. What types of government approvals and permits will be necessary before construction of the fitness center can begin? What regulatory issues might arise?
2. The contractor and architect finally got together to discuss the conflict over the pool equipment and construction materials. The owner was advised about the conflict, but did not attend the meeting. Instead, the owner sent a written “notice to proceed with construction,” without attaching any change orders. He also sent a private email to the architect saying, “You need to work things out with the contractor.” However, after much wrangling between the contractor and architect, they could not agree, and neither the drawings nor the specifications were modified to make them consistent.
Construction began as scheduled and everything went well with the pool, since the contractor figured out a way to install the pool equipment in the location as designed by the architect. Also, the contractor located substitute materials to use for the pool that he determined are better than the materials designated on the drawings, but they are still inferior to the materials desired by the owner and written into the specifications. He was able to save $4,000 in material costs for the owner (the architect’s plan of pool materials would have saved $7,500).
Construction of the fitness center is now nearly completed (no commissioning yet). Unfortunately, the contractor has just approached the architect to advise him that the inferior materials used in the pool installation failed and broke apart during a test of the water circulation system. Some of the resulting loose material got into the filtration equipment and rendered it inoperable.
To make matters worse, the pool subcontractor says that because of the equipment location it is not possible to gain access to the filtration system in order to replace necessary parts. Without the replacement parts, the pool cannot be used.
The pool subcontractor has determined that a full repair of both of these problems will require the complete removal of the pool equipment and complete replacement of the inferior materials in the pool (consistent with the materials designated in the specifications).
Here’s the breakdown of the Estimated Total Cost = $65,000
Redesign = $5,000
Demolition and Removal = $17,500
Parts and Materials = $20,000
Labor = $22,500
What are the issues that now must be addressed? How should this matter be resolved? Who should be responsible for the cost of repairs?
