Hello Forum!
We hired two different companies for building a carport: Company A was responsible for the foundations, and Company B for the carport itself.
It started with Company A not installing the foundations according to the plan. They were positioned so far outward that the base plates could only be half mounted.
This only became apparent when the installers from Company B arrived on site. For the installation delay, Company B wanted to charge for 2–3 hours of labor.
After calling on the same day, Company A came the next day and extended the foundations in the correct direction. This involved excavating the ground, chamfering the old foundation, and filling the new foundation with fast-setting concrete.
However, Company A requested an additional payment X for this and “as a gesture of goodwill” reduced it to 50%.
One day later, Company B sent an invoice that was much higher than expected. They charged for 6 hours of labor instead of the verbally indicated 3 hours per installer, plus a flat fee of €3 per kilometer (including tax) for travel to and from the site.
This amount was immediately communicated to Company A. Their response was only regret and the information that they no longer have professional liability insurance that could cover this.
We are slowly getting desperate and don’t know what to do.
Does anyone have advice on who is actually responsible for which payments and who we should contact?
Many thanks!
We hired two different companies for building a carport: Company A was responsible for the foundations, and Company B for the carport itself.
It started with Company A not installing the foundations according to the plan. They were positioned so far outward that the base plates could only be half mounted.
This only became apparent when the installers from Company B arrived on site. For the installation delay, Company B wanted to charge for 2–3 hours of labor.
After calling on the same day, Company A came the next day and extended the foundations in the correct direction. This involved excavating the ground, chamfering the old foundation, and filling the new foundation with fast-setting concrete.
However, Company A requested an additional payment X for this and “as a gesture of goodwill” reduced it to 50%.
One day later, Company B sent an invoice that was much higher than expected. They charged for 6 hours of labor instead of the verbally indicated 3 hours per installer, plus a flat fee of €3 per kilometer (including tax) for travel to and from the site.
This amount was immediately communicated to Company A. Their response was only regret and the information that they no longer have professional liability insurance that could cover this.
We are slowly getting desperate and don’t know what to do.
Does anyone have advice on who is actually responsible for which payments and who we should contact?
Many thanks!
W
WilderSueden10 Nov 2023 09:33Who owns the matter does not matter at this point. You also cannot prove a verbal agreement. If there is still something to claim from the foundation company, that is a matter for a specialist lawyer.