Fraud by general contractor? Deadlines missed

Good morning, we currently have three problems with our general contractor. We took over our house in November 2021.

How would you proceed? In advance, the general contractor no longer responds to our emails / does not react anymore.

1. We received an energy certificate in which the roof windows are specified with a UW value of 0.9. This value only applies to triple-glazed windows. We were installed double-glazed windows. After we complained, the general contractor simply sent us a new energy certificate with a UW value of 1.3, which corresponds to double-glazed windows.

2. Our wallpaper is coming off the wall; we were told someone would get in touch, but until today this has not happened, we have informed the general contractor several times.

3. The flow tubes of our underfloor heating are black and we do not see any flow; we complained about this after point 2. Here the general contractor said we no longer have a warranty because we had our heat pump serviced directly by Vaillant and not by his subcontractor. The service description of his maintenance does not mention the underfloor heating. On the phone, he told us that the maintenance of the underfloor heating was included free of charge; we just should have asked.

This phone call was the last time he responded to our emails / calls. All deadlines set have been missed.

What would you do? What can we do? Our legal expenses insurance does not cover construction.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hello, first of all congratulations on the house purchase at a good time.

1. Did you receive a Bauleistungsbeschreibung back then? If yes, what was stated there?
2. Set (have set) a deadline, if missed take legal action with a lawyer
3. Seek advice from consumer protection or a specialized lawyer

In general, some companies will only take action if the letter comes from a lawyer, and even then there will be companies that try to simply wait it out.

Best regards

Thank you for the response.

Regarding
2. Set (have set) a deadline, if breached lawyer claim, are there other options, the legal path seems to be an expensive one?

3. Obtain advice from consumer protection or a specialist lawyer -> Consumer protection is a good idea, thank you very much.

Regarding point number 1, we have received a building description. Attached is the excerpt on the topic of roof covering as well as the first energy certificate. After consultation with Velux there are GGL windows that meet this UW value. I sent this to him and received the following reply:

I hereby reject your notice of defects in full. The thermal insulation was calculated by the architect and he is liable in any case, you can also contact him regarding this point.

Exactly these roof windows that are installed in your house are the right ones.

You must not mix the points in the building description. Roof windows are listed in the roofing item, where no glazing type is specified; this is regulated by thermal insulation.

The window item describes only the windows and patio doors as described, white plastic and anthracite on the outside, tilt and turn does not work well on the roof.

He then sent us a new energy certificate.

Getting legal advice and having a lawyer write a letter does not cost the world and does not necessarily mean filing a lawsuit. For some GUs, a lawyer's letter has an effect, for others not. But on your own and without legal advice, you don't seem to get anywhere with him.

If you immediately accuse me of fraud, I won't get in touch anymore. The windows are described in the contract with 0.9. That can be debated.

Point 8 of the construction description talks about terraced middle houses, which I read as an indication of a developer project, and that the general contractor might accordingly not even be your general contractor, but that of your developer?

I sent this to him and received the following answer:
Herewith I reject your notification of defects in full.

At least he recognizes you as a legitimate claimant to him. You should have read his rejection as a "declaration of war" – that is, as an urgent indication to respond immediately through a fully qualified lawyer. Whether this is your own lawyer or that of a consumer protection association is secondary. The latter would also have immediately pointed out to him that his hallucination of the humorous warranty condition ...

Here the general contractor said we no longer have a warranty because we had our heat pump serviced directly by Vaillant and not by his subcontractor.

... I’d say "is not covered by the Building Code" ;-)