off. People in the building can attest to this.

I don't have the 50k now and all I can do is beg for time.

Posted mine before your last reply.

Although that is gone, but you should have used N20 to call him from a business centre when that happened, not waiting till Monday for him to call you first.  I know there can be uncertainties.  That is why you learn to maintain communication at all times.

Does that mean the N50k will mean those things cannot be fixed by tomorrow?  Then, it doesn't make sense to hand over the keys when those things will still be outstanding.  I am not sure Ahonohai wants to take possession when those things are yet to be fixed.  Please clarify and make it plain.  I am sure he is reading all these.

I think there are 3 options:

- Ahonohai to give you more time to get money so as to get the remaining things done (how long I don't know, since you were pleading for more time) or
- he loans you the 50k so that you have a total of 132k+50K=182k to refund him at an agreed time or
- he decides to give you the additional 50k as variation while you agree on the time for the 132k refund.

If you ask me Ahonohai, I will take the 3rd option.  My reasoning is this:  If I had spent well over N2m to get this far, certainly 50k is a little price to pay to get my project delivered and forget about the saga.  I know Ahonohai is more than the 50k and wants to stick to the contract to prove a point.  Please let's resolve this I appeal.

I have been on the road to a far building site and I have been following all these quietly. I must commend the efforts of analytical, I believe cwe can work out a solution to all these issues in an amicable way. According to Brabus, the cash is not available just now, and as the completion of the project is still pending, I appeal to ahanohai to look at the options given by analytical and choose one that will favour him, we need to move forward with our lives. I am learning from all these as I said earlier and other builders/contractors in the house am sure are picking points from all these. thank you ahanohai for your understanding and patience.

Analytical:

I think there are 3 options:

- Ahonohai to give you more time to get money so as to get the remaining things done (how long I don't know, since you were pleading for more time) or
- he loans you the 50k so that you have a total of 132k+50K=180k to refund him at an agreed time or
- he decides to give you the additional 50k as variation while you agree on the time for the 132k refund.

If you ask me Ahonohai, I will take the 3rd option.  My reasoning is this:  If I had spent well over N2m to get this far, certainly 50k is a little price to pay to get my project delivered and forget about the saga.  I know Ahonohai is more than the 50k and wants to stick to the contract to prove a point.  Please let's resolve this I appeal.

If it were to be me, I will be more angry and obviously sad at the development  After spending so much and you still have to go through all of these "publicity" on NL. I feel your pain and there is no justification for the project not to be delivered to time.

It is quite unfortunate that Lord Barbus was faced by unforeseen circumstances that have led to this present situation. He and all of us have learnt a lot out of this case. I know that he is a professional and things happen that we can't explain to people! Take for example just yesterday the casement window guy held everybody including the bricklayer to ransom on my project. We had to use wisdom and some little compromises to resolve the issue.

Mr. Ahonohai, please things happen that we can't explain and I also want you to know that you have fulfilled your own part of the contract 100%, so stories should be the last thing that you should be hearing. I will go with Analytical's analysis  Kindly pick one of the options and let's just leave all of these behind. And as Lord Spyder880 said, I guess option 3 will lay all of the differences to rest so quickly You are one of the gentlemen in this forum and I am impressed by your patience and courage to control your feelings.

Brabus is a failure, he claim to be a professional handling several projects bth in lagos & outside Lagos, doing soil tests & co; I'm just surprised that 50K/The balance will now be difficult for him to get. I can bet it with anybody, this guy won't pay a dine after handling the key of the uncompleted project to the owner. I've been on this road before (not house runs), I surely know what I'm talking about

Brabus ---- Don't bring GOD into the matter 'I pray God should judge everything on this project' and the useless BREAKDOWN of the cost should be kept in your pocket. You are not been fair


@ spyder880--- don't justify this man, you just don't know him well,  Keep doing what you know how to do best, be focused and employ the service of a good project manager if you don't have any for now, this is an eye opener for you

ftmom:

^^^^ Very well said! 

Unfortunately, spyder's advice is typical of the average Nigerian mindset. We thrive on not holding people accountable.

