Liability Period Research Articles

Homebuyer complaints during defect liability period: critical analysis of individual presumptions, defect discovery and post-rectifications factors

Purpose This study aims to investigate factors leading to homebuyer complaints during defect liability periods (DLP). The specific study objectives are to: identify critical factors leading to homebuyer complaints during DLP; compare the factors among regions, house price and developer recognition; group the factors into subcategories; and evaluate the criticality of the categories. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with 20 homebuyers were carried out, generating 37 factors. A survey was developed with the factors categorized into three categories: individual presumptions, defects discovery and post-rectifications. The survey data were collected from 104 homebuyers who had acquired new houses within the last five years. The collected data were subjected to statistical analyses, including normalized mean analysis, Kruskal–Wallis H test, factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation. Findings The results indicate that individual presumptions, defects discovery and post-rectifications have 8, 14 and 6 critical factors. Then, there are high similarities in the criticality of the factors among regions, house price and developer recognition. The defect discovery factors can be grouped into function- and precision-related factors. Finally, the defect discovery category has the highest overall criticality, followed by post-rectification and individual presumption categories. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to quantitatively investigate factors leading to homebuyers’ complaints during DLP. The study findings offer a new perspective for policymakers in the development of housing regulations.

Analysis Of Future Health Insurance Premium Reserve Calculations Using The Commissioners Method With Woolhouse Formula

A premium reserve is the amount of funds that the insurance company needs to prepare for the payment of liability benefits when a claim occurs. One method of calculating premiums is the commissioners method which is an extension of the prospective reserve method.The main factor in the actuarial calculation is the mortality rate that can be determined using the WOOLHOUSE mortality law. This study aims to determine the size of the life insurance premiums reserve using the commisioners method and the WOLHOUSE mortality laws. The calculation of the premium reserve is linked to the determination of a person's chances of survival over a period of years of WOALHOUSE law which is then used to find the value of the insurance, the initial annuity value, the annual premium, the modified premiums based on the Commissioners method, and the amount of the premie reserve at the end of the year. The study was conducted on a 25-year-old woman who was enrolled in a dwiguna life insurance program with a 25 year liability period and a 23 year premium payment period at a 4% interest rate with a liability of Rs. 500,000,000. The results of the analysis showed that the large reserves of premiums obtained at the end of the period of liability with the Commissioners method and the WOOLHOUSE mortality law are equal to the given reservation value, so that the insurance company is prepared to give the amount of reservation promised to the policyholder.

Adequacy of defects liability periods for public construction projects in Ghana

PurposeThe practice of the defects liability period (DLP) is a risk management strategy meant to secure durable and high-quality works. However, construction products continue to malfunction even after the expiration of DLPs. This study seeks to determine the adequacy of DLPs existing in the construction industry and propose appropriate DLPs for construction projects in the Ghanaian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachApplying quantitative research strategy, 124 questionnaires were retrieved from construction professionals surveyed. The data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics, Cramer’s V and the significance test with the aid of Stata software.FindingsIt was found that defects start showing in both buildings and roads within 12 months after being handed over for the client’s use. The significance test and Cramer’s V analysis indicate low concordance amongst respondents that the 6–12 month DLPs existing in Ghana are adequate. It is found that the existing DLP practice does not provide sufficient security to clients.Practical implicationsConstruction project clients will need to include the tenderer’s proposed DLP as part of the tender evaluation criteria with the objective of picking up a signal of the quality of work to be delivered.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the pioneering studies addressing the issue of the adequacy of DLPs in the construction industry in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. The findings trigger policy and regulatory changes in conditions guiding construction contracts procured in most developing countries that have adopted and adapted to the World Bank Public Procurement Guidelines.

A data-driven customer complaint management model for residential building companies

ABSTRACT Many companies in charge of the development and construction of residential building projects do not appropriately manage customer complaint records, especially regarding providing feedback about quality. Data collection and procedures for data analysis are often ineffective, which limits the generation of knowledge. Previous studies on customer complaints have been mostly focused on the analysis of large databases but do not propose overall solutions for managing this type of information, including data collection and analysis. This investigation aims to devise a data-driven customer complaint management model for providing feedback to the design and production phases of residential building projects. This model has a set of protocols for: (i) data collection that can be used for developing digital applications; and (ii) analyzing defect cause–effect relationships, considering the experts’ perspective, by using Directed Acyclic Graph and Bayesian Network. This investigation was conducted in collaboration with a Brazilian residential building company, using Design Science Research as methodological approach. The main outcome of this investigation is a set of data collection and analysis protocols that support the migration from the traditional approach of simply providing repair services during the defect liability period to a data-driven customer complaint management approach that provides feedback to quality management systems. HIGHLIGHTS A customer complaint management model must consider several perspectives; Digital applications must be used to support the implementation of data collection on defects; A complaint management model must deal with the complexity of defect formation. Abbreviations: BN: Bayesian Network; CRM: Customer Relationship Management; DAG: Direct Acyclic Graph; DLP: Defect Liability Period; DSR: Design Science Research; MEP: Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Systems

Development of multifunctional tiling defect detector tool

The Multifunctional Tiling Defect Detector Tool (MT2DT) was successfully developed as an innovative tool that could be used in inspecting tiles that have less cement compression to prevent the tile from cracking in the future. The aims of this research were firstly to compare the conventional method with MT2DT over some time and secondly to identify consumers’ satisfaction with MT2DT as an innovative product. MT2DT was successfully installed by using main components like steel bearing balls, hollow steel, and adjustable rods. This product was also successfully run to investigate the problematic tiles compared to conventional methods. The questionnaires were divided into five (5) sections about satisfaction and they were answered by consumers who run the product technically. As a result, this innovation project has been enhanced and changed to make it simpler for customers to do tile inspection work. With the use of this device, someone can identify tiles with less cement compression and save them from cracking in the future in less time compared to conventional tools. Besides, the MT2DT showed high satisfaction among consumers with the mean average was 4.80. It showed MT2DT could help them, particularly first-time homebuyers, identify flaws as soon as possible during the liability period.

Lowering acquisition costs with a commission cap? Evidence from the German private health insurance market

AbstractWhen consumers are neither particularly financially literate nor price sensitive, insurers have a strong incentive to pay high commissions to intermediaries for profitable new business. As a part of cost reduction regulation in the German private substitutive health insurance market, a commission cap and a minimum cancelation liability period for insurance intermediaries were introduced in 2012. Despite the fact that the commission cap lowered commissions paid to intermediaries, we provide evidence that the reform was only partly effective, as it led to a decrease in reshuffling of new business in the substitutive market, but did not significantly reduce total acquisition costs of health insurers. Our findings confirm that cost regulation is tricky and can be easily circumvented by insurers, as commission payments are only a part of total acquisition costs.

Complaints and Rectifications During Defect Liability Period: Homebuyer Perspective

Complaints and Rectifications During Defect Liability Period: Homebuyer Perspective

Dispute Occurrences During Construction Stages of Building Project: A Systematic Literature Review

Disputes arise during construction phases have a negative impact on the outcomes of projects. It is widely known from earlier studies that dispute is one of the factors contributing to the abandonment of building projects in Malaysia. Thus, there is a need to investigate the root causes of it because it leads to delay which affects the overall project performance and loss of money. The study on this research domain in Malaysian construction projects has only been conducted in the general context of the construction industry, without specializing in any specific type of projects or focusing on the phases of project. Hence, this paper aims to investigates the occurrences of dispute throughout the entire process of building construction project based on the traditional approach of project procurement, i.e., starting from the initiation stage until the defect liability period. This study was using systematic literature review and was conducted through searches of relevant publications from multiple electronic sources to review information using specific criteria. The results were presented in two major themes to serve as a theoretical base for the development of framework to minimise occurrence of construction dispute in building projects.

The Crucial Conditions and Attributes of Domestic Subcontract in Malaysian Construction Industry

The duties and responsibilities of the parties signing a contract are governed by the previously agreed terms of the contract. General conditions are a standardized form of pre-printed contract which specifies the general project rules and relevant commercial terms. The contracts are developed and published by various associations and professional bodies and are widely used in the construction industry. In the Malaysian construction industry, there are several standard forms of main contracts and nominated subcontracts. However, for a domestic subcontract, the main contractor prefers to use a bespoke contract, which results in contract disputes. Drafting a complex contract can be time-consuming and expensive. It also requires the involvement of the legal team to provide legal opinions and advice on its content. Hence, this study intends to identify domestic subcontract attributes and critical conditions to overcome the major issue of unclear terms and conditions for the domestic subcontract. A set of attributes and critical conditions have been established through a detailed review and analysis of twenty-two (22) bespoke contracts collected from the industry and an extensive literature review from published articles. Content analysis was done on leading academic journals in construction engineering and management. Clarity, consistency, parties, risk, language, and format of the domestic subcontract are some of the attributes. Meanwhile, payment, liquidated damages, delay, subcontract sum, termination, variation order, practical completion and defect liability period, commencement and completion, and safety provision are the most crucial conditions discovered through extensive review and content analysis of the bespoke contracts. The advantage of establishing these characteristics and critical conditions is that they serve as a prerequisite for the development of a domestic subcontract framework

