FMB to change adverts after couple lose out

The Federation of Master Builders is to clarify the wording of its advertisements following a complaint from a couple who have been left in the lurch by an FMB registered builder.

Two years after work was carried out on their house in Bristol, Sally and Ian Shields are still waiting for someone to pick up the bill for faulty workmanship - estimated to be worth around œ3,000.

But although the builder was a member of the FMB, they cannot claim compensation because they did not pay extra money for the warranty - a condition overlooked in the FMB's Yellow Pages advertisement.

Shields had seen the advertisement in the directory. It reads: 'Why take risks? Ring with confidence a member of the Federation of Master Builders. They are ready and able to put their expertise at your disposal.'

Having already been stung by an incompetent builder, Shields decided he needed a registered builder and picked Clifton Granger Roofing from the FMB list.

Shield said: 'I believed the advertisement. I didn't realise that we should have paid an additional 1% to the contractor for the FMB's insurance-backed warranty scheme.'

Builder Stuart Granger, also owner of Clifton Granger Roofing, not only left trailing wires, a leaking roof and shoddy plastering at 34 Felton Road, he also left the country.

In September 1993 Clifton Granger Roofing was removed from the Federation of Master Builders register, and according to a spokesman at its Bristol office, the case has been dropped.

Ian and Sally Shields remain out of pocket.

FMB's south-west regional office said: 'This case is a good illustration, if very unfortunate, of the type of problem that the insurance-backed warranty is designed to prevent and rectify when necessary.'

But the Shields see it as unfair that having gone to the trouble of finding an FMB builder, it counted for nothing unless they paid a premium.

Sally Shields said: 'We chose an FMB member to make our house safer for our son who has cerebral palsy. We feel terribly let down.'

When CJ pointed out the omission in the advert the FMB's south-west regional director, Jeremy Chapman said: 'From now on we will ensure that the availability of the warranty scheme is highlighted in our Yellow Pages adverts.'