Commitments from the construction manager - Trust relationship

Well, you have to clarify something like that with your contract partner.... You can't discuss the new car discount with the mechanic either. All you can hope for is that the contractor will participate out of goodwill.

Hello,
is there a defect report or anything in writing stating that a defect exists that needs to be repaired, or were those verbal agreements?

Regards

Unfortunately "only" by email, which should/I hope will be sufficient. The site manager also told his company that he "permits" me to do this. At least he stands by his word. It's just a shame that his company is leaving him out in the cold and trying to shift the blame onto me or him.

Pretty unprofessional. Well, let's see what happens.

Hello,

We therefore obtained an offer, presented it to the site manager, he agreed to it, and we commissioned the company. [...] Unfortunately "only" by email, I hope/should be sufficient. The site manager also told his company that he "allowed" me to do so. After all, he stands by his word. It's just a shame that his company is leaving him out in the rain and trying to shift the responsibility onto me or him.

What can I do to hold the company accountable, after all, the point of contact was the site manager and thus the construction company was my direct contact. He also fairly told his company that everything is correct and he allowed me to have the rework done by an external company.

The house building company itself is being difficult and says that the site manager must sort this out with me and that they are off the hook...

But this is a matter of trust and the site manager is employed by them; they can’t just wriggle out of this, or can they?

*Sigh* ... unfortunately, I have to be the bad guy again ...

Herewith:

Wrong! The contracting party is always the house building company. The site manager is merely their employed agent of performance. So he also acts in their name/on their behalf!

€uro is both right and wrong.

Your contracting party is primarily your provider and not their site manager. And even if he is their agent of performance, his authority is limited and he must – and there is good reason for this – have every step approved by his direct superior; with some providers, site managers have a certain margin for resources, with others not a cent. Either he exceeded his authority or has no self-responsible budget at all. Either way, he should not have given you the approval at all. In this respect, the fault indeed lies with the site manager *and* with you, since you should have waited for written confirmation from your provider. This is certainly debatable, I know. I am fairly sure that something similar can be found in the fine print of your contract for work; anything else would surprise me.

That the site manager stands by his word honors him. Whether that will help you is questionable, because this decision rests with the managing director of your provider. Should this case go to court – which I do not advise you to do – you will almost certainly lose; your site manager will receive a warning and in the end, only the lawyers will be happy.

Try to contact the managing director and see what happens. If he continues to hold his opinion, pay the drywall contractor’s invoice and count this experience as life experience.

Pretty unprofessional. Well, let’s see what happens.

This is not unprofessional; this is sensible practice. If every site manager were allowed to distribute unlimited resources, the insolvency register would overflow. With all due understanding for your frustration – it makes sense not to lose sight of both sides’ arguments. Not for nothing has every construction description, every contract for work, every smallest piece of contract law been checked by a lawyer before it can enter daily use.

Rhenish regards

Hi thanks for the information,

I have looked at the contract for work and read it paragraph by paragraph. The only clause I found is the one for the (house) sellers of the company stating that they are not allowed to represent the company legally. Unfortunately, there is nothing about the construction manager. I only have a letter stating that I should contact the construction manager for all matters during the construction phase and that he is my point of contact. Which I did. As I said, since he also agreed, I simply assumed that he has some leeway. I told him several times if everything was alright, which he also confirmed.

As I said, try it through the managing director and their goodwill.

Hello

interesting topic. As I can gather, it is a legal uncertainty. Some experienced users have a different legal opinion.

Personally, despite the legal expenses insurance, I would find it too risky to let it go through.

In general. What amount is involved? Is it "worth it" to insist on your rights or what is the builder willing to pay?

I would always weigh that up. A builder always has more staying power, more money, and the nerves to usually see something like this through.

My sense of justice: The construction company must pay! The OP did everything right. He contacted his point of contact. Whether he is authorized to represent or not is not important to me. That should be clarified by site managers and providers.