A Professional Breach of Contract - Assignment Example

al affiliation Introduction A project is an innovation that materialize by the efforts of many people or a group. The innovation has to involve research and design and is wisely drafted to achieve a particular aim. A project, therefore, is a collaboration of efforts of many people who are experts in their field. Any project is performed by the teams working together and producing an end product that is viable and worth paying. There are different projects that are carried out in different places all over the world. Beautiful sites, high and tall buildings, and sea bridges have been some of the examples of successful projects that end up as the envy of many. The success of a project clearly depends on the expertise of the individuals or groups working on the projects (JCT, 2011 PG. 64). The viability of a project may also be determined by the ability of different groups to work together. In analyzing a recent example, there has been a successful construction of a sea bridge in China. The sea bridge is considered one of the longest in the world. The efforts took a considerable amount of years in investing of capital and labor into the project. Different contractors, designers, surveyors, and manufacturers had to compete for the contract to perform the project. When successful bidders are chosen, it is their duty or more of obligation to work together and provide the desired outcome, or even an outcome better than the desired. The group of individuals was working on a project, need to agree upon the duties and obligations of each one of them. There has to be proper communication in the event of progress in the project. Construction laws governing countries define the agreement that should be and between the client or investor and the people accomplishing the project. The agreement should have discussions on matters concerning payments and also the most crucial factor of time. Time is critical for the success of any project, and it is the amount of time embodied in the construction that determines the durability of the outcome. The time has to be taken for the contract enforcers to perform their job perfectly, and, therefore, the client has to be well informed before making a hasty decision. Considering that the investor wants the least amount of time possible in completing the contract, he or she should also have the need for the project to last long. A longer lasting project will not only prove the success of the contract enforcers but also the amount of money the investor will make from the returns. In most cases, the client’s work in an investment is to provide the financial support and offer a general overview on the development of his project. The client in some instances does not know when and what to provide or what to expect. The investor should heavily rely on expertise advice. The information should come from a professional who should be working on a signed contract (JCT 2011, pg.72). If the expert gives the wrong information, legal proceedings should be filed against him or her, and her motives disclosed. Clients to different projects vary from distinct individuals, heads of organizations and even the government, depending on the magnitude and purpose of the project.\ Different projects have been initiated globally over time. There are written laws that govern the enactment of a plan, and any wrong action taken during the process should be addressed according to these rules (JCT, 2011 pg. 47). The contract enforcers also work according to a signed agreement. The signed agreement only allows them to provide services the best to their knowledge without bias or personal needs. If part or all of this agreement is broken, legal proceedings will be triggered, and appropriate legal action should be taken on the offender. In this context, however, it cannot be argued in the ignorance that the client in always the good one. Cases have erupted that clients have failed to pay contract enforcers after a successful completion of the project. It is, therefore, important for both parties to have a professional code of ethics which will guide them where they are tempted to go wrong. The code of ethics should be applicable to all members participating in the project appraisal. Reports have also shown investors being very strict and not giving the contract enforcers the time and privacy needed to play their roles efficiently. Some contractors have been coarse and unpleasant to the workers, and this gives the workers a little motivation to perform their duties skillfully. Primary data on a recent research showed that the workers would present a correctly completed job when the investor proved or showed that he had trust in them. Minimum supervision and efficient completion of payment are such things that determine the contractor is a serious investor. The contractor, therefore, has to give time for the professionals to perform their job and wait for the outcome. Cases of theft have however been reported in project accomplishment sites (JCT 2011, pg.86). Some contract enforcers like the surveyors and the engineering departments, ask for more resources than necessary to carry out the project. In such instances, the contract enforcers take advantage of the client’s ignorance for their own financial or material gains. It is, therefore, important that for the success of any project, there has to be a proper coordination of workers, experts, and the client as well. They should all work as one team, and the client should make the contract enforcers to feel like the contract was theirs. In this research, the description is going to be based on a building project. It is, therefore, only important that some sensitive elements of a building project have to be discussed. The sector of building and construction has been for many years crucial in the development of any economy. Excessive development projects in a country may lead to a decline in the economy or devaluation of currency. On the other hand, if building structures are done in the right way, proper residential areas and business facilities will be established. Sales will lead to a developed economy due to increased employment opportunities. Building projects in an economy determine the direction of growth of that country. Modern buildings have been used as a way to gauge the technological development of a country, and there has therefore been a lot of pressure, for building constructions to be of high modernized standards. With modern technology, minor mistakes like leakages, cracks or any other defectives in buildings have been reduced considerably. The fact does not allude that they are eliminated. Some contract enforcers may be malicious and may decide to cover up for a mistake temporarily that will arise when the project is completed. In construction defects, there are different types of shortcomings in terms of nature and form. According to the stipulated laws, minor errors are supposed to be corrected before the project is handed back to the employer. These small errors are majorly cracks, minor drainage problems or even electric connections (JCT 2011, PG 93). The signed contract stipulates