What to do in case of poor work by the contractor?

Questioner

Since June of this year I have been working with a construction company. The agreed work is to demolish my current kitchen and rebuild it by means of plastering the walls, tiling a wall and floor and electrical work. Due to working a few hours a week each time, we have only just finished this work, which is why I have been postponing the installation of the kitchen itself for months. A painting company came to inspect the work and indicated that the plasterwork looks very bad (it is uneven and there is not a 5 cm without unevenness). So I have to have this repaired. However, I have lost confidence in the construction company. In addition, the tiled floor is uneven in height and the joints are uneven. There is also a piece missing from a tile. I have completely lost confidence in the contractor here. At the moment, a third of the invoice is still outstanding and has yet to be paid. I would prefer to look for a new handyman company to have everything repaired and start again. To what extent am I within my rights if I address this gentleman and indicate that I no longer wish to pay the outstanding amount for the reasons stated above? How do I best approach this?

Lawyer

You should put the contractor in default by notifying him (by registered letter) of the parts of his contractual obligations that he has not fulfilled. You should also give him a reasonable period to repair these defects. You can then also state that he will be held liable for the damage suffered and any damage yet to be suffered. If this notice is not complied with, you could repeat it again to be on the safe side and state that if there is still no compliance, you reserve the right to have the defects repaired by a third party at the contractor's expense. If the contractor ultimately does not pay these costs, you will have to start proceedings. As long as the contractor has not performed properly, you can in principle suspend your own (payment) obligations. You must also state this in the registered letter. The construction contract may deviate from the above.