ᐅ The site manager does not show up, does not conduct inspections, or seems indifferent to everything.

Hello everyone,

I need some advice from you professionals.

I am building with a company that markets itself as a "premium company" in its sector. That means I deliberately did not choose the cheapest company because I wanted to avoid a lot of trouble later on. Now I am paying a relatively high price and still facing many problems. Here is the situation.

The company seems to have only two site managers across all of Germany, and one of them has been assigned to us.

This company also uses subcontractors for almost every trade, which I am willing to accept as long as these works are supervised by someone.

Now to our specific case.

So far, the basement has been built and completely backfilled. The basement company is a subcontractor. By chance, I found out that the site manager has not even been on the construction site. As far as I know, there are certain construction phases during which the site manager must be present (isn’t that so?). For example, supervising the waterproofing of the basement or similar work.

Soon the house will be erected, and I was already told that the manager will only join “by phone.” That really upset me. But no matter how much I complain or demand, he does not seem to care at all. I now want to bring in an additional independent building expert to inspect the trades since I have lost some trust. Nevertheless, I want the company to fulfill its obligations properly as well.

Is there any legal aspect that can be considered here to force the company to carry out more thorough inspections? For example, an extension of the warranty period in cases of gross negligence or something similar? (In my opinion, gross negligence applies to anyone who fails to fulfill their duty of care, which would include regular inspections).

I would appreciate any information on how to handle cases like this.

Best regards,

Balduin

These are the responsibilities of a construction manager:

- Monitoring construction work
- Keeping a site diary
- Managing schedule and quality control
- Planning all upcoming tasks
- Documentation

What does your construction contract say about this?

Does he have no supervisor?

Balduin schrieb:

I now want to bring in an independent building surveyor to inspect and approve the trades.

Do it!

Only the site manager/supervisor/... you pay can be instructed on when and where they must be present. Otherwise, what applies is what is stated—or not stated—in your contract with the general contractor (GC).

Hello everyone,

thank you for the initial responses. I reviewed the contract again. It basically states the following:

"The company assumes the technical construction management for all trades included in the scope of services in accordance with the state building regulations (Landesbauordnung)."

To me, this already sounds like someone is not doing their job... I think I will try to speak with the managing director.

Regards,

Balduin