The Defects Liability Period starts when the Certificate of Completion is issued and continues for the period agreed to in the Contract.

During the Defects Liability Period, the Contractor has to obey all written instructions from the Engineer to carry out repairs and fix any defects which appear in the Permanent Works, so that, at the end of the Defects Liability Period, the Permanent Works are in the condition required by the Contract.

If the Contractor does not, due to his own fault, finish the repair work or fix the defects by the end of the Defects Liability Period, the Defects Liability Period will continue until all work instructed by the Engineer is done.

Who is responsible for the cost of carrying out the Engineers instructions during the defects liability period?

• The Contractor will carry the cost if the Engineer decides that the Repairs or fixes are necessary because of the Contractor’s fault.
• In other cases, the Employer will pay.

What if the Contractor ignores the Engineer’s instructions? If the Contractor fails to obey a written instruction from the Engineer for 28 days, the Employer will have the right to carry out the necessary work himself or employ someone else to do it. If this happens, the Contractor will be responsible for:

• the whole cost of carrying out the necessary work, if the work was due to his own fault;

or

• any additional cost that the Employer suffers by having to do the work himself or through others, if the work was not due to his own fault.