We made the mistake of appointing Velmead to build a new house. We subsequently learned to our cost that Velmead rely heavily on unskilled labour and did not have the management capability needed to successfully deliver construction projects such as ours. As a result there were numerous problems due to the absence of competent supervision and a complete lack of quality control. Velmead also displayed a lack of commitment to the project, abandoning the site for weeks at a time. Eventually they drifted off site completely, leaving an unfinished project as well as numerous quality issues with the work that had been done. Furthermore, there were quite fraudulent attempts at overcharging, for which a solicior advised a complaint be referred to the Office of Fair Trading. In the end we had to appoint other builders and tradesmen to complete the project, and to make good Velmead's poor workmanship. Velmead were awarded the contract in a competitive tender managed by an Architect, so the scope of work, basis for pricing and standard of workmanship expected was clearly documented. However, Velmead had neither the competence nor commitment to deliver the agreed scope of work to an acceptable standard, and lacked the integrity to meet their pricing commitment under the terms of the competitive tender. The project can be summed up as a saga of negligence, incompetence and dishonesty. read more