Since I received great support [here] earlier, I would like to describe what I hope will be the last major point of dispute and ask for your assistance:
Contractual move-in date: June 1, 2016
Completion of outdoor landscaping according to contract: June 15, 2016
When we had the handover on June 1, I asked whether the outdoor landscaping would be finished on time. The response was that it probably wouldn’t be achievable. The next day, I inquired again if there was an update on whether the landscaping could be done by June 19, as we planned to have a birthday celebration then. The site manager’s trivial comment was: “Maybe there will already be a layer of gravel.”
As expected, it did not happen. To this day, the entire outdoor landscaping is not completed — the curbs have been installed, but only a few days ago.
A small side note: On June 14, I happened to get in touch with someone who had ordered the same terrace slabs we had chosen. He strongly advised against them, saying he had only problems with those slabs. We then decided on different ones and informed the construction company. At that point, we did not even have a written offer for the terrace extension or the cost of the new slabs. On June 28 (!!), the site manager asked me again which slabs exactly we wanted so they could be ordered.
On Wednesday, July 6, the site manager was at our place again to discuss another defect. When I asked why the adjacent semi-detached house, which is unoccupied, already had its terrace paved but the pathway to our house was still bare, he snapped: “You changed your terrace slabs!” When I pointed out that at least the pathway could be done, he said nothing more. The neighbor’s terrace uses the same paving slabs as our pathways.
After I insisted with the workers, at least the entrance was paved since there was almost a half-meter (about 1.5 feet) height difference there. By the way, today the driveway to the garage was paved.
Yesterday, Thursday, we had an appointment with the construction company. They explained that the company and their representatives had set July 1, 2016, as the move-in date, and therefore July 15, 2016, for the outdoor landscaping.
We politely pointed out that this is not our problem, since our notarized contract states June 15. The contract also specifies that if payment is late, we would owe 5% interest on the amount due, but unfortunately, nothing is regulated in the opposite case.
Their reaction was just that things like this do happen and that they are on the safe side, etc.
We did receive an offer for the terrace yesterday.
The company owner wants to review the case calmly and get back to us. However, his son already hinted that he knows how his father will decide in this matter.
Now the interesting question: What would be considered a justified compensation? I have tentatively scheduled an appointment with a lawyer (next Friday), who of course expects payment upfront. I am trying to avoid that for now, but if they keep being inflexible, I will have to bite the bullet.
I would like to exclude the terrace from this, as it wouldn’t have been finished on time either with the other slabs anyway, since they hadn’t even been ordered.
Thank you very much and have a nice weekend.
Contractual move-in date: June 1, 2016
Completion of outdoor landscaping according to contract: June 15, 2016
When we had the handover on June 1, I asked whether the outdoor landscaping would be finished on time. The response was that it probably wouldn’t be achievable. The next day, I inquired again if there was an update on whether the landscaping could be done by June 19, as we planned to have a birthday celebration then. The site manager’s trivial comment was: “Maybe there will already be a layer of gravel.”
As expected, it did not happen. To this day, the entire outdoor landscaping is not completed — the curbs have been installed, but only a few days ago.
A small side note: On June 14, I happened to get in touch with someone who had ordered the same terrace slabs we had chosen. He strongly advised against them, saying he had only problems with those slabs. We then decided on different ones and informed the construction company. At that point, we did not even have a written offer for the terrace extension or the cost of the new slabs. On June 28 (!!), the site manager asked me again which slabs exactly we wanted so they could be ordered.
On Wednesday, July 6, the site manager was at our place again to discuss another defect. When I asked why the adjacent semi-detached house, which is unoccupied, already had its terrace paved but the pathway to our house was still bare, he snapped: “You changed your terrace slabs!” When I pointed out that at least the pathway could be done, he said nothing more. The neighbor’s terrace uses the same paving slabs as our pathways.
After I insisted with the workers, at least the entrance was paved since there was almost a half-meter (about 1.5 feet) height difference there. By the way, today the driveway to the garage was paved.
Yesterday, Thursday, we had an appointment with the construction company. They explained that the company and their representatives had set July 1, 2016, as the move-in date, and therefore July 15, 2016, for the outdoor landscaping.
We politely pointed out that this is not our problem, since our notarized contract states June 15. The contract also specifies that if payment is late, we would owe 5% interest on the amount due, but unfortunately, nothing is regulated in the opposite case.