Prediction of Post-Construction Settlement of Road Embankment on Soft Soil Deposits

Organic soils are often considered problematic soils around the world due to several reasons. Excessive settlement is one of the main concerns when constructing infrastructure on soft grounds with organic soil deposits. Ground improvement is mainly carried out on the sub surfaces that lack the strength and stability to bear the structure to be constructed and undergo large settlement during operation. Different soft-ground treatment methods must be applied based on the soil properties to reduce the expected settlements during construction and operation periods. In this context, it is essential to know the behaviour of the subsurface after the ground improvement process. This study mainly investigates the accuracy of the settlement prediction methods during the post-construction stage of the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway Project in Sri Lanka. Settlement prediction was done for the Defect Liability Period using the hyperbolic method, the Mesri method and the Ladd method. A comparison of the predicted settlement with the measured field settlement was done to assess the accuracy of the settlement prediction methods. The comparison showed that the hyperbolic method was more accurate and convenient for predicting the settlement of the embankment. KEYWORDS: Soft ground treatment methods; Preloading; consolidation settlement; Asaoka method; hyperbolic method

건설산업기본법상 하자담보책임기간에 관한 강행규정성 고찰 - 건설산업기본법 시행령 제30조 2항의 강행규정성 여부를 중심으로 -

A contract for construction work is a bilateral contract in which each party promises to make a certain payment and bears a debt with a mutual meaning of consideration. In other words, the contract must be concluded according to the agreement of the parties in an equal relationship, and the contents must not be significantly contrary to 'good customs and other social order' or 'fairness'. In principle, if the contents of the contract violate good customs or other social order, or if it greatly impairs mutual fairness, the provision will not take effect. The Framework Act on Construction Industry, which falls under the Framework Act on Construction, is a law that stipulates all matters related to construction work and construction, and is the predecessor of the Construction Business Act enacted by Act No. 3501 in 1981.Therefore, the purpose is to determine basic matters related to investigation, design, construction, supervision, maintenance, and technology management of construction works, and to promote appropriate construction and development of the construction industry. On the other hand, in public construction contracts under the guise of the 'principle of private autonomy', unfair acts resulting from the relationship between A and B frequently occur. Even in this case, it is difficult to fight against this situation, and some contractors pass on the unfairness to their subcontractors, and the lowest class becomes the biggest victim of the unfairness. Since the Framework Act on the Construction Industry is basically a law enacted to regulate construction companies, if one of the contracting parties is not a contractor or orderer, there is no penalty clause that can sanction an unfair act even if it occurs. In addition, as the agreement between the parties is applied before the Framework Act on the Construction Industry, which is a special law of the general civil law or a special law of the civil law, it often provides the cause of unfair conduct. In addition, due to the negative effects of the relationship between A and B, there is of course a limit to the refusal of all unfair acts by the contracting party, who is comparatively inferior to the ordering party in the case of a construction contract. Although the contracting party is generally fully aware of the injustice in advance, it is often necessary to endure it due to its economic status, effectively nullifying the effectiveness of the provisions to prevent unfair acts stipulated in the Framework Act on the Construction Industry. Therefore, it is necessary to specifically and explicitly stipulate the case that falls under a remarkably unfair act in which there is an objectively large imbalance between benefits and benefits in return, etc., so that the compulsory nature can be easily identified. In accordance with Article 30 (2) of the Enforcement Decree, if the period of warranty liability is set separately and the provisions of the law stipulating 'the cause and additionally incurred defect guarantee fee' are violated, the effect of the relevant matter will not take effect. In order to do this, it would have to be specified by supplementing the clause that 'in case of violation of this, it is invalid'. In addition, it would be a way to secure legal stability to legislate as exemplary and specific regulations rather than regulations that can be interpreted enumeratedly, and to stipulate them in laws that are difficult to change rather than enforcement ordinances and enforcement rules.

