Hello,
we built in a new development area where the roads had not yet been properly constructed.
Our construction company poured the foundation slab relatively high (about 50cm (20 inches) higher than the other buildings). The driveway paving was not included at that time. We hired a paving company to install the driveway. Now that the local authority has started road construction, it turns out that our driveway cannot be connected to the road. The driveway is about 15-20cm (6-8 inches) too high. The paving company wants to adjust the driveway for €2000. But is this reasonable? Shouldn’t the construction company have aligned with the other houses and coordinated with the local authority regarding the road? I was never asked to provide any documents related to the road. Does anyone have experience with this?
we built in a new development area where the roads had not yet been properly constructed.
Our construction company poured the foundation slab relatively high (about 50cm (20 inches) higher than the other buildings). The driveway paving was not included at that time. We hired a paving company to install the driveway. Now that the local authority has started road construction, it turns out that our driveway cannot be connected to the road. The driveway is about 15-20cm (6-8 inches) too high. The paving company wants to adjust the driveway for €2000. But is this reasonable? Shouldn’t the construction company have aligned with the other houses and coordinated with the local authority regarding the road? I was never asked to provide any documents related to the road. Does anyone have experience with this?
It is logical that any special requests need to be specified separately. Also, it makes sense that you have to indicate which type of stone is required because there are theoretically thousands of options... no builder can guess what the client wants.
But even if the client does not explicitly say which stones they want in advance: doesn’t the builder then ask? Do they deliver anything random? I don’t think so.
However, in this case, the situation is quite different in my opinion. A driveway was ordered. There is only one reasonable option regarding the level at which it can be paved: it should be flush with the street level. So, from the very beginning, the builder is completely clear about what the client wants. Naturally, the builder should have taken the final street height into account.
Telling the client that they should have clearly stated this beforehand is not appropriate here, since it is the only reasonable way to construct a driveway.
I would never tell the landscaper to lay the turf with the green side facing up, or the window installer to position the roller shutter outside the window rather than on the inside.
But even if the client does not explicitly say which stones they want in advance: doesn’t the builder then ask? Do they deliver anything random? I don’t think so.
However, in this case, the situation is quite different in my opinion. A driveway was ordered. There is only one reasonable option regarding the level at which it can be paved: it should be flush with the street level. So, from the very beginning, the builder is completely clear about what the client wants. Naturally, the builder should have taken the final street height into account.
Telling the client that they should have clearly stated this beforehand is not appropriate here, since it is the only reasonable way to construct a driveway.
I would never tell the landscaper to lay the turf with the green side facing up, or the window installer to position the roller shutter outside the window rather than on the inside.
aero2016 schrieb:
You are right! But sometimes it is better to communicate a bit more. If that had been done, there wouldn’t already be 4 pages of questions and answers here in the forum, which, as it seems, also don’t provide a satisfactory solution for the OP. The OP probably would have preferred to hear: "Yes, it’s clearly the contractor’s fault and they will pay for everything."
Warning, personal opinion!
Some of the arguments here are really unbelievable.
When you order a roof, do you explicitly say that it should be watertight and cover the entire house? When you order windows, do you explicitly say that they need to fit into the wall openings? When you mark sockets, do you also explicitly specify that the electrical cables behind must reach the sockets?
Face it – the tradesman is a complete fool. The final street height is at least roughly known, with an accuracy of a few centimeters, or can be easily confirmed by a quick call to the building authority. It is stated in every development plan, in the building permit / planning permission, and can even be logically estimated based on the construction road. Changes or adjustments are possible—you just have to inquire. If he doesn’t do that and doesn’t align with neighboring properties, in my opinion that is gross negligence. In fact, the work should not have been accepted at all, and 50% of the payment could or should have been withheld immediately.
This has absolutely nothing to do with a higher floor slab, unless… the actual construction deviated vertically by 50cm (1 foot 8 inches) from the building permit / planning permission and the paving contractor was given the outdated permit as the basis for execution; but that cannot be the case, because then it would be 50cm too high, not 20cm (8 inches) – assuming the street was built correctly according to plan and was not accidentally raised by 30cm (1 foot).
