ᐅ Withholding Payments for Defects in the Shell Construction Phase
Created on: 9 Feb 2021 16:57
K
Kishihmen
Hello everyone,
The ceiling above the ground floor has just been concreted on our site. According to the payment schedule, a partial payment of approximately €30,000 is due.
However, our expert has identified several defects. These were formally reported to the general contractor (GC) with deadlines. The first deadline (2 weeks) passed without the defects being resolved; the second deadline is still running until Thursday (also 2 weeks).
So far, we have withheld about €17,000 of the €30,000. Our GC considers this amount far too high and insists on payment.
Since we are currently concerned about the potential insolvency of the GC (the structural builder, brick supplier, steel supplier, and light well supplier have not been paid), we want to keep the deduction as high as possible. However, since we are not construction professionals and want to avoid the risk that withholding too much for defects could backfire, I hope that some experts here can provide us with a rough cost estimate.
P.S. Our lawyer has been contacted, but the appointment is only scheduled for 17.02, and I fear we cannot hold off the GC until then.
Defect 1:
At the transition between the basement and the ground floor, no damp-proof course was installed at the base of the first course of blocks.
The basement is already fully lined with Styrodur insulation, and the excavation pit has been backfilled.
Defect 2:
In some areas of the structural shell, the minimum offset of the bricks was not observed; in places, up to 7 courses of bricks were laid directly on top of each other.
Defect 3:
This is a row house. Mineral wool boards were installed between the buildings for sound insulation. At one externally visible spot, there is a gap of about 80cm (31.5 inches) depth and approximately 20cm (8 inches) height between the boards. After reporting the defect, the structural builder just “stuffed” mineral wool boards into the hole. According to our lawyer, this does not reliably ensure soundproofing.
Defect 4:
The area where the patio doors will later be installed was cast in concrete. Here, the reinforcing steel protrudes from the wall. According to the expert: This means that a proper bond between the reinforcing steel and concrete is not sufficiently ensured. It is assumed that adequate long-term corrosion protection of the reinforcement steel is not established. Furthermore, with insufficient concrete cover over the reinforcing steel, adequate fire protection is not guaranteed.
Defect 5:
In the floor slab area, the mineral wool board was not properly secured. As a result, it is quite wavy. This is particularly problematic in the stairwell area, where in some places only 10cm (4 inches) of concrete remain above the mineral wool board. The partition wall bricks have a thickness of 17.5cm (7 inches), though.
Defect 6:
The mineral wool boards were not installed tightly enough in some areas, allowing concrete to seep between the boards and create a sound bridge.
These are the (known) defects so far. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could roughly estimate the costs associated with these defects.
Thank you very much in advance.
The ceiling above the ground floor has just been concreted on our site. According to the payment schedule, a partial payment of approximately €30,000 is due.
However, our expert has identified several defects. These were formally reported to the general contractor (GC) with deadlines. The first deadline (2 weeks) passed without the defects being resolved; the second deadline is still running until Thursday (also 2 weeks).
So far, we have withheld about €17,000 of the €30,000. Our GC considers this amount far too high and insists on payment.
Since we are currently concerned about the potential insolvency of the GC (the structural builder, brick supplier, steel supplier, and light well supplier have not been paid), we want to keep the deduction as high as possible. However, since we are not construction professionals and want to avoid the risk that withholding too much for defects could backfire, I hope that some experts here can provide us with a rough cost estimate.
P.S. Our lawyer has been contacted, but the appointment is only scheduled for 17.02, and I fear we cannot hold off the GC until then.
Defect 1:
At the transition between the basement and the ground floor, no damp-proof course was installed at the base of the first course of blocks.
The basement is already fully lined with Styrodur insulation, and the excavation pit has been backfilled.
Defect 2:
In some areas of the structural shell, the minimum offset of the bricks was not observed; in places, up to 7 courses of bricks were laid directly on top of each other.
Defect 3:
This is a row house. Mineral wool boards were installed between the buildings for sound insulation. At one externally visible spot, there is a gap of about 80cm (31.5 inches) depth and approximately 20cm (8 inches) height between the boards. After reporting the defect, the structural builder just “stuffed” mineral wool boards into the hole. According to our lawyer, this does not reliably ensure soundproofing.
Defect 4:
The area where the patio doors will later be installed was cast in concrete. Here, the reinforcing steel protrudes from the wall. According to the expert: This means that a proper bond between the reinforcing steel and concrete is not sufficiently ensured. It is assumed that adequate long-term corrosion protection of the reinforcement steel is not established. Furthermore, with insufficient concrete cover over the reinforcing steel, adequate fire protection is not guaranteed.
Defect 5:
In the floor slab area, the mineral wool board was not properly secured. As a result, it is quite wavy. This is particularly problematic in the stairwell area, where in some places only 10cm (4 inches) of concrete remain above the mineral wool board. The partition wall bricks have a thickness of 17.5cm (7 inches), though.
Defect 6:
The mineral wool boards were not installed tightly enough in some areas, allowing concrete to seep between the boards and create a sound bridge.
These are the (known) defects so far. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could roughly estimate the costs associated with these defects.
Thank you very much in advance.
K
Kishihmen11 Feb 2021 09:04Hi,
yes, the notice of defects was issued. Initially, on the day our expert discovered the defects, including the expert’s report (January 15). Unfortunately, out of a total of 8 identified defects (at that time, before the ceiling was concreted), only one was actually fixed, so a second deadline was set until February 11. The construction supervisor hasn’t even shown up on site since then. The shell builder worker is currently not working on the site at all, as he hasn’t received any payment from the supervisor (I’m not sure whether I should actually be upset about that right now).
I also skimmed through your thread. It sounds odd, but it serves as a warning example for me to involve a lawyer a bit earlier. We’ve already overpaid, unfortunately, but it would have gotten much worse until the shell construction was completed 🙁
yes, the notice of defects was issued. Initially, on the day our expert discovered the defects, including the expert’s report (January 15). Unfortunately, out of a total of 8 identified defects (at that time, before the ceiling was concreted), only one was actually fixed, so a second deadline was set until February 11. The construction supervisor hasn’t even shown up on site since then. The shell builder worker is currently not working on the site at all, as he hasn’t received any payment from the supervisor (I’m not sure whether I should actually be upset about that right now).
I also skimmed through your thread. It sounds odd, but it serves as a warning example for me to involve a lawyer a bit earlier. We’ve already overpaid, unfortunately, but it would have gotten much worse until the shell construction was completed 🙁
Kishihmen schrieb:
. Unfortunately, it’s already overpriced now, but it would get significantly worse by the time the shell construction is completed 🙁That’s what I thought.
Hausbau081511 Feb 2021 09:21Involving a lawyer early on, well... it really depends on the lawyer. There are good ones and bad ones. During the construction period so far, I’ve had three!!!! The first one was for General Contractor 1 (GU1), the second due to an injunction lawsuit from the first general contractor against me (according to the first lawyer, he was not allowed to represent me in that case, which I still can’t understand), and currently lawyer number three. He is really good and is now going all out against GU1, GU2, and lawyer number one.
The frustrating thing is that all of this takes up your entire lifetime, and even if you were to win everything—which usually doesn’t happen—you would still be in the same financial situation as if everything had been done correctly from the start. No one compensates you for all the worries, sleepless nights, and the time you had to invest.
Hausbau081511 Feb 2021 09:25That's true, but what would be the alternative?
Hausbau081511 Feb 2021 09:30For us, things seem to be improving, partly thanks to the opposing party’s lawyer, that is GU2’s lawyer. He is really pushing his client hard, better than my own lawyer could. For example, out of frustration, the client dismantled the internal scaffolding, but it was back up two days later. If a contractor doesn’t get paid, I call GU2’s lawyer and the next day the money is there. It works perfectly. Now he is taking care of finding a proper site manager.
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