Question to business owners. How do you handle equipment damage caused by the contractor? ?ÿ
The instrument was in the box. They dropped metal forms on my equipment by accident. trimax legs are broken, leica prism pole is bent with?ÿ bipod. Instrument box is damaged. My one month old TS16 is out of calibration.
I'm guessing similar to car accidents - your insurance deals with their insurance.
Maybe there's something in their construction contract, obliging them to pay up for their damage to others on "their" site.
Maybe if not there already, your conditions of engagement could have something to cover this scenario.
I've had equipment damaged on a job site by others at least twice that I remember.?ÿ Sadly at the time my insurance policy only covered the value of the financed equipment payable to the bank...with no provisions for replacement.?ÿ Read your insurance policies carefully.?ÿ
Both times, out of necessity, I paid to get the equipment repaired and back to work.?ÿ But a really good thing to have is a receipt for the repair.?ÿ One contractor's insurance paid quickly (3 months).?ÿ The other was a base unit that was backed over by a sub-contract 10 wheel dump truck...and I don't think he had any insurance.?ÿ The general contractor eventually paid up after almost a year but I had paid some attorney's fees in the process and?ÿ never got any of that back.
If you're diligent you will probably recover the costs of any damages.?ÿ But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for someone else to pay the initial repair bill.
I had a trades person drive over my backsight once.?ÿ He trashed the legs, tribrach and glass.?ÿ I notified the super in person and the PM via email immediately then invoiced the replacement costs on the next pay app.?ÿ The costs weren't enough for them to submit it to insurance but I'm sure they passed it down as a back charge to the responsible party's company.?ÿ Another time one of my PC's had a woman run over his backsight next to a street.?ÿ She didn't want to participate but he got her plate number before she took off.?ÿ We submitted that to our insurance and they recovered the replacement costs from her insurance.?ÿ Cell phone pics helped that situation a ton.?ÿ
Unless whoever dropped the forms on your gear is denying the incident the GC should work with you to get it taken care of.?ÿ Remind them the longer you're out of business because of it, the longer they're out of business too.?ÿ No stakes, no construction.?ÿ I would ask to get rental equipment costs reimbursed as well if you need to do that to keep up with your commitments to them and any other active jobs you have.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ
