cramar said:
Is it me or can this latest set back be a good thing?
The pool location contradicts the plan location and is in violation of a local building code, the responsibility for that falls with the contractor, so, is it me or is that end of story: the pool has to come out - not due to the cracking but due to the error in location.
And tell the builder you want a new pool because taking it in and out will be too much for the cracking to handle.
Does your lawyer see this angle as well? I'm thinking that you may not want an exception from the building dept.
Yes, although the contract says I'm responsible for staking out the exact placement of the pool, the fact that he clearly knew how far it was supposed to be from the fence (plus that he disregarded my repeated attempts to call his attention to the problem) swings it heavily in my favor.
I suspect an exception is not something that will be as easy as just making a phone call to someone at the permit office and telling them you're going to put a drain pipe in, with them saying "sure, that's good enough... after all it's only a few inches". The 5ft. requirement is a parish (county) ordinance, and I doubt a single person can simply approve an exception... there's probably some kind of formal appeal process.
I'm sure the builder will plead to them that he's already done all this work, and it's just a few inches, but that's why the procedure is that he's supposed to call for the preliminary drainage inspection BEFORE the shell is put in place and all the other associated work is done... that way just in case there's a problem, they can just modify the hole a bit and then place the shell (or shoot the gunite).
The only reason I can think of why he didn't do this is because it would have interfered with his scheduling / workflow. The install crew came in from out of town (not exactly sure where... maybe about 3 or 4 hours away I think), and making them wait for all the dirt to be hauled off (which is a requirement) after supervising the dig (which was done by yet another subcontractor) would have likely resulted in them having to be onsite for an additional day or so.
So, instead, he gambled and had them do the whole job before the preliminary drainage inspection, and now it's flared up as a potentially huge problem for him.
--Michael