Contractor does poor job, still no compensation

The North Holland court made an interesting ruling in January of this year (ECLI:NL:RBNHO:2023:408). In fact, the court assumes that a contractor did a poor job. Yet the contractor does not have to pay damages to his client. That seems like the opposite world. Lawyer construction law Robert van Ewijk explains.

Contractor delivers shoddy work on bathroom repair

The plaintiff in these proceedings wants compensation from his contractor. He blames his contractor for doing a botched job. The electrics were connected incorrectly, the caulking was sloppy, and a wall was unnecessarily thickened so that the bathroom was unusable. And to make matters worse, the contractor also caused leaks. The contractor disputes all of this, but the judge still assumes that the contractor fell short in the performance of the building contract. It is obvious then that the contractor must also pay damages, you would think. Yet this is not so simple.

Principal must provide opportunity for recovery

In fact, the law states that a client is obliged to give the contractor an opportunity to correct his mistakes. The idea behind that legal provision is to ensure that the contractor has the opportunity to avoid having to pay damages. Therefore, a principal is not entitled to damages if he has not given his contractor the opportunity to correct his mistakes.

No confidence that contractor was capable of recovery

The client argued that he did not have confidence that the contractor was capable of properly repairing the bathroom. Therefore, he allegedly did not give him the opportunity to repair the defects. The court does not go along with this. The client does not have to provide a further opportunity to repair until the contractor has already made several unsuccessful attempts at repair. And there was none of that in this case.

No right to damages from contractor

Thus, the client is not entitled to compensation from his contractor. This case shows just how important good preparation is. As a contractor, do you receive a request to repair defects? Then get timely advice. And if, as the client, you plan to have the work repaired by another contractor, be on your guard. Because if you forget one step, you could end up missing out. You will then have to pay for the repair yourself. No matter how bad the work done by the contractor was. Therefore, take timely contact up with the construction law lawyer From Lexys Lawyers.