I'm sure many of your readers will have read Jeff Howell's article with the sort of gentle amusement he alludes to (11 June, page 31), smugly thinking that the issues he describes are unique to the homeowner market and do not apply in the "proper" construction industry.
But it's not such a huge leap from the damp patches and creaking floorboards that make up Howell's bulging postbag to the problems that trouble occupiers of all buildings on a daily basis. What he describes is, sadly, a microcosm of the wider industry: for small, read big; for handyman, read PFI consortium.

All too often in our industry, a project is completed and then "thrown over" to a facilities manager who has had no say in the design of the building and yet must deal with the daily complaints from occupiers about its unsuitability or high maintenance costs.

Postscript

Don Ward, chief executive, Be