------ You are absolutely right

@ ahonohai--- Collect your key, fix the other stuffs in the house and if you still have the urge to get the O/S money from the professional contractor, you can still pursue that or bettr still 4get it and be in peace with urself and the rest of the family.

@ Aks, thanks for your input, your advice for ahanohai to end things swiftly is what I have been advocating since yesterday, I don't just like messy endings because it won't profit any of us. Thank you for your input, I hope ahanohai will take over this house and wait for his refund instead of waiting any longer.

Please people, I plead for your understanding in all these, both for my peaceful resolutions advice to both parties and for peace to reign in the interim so the customer will start enjoying the fruits of his labour, this does not in any way suggest that I am standing against accountability in any way. (Like ftmom mentioned)
I love clarity, accountability and good quality, but I am also human. I know that sometimes in life (not everytime) things can really move swiftly out of our control, I have lost money of my own in this field, (I didn't mention that my car was stolen in my site last year January 30th, this was not my plan but I had to endure, things happen. I don't want a situation where Brabus comes online to brief us about the private reasons of what happened, I believe this story is left for him and his sponsor to resolve, not meant for our ears, and that is why I said in one of my posts yesterday that this should be settled indoors. I wish we all understand and handle this in a mature way. Thank you all. Please, let us not be too quick to condemn, as this is the first time for him, we all make mistakes everyday. I also understand the feelings of ahanohai, yes, anybody including me will be annoyed after all these days, but if God has not hammered us for all the wrong things we do daily, we should find it in our innermost heart to forgive if we can, I am begging you Baba, please handle this without remembering your annoyances or his attitude as you recounted.

i v been following this thread since the first page and was on the verge of getting in touch with the man for a boQ for 4 flats in ogombo but i think i will quietly withdraw with all these drama going on.
the client lives in nigeria and all this is going on,i live abroad and i am not ready to buy 1000 phone cards and start shouting my lungs out over the phone.
i really don't phantom the reason why artisans in nigeria frustrate ppl in these kind of situations,a white man will put a clause in the contract for him to cover any over costs and also a penalty if he/she doesn't deliver on time we nigerians will hide behind GOD or destiny as soon as we want to start acting funny.
2million might be chicken change to most of them like they always boast but the client worked damn hard to make that money and no one should be going through all these

LSPDC Update:

Power supply delayed our work today. There's been no power outage throughout the day. One of the toilet door was fixed, remaining 2 doors and the kitchen door to be fixed.

To all contributors, I say thank you. Pretty soon, the storm will be over.

The very simple lesson to learnt from this thread is: Never give 100% payment in-advance for anything you are not getting immediately!!!!
It is just like getting payed a 6months salary in advance!!!!(you know very well we won't take the job very seriously anymore).


Anyways, @ahonohai
There are somethings you just have to let go!!! the mistake you made was paying 100% in advance.
just collect your keys from brabus, finish up the remaining things left. And try to be at peace with brabus.
from the best of my knowledge, it will be near impossible to get back that 132k
so let it go!!!! With time you will forget every!!!!


@Brabus, I must have to say you didn't do well at all.
My advice is that next time try to buy all materials immediately
when you have the cash with you! Delay with cash can be pretty dangerous.
Not like you the bad guy, it just human!!!
But you need to be very much cautious when spending money
for a job you've not finished or others people money!!!!!!


Which ever way, becareful
Peace!!

@Am Alone, I stopped paying and buying all items for the renovation since 15th August. In fact all materials for the renovation were on site as at that time. I didn't owe anybody on the project. I was being owed by people who refused to refund me.

As I write, I have over 5 gallons of paint at the site, over 8 cartons of tiles, door and other materials that I was unable to get refund for.

In fairness, we received payment as agreed in the contract document but work was delayed by workmen. My furniture man delivered the wardrobes and kitchen cabinet to the site on the 20th of August but he is yet to complete the work as I write.

One good lesson that I've learnt here is that owners should pick up their stuffs by themselves.

NOTE: I need someone to direct me to where I can get an OSCILLATOR in Lagos. I've searched and can't find one in the last 2 months. If I get today, I'm ready to pay up.

