ᐅ The shell construction company canceled just one day after the groundwork began!

I’m feeling a bit desperate right now.

Yesterday, as agreed with the structural and civil engineers, the civil engineering work began on our property. However, this morning I received a call from my architect saying that the structural engineer informed the civil engineer by email that he would not be coming next week and now has no time left for our construction project.

The civil engineer has, of course, stopped work, canceled the vehicles scheduled for excavation removal today, and left the site.

Now I’m quite at a loss and unsure to what extent the structural engineer is obligated to complete his work... the company is currently unreachable by phone.

Has anyone experienced something like this and can offer tips or advice?

Fortunately, I have a very dedicated planning team with an excellent site manager who will probably now do everything possible to find a replacement.

Normally, there are contracts that cover this kind of situation. It’s called a construction contract if you are building with an architect and individual contracts. Hopefully, it specifies the start and end dates of the construction and what happens in case of delays. If the contractor breaches the contract, you might need legal advice to assess whether they are liable for damages and then decide how to proceed.

Is there a reason given? “No more time” suggests a delay occurred, meaning the original schedule was changed. Is that the case?

Thank you for your response.
No, we are exactly on schedule. We met together at the construction site in early January and agreed on groundwork to start around the week of 08.02. (February 8) – depending on the weather, which worked out well. The structural contractor said everything was perfect and that he could start at any time.

At the moment, there is no explanation available due to a lack of communication.

We are using a direct contracting approach. He received written confirmation from me for his offer at that time. So far, everything has actually been fine. The structural contractor also made a very good impression on us.

Hmm, sorry to ask again. Do you now have a construction contract that regulates the start, duration, and issues like compensation claims in case of delays, bad weather provisions, etc.? This is something different from the offer that came in response to a tender... Didn’t your architects prepare something like this and ensure that no construction takes place without a contractual basis?

I have to admit, we don’t have something like that. Maybe I’m a bit naive, but I wasn’t aware that a written contract has to be drawn up for this. Basically, we only have the order after the tender and the personal discussions.

Just checked again. It was agreed that the offer, measurement, billing, and warranty would follow the applicable regulations of the latest version of the VOB. Construction started between 31.01 and 15.02.2018.