ᐅ Front Door – Scratches After Installation – Who’s Responsible?

Hello everyone,
Our front door was installed a few weeks ago, but we only removed the protective film yesterday and noticed a scratch in the aluminum, about 3cm (1 inch) long – clearly visible.
In the meantime, several tradespeople have worked on the site.
So, we probably can’t insist on a new door from the window manufacturer, since we cannot prove that the scratch was there from the start… or can we?
Could this be covered by the homeowner’s liability insurance?
Unfortunately, I don’t know much about this topic or the legal situation.
Thanks a lot for your help!!!

You can try to claim through the construction all-risk insurance, if available, but usually it’s just unfortunate personal damage. Especially since scratches on aluminum doors (powder-coated) cannot be repaired on site.

Thoroughly inspect doors and windows after installation and report any defects immediately. Weeks later, the window installer will just shrug if several other trades have already worked on them.

Our architect frequently reports damaged doors. Ours will be installed as late as possible.

Protective films must also be removed because the combination of adhesive and sunlight causes damage. Our films have specific instructions printed on them, stating a maximum of 3 months.

PP unfortunately. Personal bad luck.

Well, hold on a moment. What kind of contract do you have? Are you getting a house from a general contractor (GC), or are you hiring all the trades yourselves?

We assign the tasks ourselves together with our architect, who also acts as our construction manager.

bau2018 schrieb:
We coordinate everything ourselves with our architect, who is also our site manager

Then planning permission applies again.

@kaho674: For a part costing 3,000–4,000 euros or a scratch on the door (just a cosmetic defect), a general contractor would also try to avoid responsibility and offer compensation of around 100 euros.

We also work with individual trades. It’s good that these issues always happen to others before they affect us. It always makes me more vigilant after completion and installation to follow up and ensure quality control.