As for the refunds, I want my client to be rest assured that it won't be long before he get it. Once he come in today, we'll agree on what to be done to the bath partitioning and it will be fixed. I'm sick and tired of having to fix a thing and then he come to say its not OK.

Having to do revisions costs more and take more time than expected.

"Why didn't you carry your client along before you do buy anything?" Many people have asked.

I'll like us to go over this thread and see how I document items how and when they were being purchased and paid for. I made sure I send pictures to my client before picking up any item. I remember when we discussed the bath, he had to go into a store in UK and send me what he like. So there was good communication between us.

We do BB chat all the time and all our correspondences are archived on my phone.

"But you delayed the job too much after receiving extra on the job?"

We didn't receive or asked for any variation on the job. What we received was meant take care of additional items/work added to the contract which are as follows:

1. DSTV Subscription
2. Toilet Door
3. Addition of Dining Room - it was not in the plan.

As I write, I'm not trying to justify myself but what I'm trying to make clear is that there are issues that one can never avoid even with the use of best professional efforts especially in Nigeria.

^^^ owners picking up the stuffs themselves will make a lot of things easier for everybody. The quality they want is what they bring in and less stress to the builder. This is the lesson I am taking away from this thread.
I told a prospective client in a meeting yesterday that if I will be buying the materials, my charge will be increased by at least 20% to cover for all the added stress and risk.

I wish this project is handed over today to the owner so he can start enjoying what he paid for.

This project has provided a perfect example of what contractors have to put up with on a daily basis on the job site. I cannot stop wondering when, where and how I suddenly became a JUDAS overnight.

I must say a big thank you to all contributors for that.

As a contractor and a homeowner, I am in no way saying that a homeowner should have coffee or a snack ready for the contractors or pat them in the back and say rip me off. I'm just saying that some homeowners (including myself) should consider that this contractors are also a consumer. Some client can be very difficult to work with and as a result contractors might not get some extra attention above and beyond what was agreed upon.

Mutual respect and consideration is the key in any relationship.

LESSON LEARNT: Irrespective of name calling, attacks and derogatory statements without a detailed investigation, this project has taught me to see contractors and myself as a married couple trying to work things out. We'll both have a share of bad moods but patience and working things out should be mutual. That is the KEY.

I'll agree that my client is pissed off because good contractors (or better ones) will not be undersold for their services.

MY RESOLVE: I believe that 99% of everything that happens during a project (whether remodelling, renovation, new build etc) is within my power to influence or control. I mean everything and that includes clients, subcontractors and weather. After all, I am the one who does this for a living not the client. If something goes wrong it is because I dropped the ball or because I failed to exercise the necessary forethought to prevent it or account for it. If the client doesn’t meet my requirements for a partnership I send them a note declining the bid request.

Thank you.

LSPDC Renovation Update:

Keys yet to be delivered. Why? There are still other issues - I'm sure my client will post them online anytime soon.


Before then, here are the picture updates of what happened at the site over the weekend.

THE WARDROBES

THE KITCHEN CABINET (Installation in progress)

We couldn't finish because there's power outage.

THE WINDOW UNIT AC

Now supplied and being tested.

Part of the work done includes replacement of the Mirror installed in the wardrobe to a full length mirror. Installation of the kitchen door.


We will be replacing one of the bedroom door. In agreement, it was expected to be done today but the carpenter begged for time to do the remaining 2 doors and fix all at the same time.
The door to be replaced will be delivered to the site this morning while awaiting the carpenter to come and fix.

URGENT REQUEST:

An Oscillator is needed for immediate purchase. Interested supplier or anyone who can provide a lead to where I can get one within Lagos and Ogun state should please contact me on 08023429122.

Qty needed: 1

^^^ Note: Oscillator Fan is a floor standing oscillating fan and not a Box fan. I'll post its picture later.

See specifications below:

1) Low wattage.
2) motorized oscillation.
3) Timer - automatically turns off the fan.
4) With Button and provided with remote control.

LSPDC RENO UPDATE:

A new door was delivered to the site to replace one of the bedroom door as requested by my client.

Installation will be done tomorrow.