Construction companies are condemned for delays in delivering projects.
Real Construções and Coohase have five days to deliver the housing units; the initial deadline was March 2006.
Brasília 247 – Delays in the delivery of housing units led to the conviction of Real Construções e Comércio LTDA- Reccol and Cooperativa Habitacional dos Servidores do Serpro de Brasília- Coohase. The companies have five days to complete the works, under penalty of a fine of R$ 5 per month of non-compliance. In addition, the construction companies were found liable for material damages. Therefore, they were ordered to pay an amount equivalent to one month's rent, from the date the property should have been delivered, March 30, 2006, until the date the obligation is actually fulfilled.
According to the expert, "the work could have been completed in about 26 months, as is the case with similar projects. At the time of the inspection, the work was already significantly behind schedule, but at a stage where, if handled with minimal attention by those responsible, it could have been completed in 15 months and 15 days."
In the proceedings, Reccol argued that there is no clause in the contract that imposes on the construction company an obligation to indemnify for breach of contract, that the alleged damages were not specified, and that there is another lawsuit concerning the same facts. According to the company, the delay in the delivery of the project was mainly caused by the large amount of rain, which forced the work to be halted during that period, and the discovery of structures and piles on the site, which hampered excavation and made it necessary to recalculate the structural parameters of the project.
Coohase, on the other hand, claimed that it did not participate in the contract and only ceded the land for the construction of the building to Reccol. According to Coohase, the contract with Reccol exempted it from any responsibility for the delay in construction.
The judge considered the arguments laughable and incompatible with reality. "Indeed, the somewhat playful argumentative effort solemnly disregards the fact that Brasília is one of the driest cities in the country, its desert climate being folkloric," the magistrate concluded.
With information from the Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories.