Contractor Liability: Discover Your Rights

Questioner

I moved into a new-build home in April 2010. The home also has a sliding door. In June/July (I don't remember exactly when) the sliding door's locking mechanism broke while closing. Shortly afterwards, we called the contractor who installed the sliding door and he said he would send a man over. He did so a while later. He concluded that the sliding door was of inferior quality anyway (cheapest model and no longer made) and that it had also been installed incorrectly. The way we opened the door was not as it should be (the handle was in the wrong position) and the door was also not properly adjusted. Incidentally, he had been confronted with this before, certainly in the case of this contractor ('always as cheap as possible', I believe were his words). He said he would arrange for it to be repaired. After hearing nothing for a while, I called again. They were working on it. Called again a few weeks later, same answer. It was with the manufacturer and he had indicated that it would all take some time. It is now the beginning of October and the facade has not yet been repaired. I just called the contractor and after some further questioning he became grumpy and curt. It did not fall under his liability, but under product liability. It came down to this: we should be happy that he wanted to take it on, because it was not his problem. I indicated that I did not agree with that, especially because they installed the product and not the manufacturer, but all in all I had to make do with it. I did tell him that if he could not arrange it I wanted to know who I could contact at the manufacturer, because I thought it was ridiculous that this had to take so long. We would get an email. Now my question: to what extent can I hold the contractor accountable for this? I do believe that something like this falls under product liability, but since they installed the product incorrectly, doesn't that liability also lie with them to some extent? And if one of the companies is of the opinion that an invoice should be sent, do I have to pay it??

Lawyer

The contractor remains liable for the installation of the façade and he must also resolve this. The sliding door has not been installed properly or correctly, this is at his expense. You do not need to contact the manufacturer of the sliding door. I advise you to send the contractor a written notice of default by registered mail and to give a reasonable period for repair, failing which you will take legal action. For assistance, you can contact me directly and free of charge.