ᐅ Cracks detected in the exterior concrete wall of the basement – what steps should be taken?

Hello gentlemen!

First of all, I hope you and your families have stayed safe through these challenging times!?

1. Yesterday, I noticed cracks in the concrete exterior wall of the basement at our construction site; please see the attached pictures:

2. I have reported this, along with the pictures, to our site manager.

3. This was the reply:
“Good day Mr. xxx,
I have taken note of your pictures. As an immediate measure, the cracks will be covered to prevent water ingress.
When the basement ceiling is poured, the cracks will be sealed and should therefore no longer pose a problem.
However, I must point out that entering the construction site without supervision by the site management is not permitted for insurance reasons.
Please take this into consideration.”

4. What do the professionals think about this?

5. How should I proceed from here?

6. What should I reply or request?

Thanks in advance for your responses.
I wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!

Regarding the cracks and the site manager’s response, I have nothing to add except that it also doesn’t seem quite right to me.
A question about the eviction notice: Are you building with a developer? Or with a general contractor (GC)?

Thank you for your reply @Tolentino!

1. We are the clients and
2. are building with a general contractor.
3. We have transferred the right to manage the site to the general contractor in the contract.
4. However, since we have many progress payments, I believe we still have the right to oversee the construction project, correct?

Hmm, yes, but you will probably each need to schedule an appointment for a joint inspection with the general contractor.

Hello HeiniohnePlan

I find the cracks concerning. It seems there isn’t enough concrete cover over the reinforcement steel. But whether that is the actual cause of the cracks? I haven’t seen that before. Okay, if the ceiling is cast, the cracks are closed from above. But do they even still connect with the rest of the concrete? From here, it looks like the outer concrete could be chipped off. Discuss this with the site manager (of course with proper coordination), take a hammer and a batten with you, place the batten diagonally against the crack, and give it a strong hit. Then the pieces might break off. Let’s see what he says about that.

Steven

Thank you @Steven!

That’s a good idea.

1. At our neighbor’s house (on the right in the picture), the basement ceiling was already poured last week:

2. In the picture above, you can already see cracks on the exterior wall of our house (on the left in the picture).

3. Maybe those cracks appeared while pouring the basement ceiling at our neighbor’s. The formwork for it was attached to our wall, as you can see in the picture.
What do you think?

4. In the picture below, the overlap on the other basement exterior wall can be seen, which seems to be a bit thicker:

5. I don’t know how to proceed.

6. Do I really have to inform the site manager every time I visit the construction site?

7. THANK YOU ALL!