Attorney-at-law Siret Siilbek - The contractor must be notified about the defects in the work

According to the Law of Obligations Act, the customer shall notify the contractor about the lack of conformity within a reasonable time after he became aware or should have been aware of them. According to the case-law it is also enough when deficiencies are notified by the performer of the supervision of the owner. If the customer has signed a contract for his business or professional activities, he has to review or have reviewed the work without a delay.

Therefore the reasonable time to notify begins to run when the customer reviewed the work or should have done it. However, this applies only to obvious deficiencies and not to hidden deficiencies that cannot be detected during the inspection.

In addition to the above, the case-law does not require that the customer should use an expert assistance, take extraordinary measures to find hidden deficiencies or specifically look for deficiencies. The customer has the right to assume that his contractual partner’s work is carried out properly.

If the contractor knew or should have known about the deficiencies and has not informed the customer, the customer may rely on the deficiency whether he has reviewed the matter or notified about the deficiencies within the time allowed by law or not. In this case, the contractor has high responsibility: if the improper work is deliberately submitted for acceptance, the customer has broader rights. The contractor cannot rely on inadequate supervision of the owner; so for the responsibility of the contractor, it has no meaning if the performer of the supervision of the owner has not pointed out the deficiencies.

Therefore the customer must review the building after it is submitted for acceptance and inform about the deficiencies within a reasonable time. If the contractor has deliberately submitted the work with deficiencies, the client does not lose his claims, even if the obligations for reviewing and notifying have been violated.

The article can be read here: http://addenda.ee/vandeadvokaat-siret-siilbek-puudustest-toos-tuleb-toovotjatele-teatada

For further information, please contact Siret by e-mail siret@alternalaw.ee or by calling +372 680 6850.

Law Firm ALTERNA