ᐅ The shell construction company canceled just one day after the groundwork began!

Created on: 6 Feb 2018 11:17

ensi1981

I’m feeling a bit desperate right now.

Yesterday, as agreed with the structural and civil engineers, the civil engineering work began on our property. However, this morning I received a call from my architect saying that the structural engineer informed the civil engineer by email that he would not be coming next week and now has no time left for our construction project.

The civil engineer has, of course, stopped work, canceled the vehicles scheduled for excavation removal today, and left the site.

Now I’m quite at a loss and unsure to what extent the structural engineer is obligated to complete his work... the company is currently unreachable by phone.

Has anyone experienced something like this and can offer tips or advice?

Fortunately, I have a very dedicated planning team with an excellent site manager who will probably now do everything possible to find a replacement.

Otus118 Feb 2018 11:04

#43

ensi1981 schrieb:
Now a letter has arrived from the company. They write (...) and claim that we don’t have a legally binding contract anyway.

Depending on how the contractor’s offer was worded (“subject to change” according to § 145, alternative 2, of the German Building Code, standard terms and conditions, etc.), they are probably not entirely wrong:

Without an explicit (written, see above regarding the offer) order confirmation, there is no contract!

This is not a simple everyday cash transaction. The legal sequence for non-binding offers is:

Contractor’s offer = invitation to submit (your own) offer by the client (Property. I want it (if everything fits) – maybe you want it too?) (Latin: invitatio ad offerendum).
Order placed by client = client’s offer to contractor to conclude (Yes, I want it!)
Order confirmation = contractor’s acceptance of client’s offer (I want it now indeed, still with you!) = CONTRACT)

Now, we don’t know the exact wording of the specific offer (which is decisive). You could then consider claims for damages from pre-contractual obligations (contractor on site: “I can do it” – “Uh, actually not”). But in practice, this is usually not worth the effort. Also, without actual damage, there is no specific claim for damages.

And the human perspective: Freely agreeing at first and then backing out is – obviously – not a good look for the contractor…

Anyway. Let it go. Next please!

HilfeHilfe8 Feb 2018 14:29

#44

Hello,

I would still protect myself by sending the old builder a registered letter so that he doesn’t show up and start work unexpectedly.

77.willo8 Feb 2018 14:35

#45

ruppsn schrieb:

Which industry are you actually in? I ask because in my professional experience, I have never seen an employer waive a written contract for order amounts like these. On the contrary: usually, lawyers draft a contract first... so it would be interesting to know in which industry such amounts are approved verbally and with a handshake…

Chemical industry. Where did I or the original poster say anything about not having a written agreement? In our company and also in others, a detailed request for proposal is first prepared by the technical department, then sourcing, and finally legal. Incoming bids are then thoroughly reviewed and possibly revised...

My point was simply that accepting a binding offer creates a contract. That is exactly what the original poster did. The idea of verbal agreements and handshakes was introduced by others. The question was only whether there is a contract without the client giving additional confirmation to the contractor or not.

ᐅ The shell construction company canceled just one day after the groundwork began!

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