that the work has to be of quality and perfection. Therefore, it is a contractual obligation of the workers to repair minor defects before handing over the building to the employer. There are, however, extreme defects that require complicated remedy to fix. Such extremities require the commitment of the employees to their job. Even if the original work has been completed, it is the right and obligation of the workers to see to it that the construction is completed and is in the best order possible. Defects in construction projects come up due to various reasons. Incompetence of the workers is one of the reasons that cause defective projects. This error arises due to deployment of unskilled workers or unprofessional staff in the project. The investor might be tempted to deploy unskilled workers in their project to financial restrictions. Unskilled workers do not demand for high wages, but the afterward costs are very high to incur. Mistakes caused by lack of professionalism may lead to the collapse of part or the whole project. The capital costs that the investor desired to save will be spent on repairs and maintenance of the project. The long run stability of the project, therefore, will be next to zero. Another reason that leads to rising in defects in construction projects may be the raw materials used. Injecting small quality raw materials into a project means the outcome of the venture will not be the anticipated. The end project, therefore, will have several building or construction defects that will end up affecting the quality of the project. The errors arising due to the quality of raw materials will need to be corrected with time. These incur extra costs to the investor, and therefore it is advisable to invest in high-quality raw materials. Such matters, however, are not left in the hands of the investor, but in the hands of the building contractor and the suppliers they give the contract. The suppliers may maliciously supply low-quality raw materials in order to pocket the extra costs. Keen eye should, therefore, be taken with the contractors and suppliers so that the right quality of raw materials is supplied and at the right time. Defects in a construction project may also arise due to the fault of the designer. The designer may come up with particular designs that do not fit for the project. The design, therefore, will not work in the manner that it is supposed to be. Such models bring complexity in the project and in the areas where corrections need to be made, it is the right of the employer to get the services from the project designer. The contractor is the person in charge of liabilities in the case that defects arise in the project. The consequences may also flow along the chain to the designers and the suppliers to the project. Identifying defects in a building project can range from simple mare observations to complex unobservable features. The observable features may vary from crack on the walls to rooftop leaks. Failure of air conditioning units is also a failure in a construction project that is observable (JCT, 2011 pg. 65). Defective work, however, does not only apply in failure to complete a project’s physical features. The project may have been completed and the outcome gorgeous. It is however considered a defect when the project does not meet a particular specification. Simple things in a project may prove very meaningful and useful when it comes to ranking of a project. Such things as color may cause a breach of contract with the planners. If a project is done with the correct quality of brick but painted with the wrong color, the project may be termed defective. In any construction project, the defects may either be patent or latent. A defect is, however, best when noted at its license stage, because this period is called the defects liability period. The license stage of construction is the stage between the start and before or at the end of the completion period. The construction contracts that the workers, designers and contractors are exposed to before commencing of the project is what contains the procedures in which defective work before completion period should be handled. The contract also presents the actions that should be taken on defects after completion and during the period known as the defects liability period. The client has the right to order for inspection of the projects or tests of materials used in accomplishing the projects. In a case where the control and the raw materials are in perfect condition then the client is the one who covers up for the losses. If the situation of the project is at fault or if the raw materials used are of poor quality, the contractor has a signed agreement to accept liability. There however has been a general confusion on construction sites on whether development can be said to have been completed in the event of presence of minor defects. There are laws that however have been affected to deal with that. Following the situation of the project at hand, the construction has already been completed but several defects have come up in the project. The basement has uncomfortable temperatures of being too hot or too cold. The construction has also experienced problems of sound controls, with a continuous barely audible low-frequency hum experienced. The sound has made it very impossible to concentrate. The defects of the construction are such serious that it has taken months to put the situation under control, but to no avail. The initial act towards solving the issue is for the client to identify the individuals or groups who enacted the part where the defect has been experienced. Size no one wants to take ownership of the responsibility, reviewing of the contractual signings will be necessary at this stage. The temperature defects might have been caused by the defects in installation, and consultant building services engineers should take responsibility of the action. The barely audible low-frequency hum might have been a result of poor wall construction. The people employed to enforce this contract did not perform professionally in their job. The problem on whether the defects arose due to poor designs, manufacture or raw materials is what the client should solve first in this situation (JCT, 2011 pg. 49). Due to the state of confusion, it is possible that no one will accept the liability. The client can be advised to employ project experts that will assess the situation and determine the cause of the problem. If the issue is discovered with the workers, then the client will pay for the costs of the assessment. However if there was a problem with the designers, manufacture or raw materials, the contractor will have a liability of incurring the costs. Repairing of the defects will then be left in the hands of the contractor. About any legal actions, the client should work upon the agreements in the contract to open up legal proceedings on the defective party. Apart from the contractual agreements, the laws of the country should also provide important guidelines on the legal procedures for a professional breach of contract. References In Theimer, K. (2014). Description. Diane Publishers. New york: Read More