Can You Hold a Contractor Liable for Water Damage?

Questioner

We have been living in our new-build home for 4 weeks now. The home was delivered at the end of April. After this, we had the home thoroughly aired to remove as much moisture as possible. According to the contractor, this was sufficient. After this, we started doing odd jobs and eventually had the floor laid and the kitchen installed. Last Thursday, we discovered that the floor was starting to bulge. We had luxuryfloors come and lay the floor and they determined that it was a moisture problem and that they were not liable. We also contacted the contractor and explained the problem. They investigated and discovered this by digging a hole in 3 places against the home, which is how we discovered that the entire cavity had filled with water. He wants to solve this problem by installing drainage around the entire house so that the water can drain away. However, our laminate flooring has considerable moisture damage and the glass-fibre wallpaper and skirting boards also have mould as a result of the moisture. Can we hold the contractor liable for this damage plus all consequential damage that we have suffered as a result of the water problem? The floor has to come out completely, the skirting boards and the wallpaper have to come off too. And where is our furniture going to go when everything has to be dried? Who is going to cover all these costs for us?

Lawyer

Holding the contractor liable may be a bit too simplistic. An investigation by an expert will probably have to be conducted to determine whether there is a design error and if so, the question is who designed the house. The question then becomes whether the contractor should have noticed this during construction. In order to better answer this question, I need more information. Perhaps via a private message?