Masonry loose - do VOB guidelines apply?

Hello,

in my new build I am in a very unpleasant situation. The shell is finished, windows and front door are installed, water pipe installation is done and the electrician was also finished so far. Now the plasterer was supposed to come and plaster the interior. It was agreed that I would plaster all the chases myself in KW8, and in KW9 the plasterer would start with the interior plaster. During this work, I first noticed on the ground floor that in the areas where the electrician made the chases in the 11.5 cm walls, the bricks of the top row had come loose. I then informed the construction company, whereupon the boss came with his foreman and concluded that the electrician had hammered the bricks loose with his Hilti. Furthermore, if the plasterer puts his plaster on it, they will hold. Later, the electrician gave me to understand by phone that the bricks were already loose beforehand; a second man had to hold the brick so that he could hammer in his chase. Well, I thought, whatever, it's only three bricks. I then knocked narrow chases in and filled them with mortar. Bricks firm, all good. When I got to my work on the upper floor, there was again a sad spectacle with the 11.5 cm walls. Here the situation is worse. It was not only the bricks in the chase areas that were loose but also the first and second neighboring bricks. However, as there is a wooden beam ceiling on the upper floor and no concrete ceiling, I was able to lift the bricks and found that the adhesive on the underside of the top bricks was practically non-existent. My layman’s suspicion is that the adhesive had already set when the last row was laid. It is likely that the cause in the ground floor is similar. It is noticeable that on one side of the wall no adhesive is visible in the joints, while on the other side the adhesive has actually run out.

So, the unpleasant thing about the situation is that both the electrician and the construction company are blaming each other. Neither was or is willing to take responsibility for this botch job. The architect says the masonry should have held. An expert says without inspection that the electrician only uncovered the botch. The cause was the carelessness of the construction company. However, the electrician is obliged to report this defect and stop his work so that the construction company can repair it.

So both are to blame for this mess.

The plasterer said: "If I can’t start in KW9, I will go to the next construction site and can only start with you in 4 weeks." But it is possible to embed mesh in the affected areas, which gives the plaster additional stability. So good, said and done. The additional costs are €750.00 net, which I do not want to bear.

My question is ultimately, are there and if so which VOB guidelines apply in such a case that help to convince the two affected craft companies to cover the additional costs and thus fulfill their warranty obligations?

Thank you.

Hi,

since I work as an electrician, I am all too familiar with the situation of loose stones in the top row. When we have something like that, we inform the bricklayer and he fixes it again. Otherwise, the plasterer smooths over it and it holds without any problems. Additional mesh has never been used before.

If this had happened to me, I would get source mortar or injection mortar (e.g. from Pagel) and take care of it myself and/or give the boss of the company a proper "talking to."

Hello,

So, the unpleasant thing about the situation is that both the electrician and the construction company are blaming each other. Neither was nor is willing to take responsibility for this botched job. The architect says the masonry should have held. An expert says without seeing the site that the electrician merely uncovered the botch. The cause was the negligence of the construction company. However, the electrician is obliged to report this defect and stop his work so that the construction company can make corrections.

So both are to blame for the mess.

The plasterer said: "If I can’t start in week 9, I’ll go to the next site and can only start with you in 4 weeks." But you can plaster in reinforcement mesh at the problematic spots, which gives the plaster additional stability. So good, said and done. The additional costs are €750.00 net, which I do not want to bear.

My question is ultimately, are there VOB guidelines that apply in such a case, and if so, which ones, that help to convince the two affected craft companies to cover the additional costs in order to fulfill their warranty obligations?

Even more interesting than your question, perhaps, are the answers to it...

A DIN standard won't help you much, because this concerns not only one DIN; explaining all of them here would go way too far. A DIN-based discussion would, in my opinion, also not get you anywhere, as it will not change the differing viewpoints. Since we are now in week 12, I assume the real issue is only about the question of cost coverage.

What remains at the end of the day is that primarily the structural builder performed his work carelessly. From my point of view, there is only one option in this case, namely to photograph the relevant spots and to officially complain to the contractor in writing with a deadline; partly you have already done that. It doesn’t matter to you who is at fault according to whose opinion: you are entitled to the defect-free handover of the single-family house. Let your provider coordinate with his subcontractors; your contract partner is always the contractor and not his craftsmen - unless, of course, you have hired the trades separately and yourself.

If there is no agreement on covering the additional costs of €750.00 by the time of final payment, it is up to you how wisely you negotiate.

Regards from the Rhineland