ᐅ Plumbing Installation Done by Yourself – Warranty?

Hello,

we are currently building a single-family house. Since we selected different sanitary fixtures than the standard equipment, the additional costs for this nearly overwhelmed us. So, we decided to remove the sanitary fixtures and the final installation from the contract. We are now ordering all the items from an online plumbing supplier according to the list in the contract. So far, everything seems fine. However, we have noticed that plumbing companies are not very enthusiastic about installing fixtures that were not ordered through them. Understandable, of course… In any case, we found a company willing to do the installation, but they do not provide any warranty since the fixtures are not theirs. That is fine with us. But what if there is a leak caused by the installation? The rough-in plumbing is still being done by the builder. The plumbing company only needs to install the fixtures.

Perhaps someone here can shed some light on this? I prefer not to ask the plumbing specialist directly, in case they back out and refuse to do the installation afterward…

Thank you in advance!

Hello,

bw-baublog schrieb:
.... at least we found a company willing to do it, but they do not provide any warranty since the items are not theirs. That’s fine with us. But what if something leaks due to the installation? The rough-in plumbing is still being done by the general contractor, by the way. So the plumbing company only has to install the fixtures. Maybe someone here can shed some light on this? I don’t want to ask the plumber, in case he decides to back out and won’t do the installation anymore....

In the worst-case scenario, this could turn into a “fun” situation => Scenario: For example, water leaks next to the washbasin instead of going down the drain—who is responsible then? The general contractor (BU) who did the rough plumbing, or the second plumbing company that carried out the final installation…

The only way to avoid this unpleasant situation is to carry out an inspection after the rough plumbing. Does your general contractor still have tasks to complete afterward, or does their scope of work finish after rough installation?

Kind regards

Hello and thank you in advance....

The developer provides other services as well; I just don’t know which one is the last he performs, but I think it’s not the rough-in plumbing. After that, there will definitely be the screed and so on. And there is also a final inspection.

What is important to me is that the company installing the fixtures, which does not want to assume any warranty, does not install everything in a way that causes leaks and then claims they are not responsible for it.

If something is leaking in the pipes, the developer is responsible for that, right? Just not for the fixtures themselves, or am I mistaken?

Hello,

bw-baublog schrieb:
If something is leaking in the pipes, the developer is responsible, right? Just not for the fixtures, or am I wrong?

Theory is all well and good

How do you want to prove—assuming a defect actually appears after the final installation—who caused the defect? I can already imagine the reactions: Installer 1 ("My work is proper, I’m not at fault") or Installer 2 ("I’m not at fault either, I only did the final installation")...

To avoid this kind of warranty dispute, an inspection after the sanitary rough-in installation must be carried out. Then the warranty for the rough installation lies with Installer 1, the warranty for the fixtures with the manufacturer, and the warranty for the final installation with the second external plumbing contractor.

Kind regards

Ok.... then it is probably a good thing that we have an architect representing us as the client throughout our project. Then we only need to insist on an inspection after the shell structure assembly.

Thank you very much for the quick responses!