Hi EF, I have recently faced an annoying issue with the contractor. The water pipe behind the sink in my kitchen seems broken (we found water linkage but not too bad), and the contractor built our house was informed before the 2 years warranty. They told us to keep watching if this problem gets worse. A few days later we found some water under the sink again. A few weeks later, which was beyond the 2 years warranty, they send a plumber to check the problem and that guy replaced the pipe. In his report he said this is due to normal use of the pipe. Then the contractor send us a bill (about 300 CHF) including the material fee about 90 CHF and Anteil Arbeit about 230 CHF. Should I pay for the bill? The original bill is from the plumber to my contractor. The contractor asked the plumber to cancel that bill and send a new bill directly to me, which was rejected by the plumber. Then the contractor send me a bill of 300 CHF, saying that we should pay for the repairing.
So my questions are:
1. Should I pay for the bill??
2. If normal consumption of the material within the 2 years warranty leads to damage, should this cost be out of the warranty scope?
3. If I should pay for the material fee due to my normal use, should I also pay for the 230 Anteil Arbeit (including finding the problem and replace the pipe)?
I have never heard of a water pipe failing in two years time that did not have a defect somewhere.
Either the pipe was bad or it was installed wrong. Is my non expert answer.
What does your contract say to do in case of disputes? Unfortunately, due to the cost of the repair, it will probably be cheaper to just pay it, and not have the fight with the builder.
Visible 2 years, hidden defects 5 years. I also wonder whether the problem should be hidden one because it is under the sink and I found it someday by chance.
If it is in the trash can, I would say it is probably not a water pipe at all. But more likely to be the from the drain. Either the drain pipe, or the gasket between the drain and the sink.
Here is how I would test it. Empty the trash can. Make sure the drain pipe is dry as well as the trash can. Fill the sink with water, and let it sit for an hour or two. If the water is coming from the gasket, there will be water in the trash can. If everything stays dry. Drain the sink and then just let the water run for 15 minutes or so. Sit there with a flash light watching the drain pipe. If the water is coming from there, you should see it.
I would think the drain because unless your sink is built differently than any other sink I have ever seen, the water pipes are against the wall, and the water would never wind up in the trash can. Where as the drain is probably sitting right over the trash can.