The WI specifically required the project to be complete with ‘zero’ defects. Due to the nature of the project, we had to accept Completion with in excess of 4000 Defects. As you can imagine, managing this during the Defects period has come at great expense to the E.
Should a failure to achieve zero Defects be a notifiable Defect? In doing so the E could seek a proposal from the C to accept this defect in return for reimbursement of such fees?
If WI required works to be completely free from defects then perhaps Completion should not have been certified by the Project Manager? That said requirements of the WI would seem to conflict with the Contract which envisages that there may still be Defects when Completion is Certified provided that they don’t prevent the Employer from using the works.
Appreciate the slight conflict but it was more about establishment of principles. For Some employers, overruns may not be tolerable so completion has to be certified with Defects present. But, the cost to manage the correction of the Defects then increases for the E who may want such a mechanism to recover such costs.
So, do you think this would be a notifiable defect?
Michael is absolutely correct here, Completion should not have been certified with 4000 Defects and the PM is in breach of contract for doing so. Maybe the Employer should consider recovering their costs from the PM?
It’s a nonsense to specify zero defects as an absolute obligation in the WI as it’s unrealistic, zero defects is merely an aspiration.
In any case technically these 4000 Defects require correcting within the defect correction period after Completion was certified, which they surely weren’t and therefore the PM would have the right to assess the additional cost to the Employer of having them corrected by others.
Each Defect should be managed separately, the purpose of the NEC processes is to avoid long, un-managable lists.