What to do after notice of default - in default?

Questioner

We hired a company last October to build a conservatory. It was supposed to be ready on December 30th. In the meantime, the contractor has cancelled the appointments more than 17 times and only the skeleton is there. We paid 5460 euros in advance (2/3 of the total amount), and the material that is there has a value of approximately 4100 euros. We sent the contractor a letter on May 9th stating that he was in default and would have two weeks to resolve everything, so until the 23rd. In these two weeks, he again cancelled several appointments to complete everything. Today, the two weeks are over and the contractor is supposedly in default. It costs us a lot of frustration, energy and also costs us money because we stayed home from our own company several times to wait for him, while he then cancelled at the last minute. My question is what can and may we do now that the company is in default, in what way are we within our rights?

Lawyer

You could terminate the construction contract and also claim damages. In principle, termination will result in obligations to undo, which means that the contractor will have to repay the purchase price. In the above, anything you may have contractually agreed upon may of course play a role. Another option is to claim compliance (via a procedure), but I assume that you no longer have confidence in that contractor.