A reasonable degree of care must be exercise by the developer, contractor, subcontractor and others involved as proposed by the laws governing these circumstances. This means that proper skill, knowledge and care is applied to the construction of the building by these professionals. Anyone that could be injured through foreseeable means is encompassed in this duty of care that is provided by the hired persons for the construction defect. The ultimate goal sought in these situations is to ensure the responsible party remedies the defective issue. (HG.org).
The design professionals as owner representatives should visit the site to be familiar with the progress, to keep the owner informed and guarded against defects in the work and determine in general whether the work s performed and completing in accordance with contract documents. But they arent required to performed inspections and arent responsible for construction means, methods, techniques, procedures or safety, since they are solely the contractors rights and responsibilities. Courts can interpret it, as the designers cannot guarantee contractors performance, they may be liable for contractors defective construction, if the designers negligence was the cause for the defect. And the question that arises is whether the defect could have been discovered during design or when under construction, and whether the designer role on construction site is observation or supervision? (McElroy, et al. 2006).
In my (non-US) experience the owner has always a separate contract with a consulting company as a supervisor of the construction contract, who is knowledgeable and protects owners interest on site, makes sure that the contractor is following all contract documents and procedures, approve materials and ensure quality of work. Very often, the owner awards the supervising contract to the same company (designers/engineers) who designed the project, as they know the project best. In case of defective work, some of the contractors responsibilities on-site are shared with the supervising engineers/consultants, who were supposed to stop defective work or mistake, find a solution or report to the owner/designer.