Their reaction was just that things like this do happen and that they are on the safe side, etc.
We did receive an offer for the terrace yesterday.
The company owner wants to review the case calmly and get back to us. However, his son already hinted that he knows how his father will decide in this matter.
Now the interesting question: What would be considered a justified compensation? I have tentatively scheduled an appointment with a lawyer (next Friday), who of course expects payment upfront. I am trying to avoid that for now, but if they keep being inflexible, I will have to bite the bullet.
I would like to exclude the terrace from this, as it wouldn’t have been finished on time either with the other slabs anyway, since they hadn’t even been ordered.
Thank you very much and have a nice weekend.
T
toxicmolotof8 Jul 2016 22:47Wait a minute... on June 14th, you did not have a quote for the paving work and the terrace work (to clearly mention both), and now you are surprised that these tasks are not yet completed?
And if you didn't have a quote, is it even part of the main contract or rather a kind of special request?
And if you didn't have a quote, is it even part of the main contract or rather a kind of special request?
I will try to summarize what I have read here. Let’s see if I understood it correctly:
In 2015, you discussed and agreed with the developer on which paving should be done. This paving of the walkways and the garage driveway was only partially completed after June 15, 2016 (at your insistence).
Originally, your terrace was also supposed to be built by June 15, 2016. However, this did not happen – you had not even received a quote for it by June 14, 2016. You used this opportunity to change the terrace slabs again. This change was then cited by your developer as the reason why they could not complete all their services (including the paving) on time (which they hadn’t completed even one day before the deadline).
You now want compensation for the delay in paving. You are intentionally excluding the terrace from this claim.
There are no contractual provisions for compensation payments to the homeowner in case of delays.
Well – I can understand your frustration. However, you might be overreacting here – especially since the partial paving was completed with a delay that I consider reasonable, and the rest will probably be done soon.
In my opinion, you also lack a legal basis for your claim, as nothing contractual was agreed on this matter.
Furthermore – the weather conditions this year have already been mentioned. Even if you say that the last few weeks were not so bad for you, there must have been times this year when the weather did not allow work to proceed. Such days are usually excluded from claims under the contract.
Talk to your developer and try to agree on prompt completion. In my view, this requires mutual cooperation rather than a “head against the wall” approach.
In 2015, you discussed and agreed with the developer on which paving should be done. This paving of the walkways and the garage driveway was only partially completed after June 15, 2016 (at your insistence).
Originally, your terrace was also supposed to be built by June 15, 2016. However, this did not happen – you had not even received a quote for it by June 14, 2016. You used this opportunity to change the terrace slabs again. This change was then cited by your developer as the reason why they could not complete all their services (including the paving) on time (which they hadn’t completed even one day before the deadline).
You now want compensation for the delay in paving. You are intentionally excluding the terrace from this claim.
There are no contractual provisions for compensation payments to the homeowner in case of delays.
Well – I can understand your frustration. However, you might be overreacting here – especially since the partial paving was completed with a delay that I consider reasonable, and the rest will probably be done soon.
In my opinion, you also lack a legal basis for your claim, as nothing contractual was agreed on this matter.
Furthermore – the weather conditions this year have already been mentioned. Even if you say that the last few weeks were not so bad for you, there must have been times this year when the weather did not allow work to proceed. Such days are usually excluded from claims under the contract.
Talk to your developer and try to agree on prompt completion. In my view, this requires mutual cooperation rather than a “head against the wall” approach.
Correct. According to the contract, the exterior landscaping should have been completed by June 15th, and this did not happen. As mentioned, the issue is simply that it was supposed to be finished (40 m² (430 ft²) of paving work).
In recent months, we have not had as much rain here as, for example, in Baden-Württemberg. The Brocken mountain blocked most of the showers. We did not experience a drought period, so the excuse that paving could not be done here because of the weather is not acceptable.
As already mentioned, the paving was done first at our neighbors’ houses, who have not yet moved in. This makes what was previously considered "acceptable" unacceptable.
In recent months, we have not had as much rain here as, for example, in Baden-Württemberg. The Brocken mountain blocked most of the showers. We did not experience a drought period, so the excuse that paving could not be done here because of the weather is not acceptable.
As already mentioned, the paving was done first at our neighbors’ houses, who have not yet moved in. This makes what was previously considered "acceptable" unacceptable.
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