“Hidden Elevations”

[Onoff]

So if the finishes on the wall in question are shown, clearly in plan and the builder hasn't read them imo it's down to them. Doesn't matter how you've provided it if they've missed it. 

[Reiver]

This makes me think that when (and if) I get round to building I'll spend £300 on another Panasonic Toughbook with the 3D drawings on so everybody can look at the 3D visualisations.

[Mandana]

9 hours ago, Onoff said:

So if the finishes on the wall in question are shown, clearly in plan and the builder hasn't read them imo it's down to them. Doesn't matter how you've provided it if they've missed it. 

Our thoughts exactly. 
 

We’ll see what the outcome is on Monday when the contractor comes back to us. I’ve not forwarded the email from our architect, but will if things get heated. 
 

BTW, no idea where “accountant” came from in my previous post. Should have been architect! 

[Mandana]

9 hours ago, Reiver said:

This makes me think that when (and if) I get round to building I'll spend £300 on another Panasonic Toughbook with the 3D drawings on so everybody can look at the 3D visualisations.

Glad to have highlighted something that may help you when it’s your turn. Wish we’d known ourselves! 

[Onoff]

14 minutes ago, Mandana said:

Our thoughts exactly. 
 

We’ll see what the outcome is on Monday when the contractor comes back to us. I’ve not forwarded the email from our architect, but will if things get heated. 
 

BTW, no idea where “accountant” came from in my previous post. Should have been architect! 

 

Can we maybe see the bit of the plan where it's "clear"? If it's labelled I imagine it's clear cut in your favour but if down to fine detail, then a 3rd party (judge etc) might say it's 50/50.

[recoveringbuilder]

Surprised it wasn’t mentioned on your floor plans, our floor plan detailed everything that was to be incorporated in the build. On our last build the builder tried to charge us extra for quoins on all the corners which he said he had been unaware of but referring him back to the plan they were clearly marked so he had to back down on the extra charge.

[DevilDamo]

A bit late into the process on this, so apologies if I end up repeating what others have already said.

 

A contractor can only price and build something for which is shown on drawings and included as part of the specification. That would be their argument. However, the plans would clearly indicate the return wall and the contractor would have allowed for the construction of this wall... from foundations up to wall plate. If they had made any assumptions as to the finish of this wall, then those assumptions should have been clarified and confirmed with you.

 

Not knowing if the garage is attached or detached but if it’s the latter, the ‘house’ elevations would have included that return wall. This would have allowed the detached garage to be shown separately and its position referenced to on site and/or floor plans.

[joe90]

12 hours ago, Mandana said:

We are not project managing ourselves. We handed the whole external build over as we felt we weren’t knowledgeable enough. Thank god we did, however, by handing it over and paying more, we weren’t expecting issues like this to arise. 

I am also late to this but reading the thread I noticed the above. Who did you hand over the build too? Surely whoever you handed over too (and paid) is responsible if the drawings show the stone cladding, if not this “project manager” should have confirmed every detail. I project managed my own build (plus doing loads myself) and at the risk of repeating myself to the builder double checked every detail.

 

its easier to do a job properly first time then try to put it right afterwards .

Edited July 18, 2020 by joe90

[Ferdinand]

When it comes to finding an agreed outcome, remember that one of your options will be arbitration if it is not clear and horse trading does not work.

 

I hope that you get a resolution on this following normal contract law principles ... which will revolve around what was clearly communicated back and forth, and what assumptions could be expected to be made by a competent contractor or client from those communications.

 

It would be too easy to spend more on going round and round than the size of the issue itself, which would cut off both your noses.

 

Best of luck, anyway.

Edited July 18, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Mandana]

Hello everyone

 

Coming back to update those of you who were kind enough to give us advice and opinions. 
 

The main contractor has dropped the ridiculously high hidden elevations amount in the variances they’ve presented to us. Yay! They said they agreed with our sentiments, and therefore dropped it. 
 

There are still 3 other variances we are discussing - one of which we are flatly refusing to agree to as it’s plain wrong (and they know this as it was agreed long before we signed the contract), but the other two we may well have to cough up on. 
 

Anyhow, they’re by the by. The hidden elevations has been dropped so it’s a result. 
 

Thanks for your comments and for giving us a different pair of eyes on looking at the problem. 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Mandana