Before we start, I don't want this to degenerate into a smoking/non-smoking flame war, OK? I am an occasional smoker myself (mostly at the pub with a pint), but I would never, ever smoke in the house or appartment, hell, I hardly ever smoke at home, full-stop.
Our new place is now just under 3 months away from the handover. Since it's quite nearby, we pop round most evenings for a quick progress check. Unfortunately, we've regularly found cigarette butts stamped out on the floor, both before the tiles and now on the tiles . My wife has even caught some of the contractors smoking and has asked them (politely) not to do so in the house. We weren't too bothered when it was bare concrete and bricks and open to the elements, but the roof and windows have been in for several months now and the interior decoration is quite progressed. We brought his up with the site manager (we meet weekly or bi-weekly), and he said that if he catches any contractors smoking, it's an immediate 150.- fine for their employer. However, he is not there everyday, so is unlikely to catch them in the act.
How far do you think we would get if we threatened to charge the main building company 150.- for each butt we find in the house? Would we need to put it in writing officially, and notarised or something?
Right... The guys working inside don't have ladders.
Paddy, Inform the building company in writing, via registered post that you are unhappy with the situation, and that you intend to charge him 150 Chuffs for each Butt you find/time you see it happen. Tell him to respond in writing.
I would suggest you tell the Site Manager to do his job properly.
Some people really just need to be told, in a firm, but polite way.
If he's not on site enough to get things done or if his sub-contractors disregard his requests and he can't deal with them correctly then he's not really fit for his role.
Based on what would you "issue" fines? If anything, it's the company and/or site manager that needs to do that, but I can't imagine you having the right/power to threaten to fine amount X for each cig butt you find. More importantly, what good would that do - so you get money, but they still smoke.
If talking to the site manager (politely, but really clearly) doesn't change anything, write the construction company an e-mail and/or call them (best to do both, first call, then confirm in writing). I'm pretty sure that will solve the issue.
Happens all the time, and when you move in, it will smell of fresh paint. You can reject the apartment, you can ask them to fix things under the warranty. Not trying to make light of your situation, but there are some possible remedies.
I've seen worse behaviour - when I visited my almost complete apartment, I caught one of the builder's interns in my apartment showing his girlfriend around. I was angry that it happened, and that I had to sign so many forms so that they could give me the keys to my own apartment to visit, and this guy could have a key just like that.
The contractors shouldn't be smoking in the house especially after they have been told not to - but they're not always the smartest people on the planet and may well ignore the request.
IMHO there are more important things to worry about in the build process than a few cigarette butts.
(My guess is that the contractors are foreigners - and smoking Swiss contractors always put their butts in the bin).
If they don't smoke in the house they will be permanently outside on smoke breaks costing Paddy about 3 hours of work per day. Somehow they'll work out a way of making him pay for that, even if on a supposed fixed price contract.
"What's the point of speeding fines - so the canton/Gemeinde gets money, but you still speed."
Fines are deterrents. If people are faced with a steep fine, they stop doing whatever it is they'd be fined for -- unless they think they can get away with it. If they're threatened with a fine AND are supervised AND know that if their cigarette butts are found in the apartment, they will have to pay up, then they most likely won't smoke in the apartment.
I'm aware, but that's not the point. The point is that a private person cannot issue fines. It's the same principle as trying to fine someone that has parked on your parking spot. It doesn't work that way. You can ask some authority or - in this case here - the construction company to do so, but you cannot fine them yourself.
If there is a specific stipulation in the contract that smoking is not allowed on the construction site and that every cigarette butt can be "fined" at a price of 150 CHF, well then maybe. I highly doubt that's the case. There may be a general "no smoking" agreement, but that still doesn't give OP the right to issue fines however he pleases based on some random measure. Needless to say there is no law whatsoever that would regulate this either.
If he wants to do something about it - and he should - collecting cigarette butts and issuing a fine per butt certainly is not the way and won't fly anyway. The site manager already said he doesn't allow smoking so follow up with him and if that doesn't help, talk to the company.
That's a lovely sign. Are you an authority of some sort? If not, you can hang up that sign all you want, you can hope for the best, but you still have no basis to ask for a completely random fine.
Even in a restaurant, the owner cannot "fine" their patrons if they smoke even though there's a "no smoking" sign. They can kick them out. Official authorities might be able to fine the smokers individually, if they just happen to be there. And of course the business itself can be fined. But the owner of the restaurant cannot fine their patrons.
Same principle.
As said, of course OP can and SHOULD do something about it as it is his home and he paid for it. The point is that the approach with the fines won't work. Reasoning with the company will, possibly proving a breach of contract in some way or another.
You seem to be going off at a tangent there. The issue is not making money out of the situation. Ensuring that all individuals are aware of the rules may help though.
You're probably right, demanding a fine is unlikely to wash, seeing as it isn't written into any contract. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy way to monitor this; the site manager is not there everyday as he is also responsible for other projects throughout the the canton. We'll meet with him today and reiterate our concerns and insist it is written into the weekly report that is sent to all the contractors. Apart from the actual smoking, they're also stubbing out their butts on our freshly-laid tiles; even if you do smoke in your own house, you wouldn't stub it out on the floor would you?