Trouble with site manager - construction electricity/water

Hello,

we are currently in the middle of the shell construction and are at our wit's end with our construction manager.

According to the construction service description, we are responsible for providing construction electricity and water. Now, KG empty conduits were installed in the floor slab, and the municipal utility company said that has not been allowed since 2017. We either need a single-utility installation or must have an EWE shaft installed.

Our construction manager pushed that responsibility onto us. He said we should have inquired about it. But you would think that what is written in the construction service description also complies with current regulations, right?

He then suggested doing a core drilling and installing a single-utility entry. The drilling was done slightly angled through the floor slab to not undermine it. Today, a lady from the municipal utility company was on site again and said that doesn't work. The drilling is too small. The single-utility entry doesn't fit. We are supposed to close the hole and have an EWE shaft installed by their company.

Now our construction manager is not reachable. His phone is off. And now?

He also failed to establish contact with the electrician who was supposed to help us with the construction electricity application. This is also getting delayed further and further. At the moment, they are working with emergency power.

The ceiling slab is delayed by 4 weeks due to supply bottlenecks. Everything is getting pushed back. We are fed up. What can we do? My husband is about to cancel the contract and manage everything himself. The construction manager is worthless.

Definitely do it. It was the same for us; after they kicked out the useless guy, everything ran smoothly. It's more effort but much less stress and trouble than with a site manager!

Do it yourself plus [Gutachter].

Take it slow with the young horses!
There is talk of a description of construction services. I assume it is a general contractor/subcontractor with their site manager on the job.
You can neither simply chase them away nor terminate the contract!
At least not if you are not a money tree, because that gets _really_ expensive.

Defects should be reported properly.
Escalations beyond the site manager are certainly possible.
But apart from that, focus on your contract! Do not terminate properly, if then only extraordinarily with legal assistance!

I also believe that not much bad has happened yet. Welcome to the construction boom. The single/multi-trade can be retrofitted and one must get used to schedule delays nowadays, regardless of the construction mode.

Our construction manager passed that on to us. He said we should have inquired. But one can surely assume that what is stated in the construction service description also complies with the current regulations, right?

Ok, I understand the situation is very tense for you and yes, it will continue like this. Building is stressful. A 4-week delay is still really little. It can become massively more.

But what are the facts now:
What exactly is stated in the construction service description?
From which region does the construction company come, and how local exactly is which regulation? Is it something local from the utility provider that the regional construction manager simply could not know?

You also can’t necessarily blame him for material shortages.

I know you are annoyed with the construction manager, but maybe it helps to support him more. He is probably responsible for x constructions at the same time. We already had it a few days ago in another thread, the construction manager works for the general contractor, not for you! Don’t start working against him.

The ceiling slab is delayed by 4 weeks due to supply bottlenecks. Everything is being pushed back.

That is nothing unusual. The issue with the passage and electricity is indeed annoying – apparently, he is not working with and for you. It can be done differently, but there are also bad apples.

My husband is about to cancel the contract and manage everything ourselves. The construction manager is useless.

Don’t do that. It costs money. But get an expert and, if necessary, issue a formal notice according to the rules of the law.

Tip: don’t use the forum only to vent, but inform yourself beforehand, i.e. educate yourself. Not only afterwards.

Interesting where you know that he doesn't build with individual contracts? Enlighten me..