Driveway gone wrong

[midgie]

A young (early 20s) friend has asked for help in dealing with many calls following a job that a local builder asked him to complete. Some months ago he was asked to lay a concrete driveway and agreed, but said he would need help. He was provided with 3 guys by the builder, who'd never done such work, but he horsed on as best he could. The builder charged the customer �7,500. Our friend was paid �300 for 4 days labour, direct by the customer. The customer has given up pursuing the builder and is now pursuing our friend to re-lay the concrete for free. He is not confident in dealing with conflicts, angry calls or possible court proceedings. He is not unskilled but struggles with letters etc. The driveway does not drain freely because the levels are out. Is he liable?

[buildersmate]

This is a very strange contractual arrangement and one that your young friend would be best to try and stay out of.
The problem is that he needs to maintain that he was merely a labourer on the job and the technical side of the work was the responsibility of the builder. This doesn't fit too well with being paid directly by the client.
Presumably the other 3 workers were not paid directly by the client?
I think he is best maintaining that the contract for satisfactory delivery and completion of the work was with the builder and the builder proposed direct payment to your friend to provide labouring support merely because your friend was not an employee of the builder.

[midgie]

Thanks for that Buildersmate, I am going to draft a letter on his agreement, to sign, along the lines of your advice. The 3 other lads were paid by the builder. My friend is not an employee of the builder. Actually the builder is an agricultural contractor, hence probably the unusual contractual arrangement. This is a very rural area but nonetheless a litigeous one!