The duration of the contract as a period of civil liability

This scientific article is devoted to the study of the current issue of the duration of the civil obligation and its relationship with the term of the contract. According to the current legislation of Ukraine, the subjective rights and obligations of the parties to contractual obligations are valid until terminated. Every obligation has its duration, and the term is its key characteristic and is included in the content of the obligation. This applies to both regulatory relations (intact) and security (those that arise and develop autonomously after the offense). The author argues that the duration of regulatory relations is determined by the parties to the contract, and it is during the contract that the creditor’s right and the debtor’s obligation must be exercised. After the expiration of a certain period (and the term is an essential prerequisite for the contractual obligation), the regulatory relationship is terminated. However, it is emphasized that the current legislation does not define the expiration of the term as a ground for termination of the obligation. This is its significant disadvantage. Specific proposals for the legal regulation of this issue are provided. The article analyzes the real relationship between the counterparties regarding the early termination of the contract. It may be terminated not only as a result of unilateral actions of the party, but also with the consent of the counterparties and as a result of other phenomena. The author proves that the contract ends with the termination of obligations contained in the contract. In other words, it is terminated due to exhaustion of conditions. An unfulfilled contract may also be terminated early. This is possible by mutual consent of the participants, or by the will of one counterparty, if provided by the agreement or established by law. The article examines in detail the grounds and mechanisms of these actions, special attention is paid to the termination of the contract as a sanction for improper compliance with its terms. Certain criteria for distinguishing the termination of the contract from the waiver have been critically assessed, primarily on the grounds of restitution consequences. Aspects that arise as a result of early termination of the contract are also considered: after the expiration of regulatory obligations may give rise to others - security. These obligations are related to the return of the performed (for example, the return of the leased thing), compensation for damages, performance in kind of counter-obligation, etc.

Financial management of construction projects: Hyperledger fabric and chaincode solutions

This paper proposes a novel interconnected financial management system based on Hyperledger fabric and chaincode solutions to address endemic problems with financial management practices adopted within construction projects. Increasingly complex construction projects have necessitated a corresponding evolvement of financial management tools and systems to augment security and control. A decentralised financial management system is introduced to deal with all financial tasks across various construction stages using blockchain technology. Under different delivery approaches and payment methods, the proposed system enables parties to record/invoke their transactions safely and automatically, with no third party involvement. Moreover, the proposed approach allows non-owner parties to control remaining financial rights during the Defects Liability Period (DLP) automatically through a pre-agreed endorsement policy. The proposed system is tested on a real-life case project, where results corroborate its ability and workability in providing a secure and scalable platform for all project parties.

Legal Implications Period of Liability for Building Failure in Construction Services: A Case in Indonesia

Legal Implications Period of Liability for Building Failure in Construction Services: A Case in Indonesia

Komentarz na kanwie Uchwały Naczelnego Sądu Administracyjnego I FPS 1/21 – sądowa kontrola instrumentalnego wszczęcia postępowania karnego skarbowego a prawo do sądu

The purpose of the article/hypothesis: The presented article focuses on a new resolution of the Supreme Administrative Court I FPS 1/21. In this resolution an assessment of instrumental initiation of criminal fiscal proceedings in order to suspend the running of the limitation period of a tax liability has been undertaken. The Supreme Administrative Court assessed that administrative courts have the right to examine the legitimacy of initiation of such proceedings. This position is important insofar as it also touches upon the issue of the right to a fair trial, as well as the right to property and legal certainty. The main aim of this article is to check the impact of this resolution on described fundamental rights.
 Methodology: This article will use the comparative law method. Especially the case law of different courts will be shown. The dogmatic-legal method will also be used as an auxiliary.
 Results of the research: This resolution is crucial for the fundamental right for fail trial. It has also impact on the right to property and principle of legal certainity. It may also be some element that strengthens the rule of law.

Relation of Driving Under the Influence Laws to Access to Firearms Across US States.

Objectives. To determine differences among US states in how driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) laws activate federal firearm possession and purchase prohibitions.Methods. We performed primary legislative research to characterize DUI laws in each state. The primary outcome was the number of DUI convictions an individual must be convicted of in each state to activate the federal firearm possession and purchase prohibition. We also determined the time interval in which previous DUI convictions count for future proceedings.Results. Forty-seven states had DUI laws that activated the federal prohibition of firearm possession and purchase for a threshold number of repeated DUIs. Variation exists among states in the number of convictions (1-4) and length of liability period (5 years-lifetime) required to prohibit firearm possession and purchase.Conclusions. Variation in state laws on DUI results in differences in determining who is federally prohibited from possessing and purchasing firearms. Future research should explore whether these federal prohibitions arising from DUI convictions are enforced and whether an association exists between stricter DUI policies and reduction in firearm crimes, injuries, and deaths.

