Kitchen designer mistake??

john.h

My parents had a kitchen fitted last week, all finished apart from the fridge to fit inbetween to larder units and a bridging unit. When the fridge turnd up it would not fit under the bridging unit :mad:
The fitters had fitted the units the correct heights but the designer had got the height of the fridge wrong.
The fitters now have to come back to strip out the units and lift everything up with new taller end panels. The fitters were independent from the Kitchen designer (large national company)
Who should take the hit here? the fitters or the designer? Should the designer pay for the fitters to come back?

Cheers for any help

Furts

It is the designers mistake but there are probably clauses to remove liability and prevent action against the designer. Ultimately, if it went to Court would it be worth the hassle?

I suggest you go back to the designer and negotiate a reduction/credit on the supply.

But think commercially here. If your parents had gone down the supply and fit route there would not be an issue. The issue would have been resolved at no extra cost.

By splitting the work into separate buying and fitting your parents should have shown a saving. In return for this they were taking on the risk that things could go wrong. Now things have gone wrong they need to weigh the savings against the extra expenditure. Where do they stand financially?

southcoastrgi

change the fridge

Steve_the_fitter

Cant be that far out if they are going to sort it with new side panels? Is there pelmet attached to the bridging unit which could be removed?

john.h

Steve_the_fitter wrote: »

Cant be that far out if they are going to sort it with new side panels? Is there pelmet attached to the bridging unit which could be removed?

Hi,
Yes there is a pelmet which has been removed, the side decor end panels are 10mm of the floor already (which the tiles will cover).
What size panels they are going to send i have no idea? The ones supplied were the standard height of a larder unit plus 160mm for the plinth height.
The fridge was ordered from the company that supplied the kitchen.

cddc

Not sure whose fault it is, could be an inexperienced designer who had not sold that fridge before, or could be an error from the fitters who "assumed" the height of the fridge, or both!

As we all know, to assume makes an !!! out of u & me.:D

john.h

cddc wrote: »

Not sure whose fault it is, could be an inexperienced designer who had not sold that fridge before, or could be an error from the fitters who "assumed" the height of the fridge, or both!

As we all know, to assume makes an !!! out of u & me.:D

The fitters could not of set the height on the bridging unit any higher, the end panels would not of reached the floor if they set it higher.

cddc

Then it is both, the designer is at fault for not supplying the correct material to do the job and knowing his product, and the fitter, or their surveyor (if a large subcontracted company), is also at fault (though less so) for not checking the dimensions prior to fitting. I think both of them assumed the fridge was a standard height.

The designers error may have been caused by an error in the planning software. I bet in the pictures you received the fridge fitted snugly under the bridging unit! I remember a similar software error causing a colleague to wrongly believe a freestanding bath would fit into a certain space!

Designers are far from perfect (I should know, I am one!), but sometimes the tools and information that we are given compound our errors, and eagle eyed fitters checking properly at survey stage or prior to installation can prevent many problems too!

john.h

cddc wrote: »

Then it is both, the designer is at fault for not supplying the correct material to do the job and knowing his product, and the fitter, or their surveyor (if a large subcontracted company), is also at fault (though less so) for not checking the dimensions prior to fitting. I think both of them assumed the fridge was a standard height.

The designers error may have been caused by an error in the planning software. I bet in the pictures you received the fridge fitted snugly under the bridging unit! I remember a similar software error causing a colleague to wrongly believe a freestanding bath would fit into a certain space!

Designers are far from perfect (I should know, I am one!), but sometimes the tools and information that we are given compound our errors, and eagle eyed fitters checking properly at survey stage or prior to installation can prevent many problems too!

The fridge was not delivered with the kitchen. When it was delivered it would not fit (there was no dimensions on the plans for the fridge). The designer got the height of the fridge wrong. To me the kitchen supplier should pay to get the fitters to come back and refit the new panels etc?

cddc

Overall, it sounds like they should. I hope the fitters are not asking your parents to pay for a return visit either?

I presume the kitchen supplier is sending out the replacement panels f.o.c. (I should hope so) It may well be worth you kicking off at them for the hassle this has caused your parents and negotiating a credit of some kind towards the fitters costs.

Though if either of them had checked dimensions, the problem could have been nipped in the bud. Sadly neither of them did.

Steve_the_fitter

If the fitters are nothing to do with the supply company and your parents found them separately then they have a right to charge for the designers mistake which your parents should pay and then hopefully claim back from the kitchen suppliers.
If the fitters have already got he panel 10mm off the floor without cutting it in height then its a design fault.
In reality the fitters will probably come back for free as they will want your parents to be happy with the kitchen they have fitted for them.

Must admit sounds to me like your parents either need a shorter bridging unit or longer larger units but its difficult to say without knowing whats what