Therefore, I would set a deadline of 4 weeks for him to correct this free of charge – if not, I would suggest two alternatives to him that are definitely even worse.
Best regards,
Dirk Grafe
Some of the arguments here are really unbelievable.
When you order a roof, do you explicitly say that it should be watertight and cover the entire house? When you order windows, do you explicitly say that they need to fit into the wall openings? When you mark sockets, do you also explicitly specify that the electrical cables behind must reach the sockets?
Face it – the tradesman is a complete fool. The final street height is at least roughly known, with an accuracy of a few centimeters, or can be easily confirmed by a quick call to the building authority. It is stated in every development plan, in the building permit / planning permission, and can even be logically estimated based on the construction road. Changes or adjustments are possible—you just have to inquire. If he doesn’t do that and doesn’t align with neighboring properties, in my opinion that is gross negligence. In fact, the work should not have been accepted at all, and 50% of the payment could or should have been withheld immediately.
This has absolutely nothing to do with a higher floor slab, unless… the actual construction deviated vertically by 50cm (1 foot 8 inches) from the building permit / planning permission and the paving contractor was given the outdated permit as the basis for execution; but that cannot be the case, because then it would be 50cm too high, not 20cm (8 inches) – assuming the street was built correctly according to plan and was not accidentally raised by 30cm (1 foot).
Therefore, I would set a deadline of 4 weeks for him to correct this free of charge – if not, I would suggest two alternatives to him that are definitely even worse.
Best regards,
Dirk Grafe
@Dirk Grafe Unfortunately, you won’t be proven right with your opinion.
I know dozens of similar posts from the green forum.
There, the so-called experts always say, "What was agreed upon?" And if you don’t know, you have to hire a planner.
This is exactly how it will end up in court if it comes to that.
I know dozens of similar posts from the green forum.
There, the so-called experts always say, "What was agreed upon?" And if you don’t know, you have to hire a planner.
This is exactly how it will end up in court if it comes to that.
I agree with you @Dirk Grafe, the contractor could have asked questions.
But to stick with your roof example: The roof can be watertight even if the contractor built it with a 30-degree roof pitch instead of the 45 degrees the client wanted. If the client didn’t communicate that to the contractor...
We won’t be able to resolve this here unless the OP @STREUSALZ provides the exact contract, all additional agreements, and photos.
And even if it turns out the contractor did a poor job, at least the following points will be considered in court:
I assume so, if the OP used the driveway for half a year.
And then the OP doesn’t have any claim anymore.
But to stick with your roof example: The roof can be watertight even if the contractor built it with a 30-degree roof pitch instead of the 45 degrees the client wanted. If the client didn’t communicate that to the contractor...
We won’t be able to resolve this here unless the OP @STREUSALZ provides the exact contract, all additional agreements, and photos.
And even if it turns out the contractor did a poor job, at least the following points will be considered in court:
Jochen104 schrieb:
And even as a layperson, you can check in the evening if everything fits. Then maybe only the edging stones would have been set incorrectly. If you’re not capable of that, there are experts and site managers who can do this for a small fee.
But apparently, you were satisfied with the result for about half a year. Why should the contractor then have done something different?
ypg schrieb:
Did you approve the work?
I assume so, if the OP used the driveway for half a year.
And then the OP doesn’t have any claim anymore.
H
HilfeHilfe19 Aug 2016 07:55Full quote from @Neige deleted and replaced with direct address as the response is clearly attributable.
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@Dirk Grafe
So now the tradesperson has to act as the architect too and study the plans or gather the information? What else should they do, fetch coffee and prepare breakfast, and fire up the grill after work?
There has to be a limit to the services provided.
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@Dirk Grafe
So now the tradesperson has to act as the architect too and study the plans or gather the information? What else should they do, fetch coffee and prepare breakfast, and fire up the grill after work?
There has to be a limit to the services provided.
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