Air carrier's liability for the safety of passengers during COVID-19 pandemic

The paper aims to determine the situations when the air carrier is liable for the transmission of COVID-19 in the course of air transport. It must be emphasized here that the carrier's liability results from bodily injury or death that are caused by an accident on board an aircraft or during the operations of embarking or disembarking. Accordingly, in this paper, we addressed if the transmission of COVID-19 an ‘accident’ within the Conventions' meaning and the period of air carrier's liability for passengers' contraction of COVID-19, taking into consideration the exoneration of air carrier's liability in COVID-19 cases. In addition, this paper will study the scope of the safety measures as required by ICAO to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and therefore protect the passengers' safety. In our opinion, we found that the estimate is left to the judge because the assessment of this matter is based on an objective criterion based on the reasonable person test and the fact of each case.

The Challenges of Closing Construction Projects Final Accounts in Botswana Local Authorities

Anecdotal information in the construction industry in Botswana indicated that the process of closing financial accounts for construction projects within a stipulated period is inefficient and ineffective. This is a serious industry problem because a project with an unclosed account is not a successful project as there are unfinished issues and claims left in abeyance to the detriment of both the client and contractor. This motivated a study aimed at investigating this aspect, including identifying the major causes of delays in formally closing final accounts of construction projects in local authorities. A multimethod approach consisting of a review of project documents which were beyond the end of the defect liability period were used in the study. Also, a questionnaire survey was administered to parties dealing with construction projects in the selected local authorities. Lastly, a focus discussion was held with key stakeholders who implement projects in some selected local authorities. Results indicated that while the final account closure process was inefficient (as only 42% of the accounts which were closed were finalised in the stipulated contractual time). Secondly, it was marginally effective (as only 54% of the sampled project accounts were closed). Common reasons for inefficiency and ineffectiveness include (i) contractors abandoning the project when they realise that the cost of rectifying the defects far exceeds the outstanding balance; (ii) clients taking too long to agree and approve final accounts; and (iii) loss of information when key personnel leave the project on the contractor's side before the final account is finalised. Despite the limitation of considering a selected number of local authorities’ projects, the findings have confirmed anecdotal information circulating in the industry about the substantial numbers of project accounts that are usually left unclosed. The following recommendations based on the study results are made. That all adopted contract conditions be modified to focus on nipping the challenge in the bud as well as deterring instrument to future defaulters. The suggested modification: 'it shall be mandatory for contractors to bring the project under tender to a formal closure through final account documentation within a specified period, defaulting contractors to be blacklisted from future contract awards in Botswana LAs'. Ordinarily, since contractors can hardly suffer financial losses, the paper suggests that consultants and clients should objectively entertain contractors' claims arising from defects rectifications in the liability period. This is provided such defects were neither caused by poor materials nor are traceable to poor workmanship. These hopefully will mitigate the challenge if followed.

LDA-Based Model for Assessing the Defect Liability System in Residential Buildings’ Maintenance Phase

AbstractThis study aimed to assess the defect liability system for repairing various defects during residential buildings’ defect liability period using the loss distribution approach (LDA). It exa...

Learning from built projects – sources of post occupancy feedback used by architects in Victoria, Australia

ABSTRACT How do architects know whether their design was successful and if the building performs as intended? This is important to improve the standard of the built fabric, to show the value in good design, for the architect to learn whether the spaces achieved the desired aims, and to check sustainability performance. This research investigates the types of feedback received and studied by architects in Victoria to learn from their own built works. A literature search identified possible informal and formal feedback methods and emerging feedback methods. A general pilot study was conducted by interviewing six senior architects in practice regarding their practices’ feedback sources and methods of disseminating that knowledge. Additional feedback sources identified included the defects liability period, practice specific commissioning procedures, photography visits, and architectural services interviews. Knowledge dissemination methods included feedback reported directly to design teams, management & staff meetings, staff email, formal presentations, practice intranet software and updates to practice quality assurance procedures. Concerns raised by practitioners included procurement methods that actively discourage post occupancy analysis (POA), client unwillingness to pay for POA, and impacts on building performance of client or builder cost-based decisions.