Project Management Application: Construction
In engineering and construction projects the type and nature of defects vary dramatically. Furthermore, the stage at which the defects become apparent varies. At one extreme of the scale major defects may appear after the construction work is completed, at the further end minor defects are easily rectified (Burling, 2011).
All communications should be writing or if give orally they should be confirmed in writing. When minor defects have been identified, client’s representative should set a meeting between the engineer and the building inspector (London and SW Railway v Flower, 1875). The client the quality assurance team and the contractor will agree on the modifications or additions that the contractor has to make before an agreement can be made on practical completion of the contract. In case the client is willing to accept the building with the defective HVAC system the practical completion certificate.
The contractor and the engineer and the inspector have a contractual duty to notify one another any limitations in the building that may be identified. This duty runs until the date which marks the expiry agreements defects liability period, the defects date. Until the lapse of the contractual defects liability period, the engineer or the contract inspector may require the contractor to look for a defect. The contractor has the following duties upon the discovery of a defect: to correct it, whether informed or not and to rectify the identified limitations within the defects liability period.
In any construction period in the construction contract defects liability period is included. During this period the contractor is given an opportunity to repair and rectify the defects the inspector may have found. The period has a defined time frame and runs out after the completion of work. In the defect liability clause the inspector will notify the contractor of the defects. In some situation the defect liability may be extended and such extensions should be included in the clause.
Most standard contracts contain clauses on the treatment defects in the contractual task; while construction is ongoing, at conclusion and during the rectification period. The contractor or the client’s representative may suggest to each other that the identified defects be accepted and stand uncorrected. If either of the parties is ready to consider the proposal, the contractor hands in a quotation for diminution in the completion date or / and the contract price. If the client’s representative accepts the quotation, S/he requires alterations in completion date, and prices accordingly. In case of uncorrected defects, the client’s representative determines the amount payable to the contractor as at the determination date
It becomes efficient, cheaper and easier for the contractor to take the obligation of repairing defects in the building. Involving third party may be tasking and costly to the client (Furmston, 2007). The client in most cases may retain a proportion of the contract sum or he may reduce performance bond as surety of the contractor’s responsibility during the defect liability period for performance.
If there are outstanding defects at the completion date it should be communicated to the client representative immediately. If there were defects to the building the contractor may issue with a certificate confirming that the contractor has to remedy such specific items under a defined time frame. The list of the items should be attached to the certificate and a copy given to the client (Gillies, 1988).
References
Burling, JM 2011, Research Handbook on International Insurance Law and Regulation, Edward Elgar Publishing, New York.
Furmston, MP 2007, Furmston’s Law of Contract, 15th edn, OUP, Oxford.
Gillies, P 1988, Concise Contract Law, Federation Press, New York.
Koffman, L, & MacDonald, E 2007, The Law of Contract, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
London and SW Railway v Flower (1875) 1 C.P.D. 77; Pearce and High v Baxter and Baxter [1999] B.L.R. 101, CA.
