The Responsibility of the Contractor and Designer for the Solidity of the Building

Abstract

The responsibility of the contractor and designer for solidity (stability and security) of the building is, according to its legal nature, the strictest contractual liability which, under the conditions prescribed by the law, lasts ten years from the time of delivery and acceptance of the building and which is not possible to limit or exclude by contract. The contractor and designer respond to both the investor and any subsequent acquirer of the building, but individually, each for its own mistakes. However, since in cases of litigation, there are also cases in which it is not always possible to determine the individual contribution to the damage, in the circumstances of the common harmful actions, when it is known exactly which of participants under construction was participant in the construction works, but it is not possible to determine how much damage caused from each of them, the rules on the responsibility of the contractor and the designer apply to them in solidum. In doing so, the sovereign evidence of the damage represents the expertise of court expert in the field of architecture and civil engineering. The court expert should answer not only the question of whether the building is damaged, in what extent and degree, but also on the factual question about the type of construction defects in question - qualitative or disadvantages that affect the solidity of the building. This is because, depending on such lege artis made expertise of the court expert will depend on the answer to the legal question - which deadlines apply in the event of a court dispute, a two-year or ten-year warranty period.