ᐅ The site manager does not show up, does not conduct inspections, or seems indifferent to everything.
Created on: 29 May 2019 10:04
B
Balduin
Hello everyone,
I need some advice from you professionals.
I am building with a company that markets itself as a "premium company" in its sector. That means I deliberately did not choose the cheapest company because I wanted to avoid a lot of trouble later on. Now I am paying a relatively high price and still facing many problems. Here is the situation.
The company seems to have only two site managers across all of Germany, and one of them has been assigned to us.
This company also uses subcontractors for almost every trade, which I am willing to accept as long as these works are supervised by someone.
Now to our specific case.
So far, the basement has been built and completely backfilled. The basement company is a subcontractor. By chance, I found out that the site manager has not even been on the construction site. As far as I know, there are certain construction phases during which the site manager must be present (isn’t that so?). For example, supervising the waterproofing of the basement or similar work.
Soon the house will be erected, and I was already told that the manager will only join “by phone.” That really upset me. But no matter how much I complain or demand, he does not seem to care at all. I now want to bring in an additional independent building expert to inspect the trades since I have lost some trust. Nevertheless, I want the company to fulfill its obligations properly as well.
Is there any legal aspect that can be considered here to force the company to carry out more thorough inspections? For example, an extension of the warranty period in cases of gross negligence or something similar? (In my opinion, gross negligence applies to anyone who fails to fulfill their duty of care, which would include regular inspections).
I would appreciate any information on how to handle cases like this.
Best regards,
Balduin
I need some advice from you professionals.
I am building with a company that markets itself as a "premium company" in its sector. That means I deliberately did not choose the cheapest company because I wanted to avoid a lot of trouble later on. Now I am paying a relatively high price and still facing many problems. Here is the situation.
The company seems to have only two site managers across all of Germany, and one of them has been assigned to us.
This company also uses subcontractors for almost every trade, which I am willing to accept as long as these works are supervised by someone.
Now to our specific case.
So far, the basement has been built and completely backfilled. The basement company is a subcontractor. By chance, I found out that the site manager has not even been on the construction site. As far as I know, there are certain construction phases during which the site manager must be present (isn’t that so?). For example, supervising the waterproofing of the basement or similar work.
Soon the house will be erected, and I was already told that the manager will only join “by phone.” That really upset me. But no matter how much I complain or demand, he does not seem to care at all. I now want to bring in an additional independent building expert to inspect the trades since I have lost some trust. Nevertheless, I want the company to fulfill its obligations properly as well.
Is there any legal aspect that can be considered here to force the company to carry out more thorough inspections? For example, an extension of the warranty period in cases of gross negligence or something similar? (In my opinion, gross negligence applies to anyone who fails to fulfill their duty of care, which would include regular inspections).
I would appreciate any information on how to handle cases like this.
Best regards,
Balduin
Hi Balduin,
Our contract with the general contractor didn’t specify anything concrete either, with the same result as you experienced: The site manager maybe visited the site about five times, so work was done quite sloppily overall. He told us over the phone that at times he was managing 28 construction sites simultaneously. Fortunately, only annoying minor issues occurred, no collapsing walls or anything serious (so far!). My advice: Hire an independent expert from a builders’ protection association or a private homeowners’ association, someone who will inspect the work on your behalf. That will cost you, though. We deducted some money from the final payment to the general contractor, got sued, and the findings from the expert we hired were definitely helpful for us. Spending a few thousand extra for an expert at least helps you maintain a somewhat reasonable workflow. But it’s not perfect either. The best approach is to show up on site every day and talk to the workers. If that works: great. If not: keep pestering the foreman of each subcontractor crew until they work decently. That doesn’t cost money, but probably a lot of nerves. If you don’t have the opportunity to do this yourself: see above. Good luck...
Our contract with the general contractor didn’t specify anything concrete either, with the same result as you experienced: The site manager maybe visited the site about five times, so work was done quite sloppily overall. He told us over the phone that at times he was managing 28 construction sites simultaneously. Fortunately, only annoying minor issues occurred, no collapsing walls or anything serious (so far!). My advice: Hire an independent expert from a builders’ protection association or a private homeowners’ association, someone who will inspect the work on your behalf. That will cost you, though. We deducted some money from the final payment to the general contractor, got sued, and the findings from the expert we hired were definitely helpful for us. Spending a few thousand extra for an expert at least helps you maintain a somewhat reasonable workflow. But it’s not perfect either. The best approach is to show up on site every day and talk to the workers. If that works: great. If not: keep pestering the foreman of each subcontractor crew until they work decently. That doesn’t cost money, but probably a lot of nerves. If you don’t have the opportunity to do this yourself: see above. Good luck...
Thanks, berny,
yes, I think I'll have to do that since I can't rely on the site manager. Even if I motivate him to come to the construction site, he will just wander around unenthusiastically and won’t identify any defects anyway. But your tip about the final payment is interesting... how did it turn out?
Regards,
Balduin
yes, I think I'll have to do that since I can't rely on the site manager. Even if I motivate him to come to the construction site, he will just wander around unenthusiastically and won’t identify any defects anyway. But your tip about the final payment is interesting... how did it turn out?
Regards,
Balduin
F
Frank Hartung29 May 2019 16:32What many homeowners do not realize is that a construction manager is not the representative of the homeowner’s interests but solely owes services to the construction company, general contractor, or design-build contractor that hired them. Therefore, as long as the construction is ongoing, no one can be held responsible.
Hello Frank,
My question was whether I, as a site manager, am allowed to say, "I don’t need to check the work results of a trade because I have known the company for 10 years... they never make mistakes."
As far as I understand as a non-professional, it is the responsibility of the site manager or at least the main contractor to ensure that “someone” has actually inspected the work of the subcontractors. Otherwise, how could you possibly know "if the construction is progressing" when you are never on site...
Best regards,
Balduin
My question was whether I, as a site manager, am allowed to say, "I don’t need to check the work results of a trade because I have known the company for 10 years... they never make mistakes."
As far as I understand as a non-professional, it is the responsibility of the site manager or at least the main contractor to ensure that “someone” has actually inspected the work of the subcontractors. Otherwise, how could you possibly know "if the construction is progressing" when you are never on site...
Best regards,
Balduin
F
Frank Hartung29 May 2019 16:48Hello Balduin,
you are right, but if the site manager does not oversee this as part of their responsibility, it will be as you say. Your contractor is liable for defects caused by subcontractors. Therefore, I recommend every homeowner to use construction monitoring by the TÜV.
Best regards
Frank
you are right, but if the site manager does not oversee this as part of their responsibility, it will be as you say. Your contractor is liable for defects caused by subcontractors. Therefore, I recommend every homeowner to use construction monitoring by the TÜV.
Best regards
Frank
Similar topics