# Forum Home Renovation Demolition  Road damage - responsibility?e

## pharmaboy2

Hi experienced people's, 
i have an exavator out the front of my place on a pool build - the excavator has ripped out all the previous pothole repairs on the common road (shared public road).  It's not cleaned up yet, but I suspect it's going to need at least patching with hotmix.  At this point he thinks the concretors can throw some excess concrete in the holes and trowel off, but before I pay anyone money I want to know if they are responsible  
(their contract of course denies all responsibility for anything conceivable).   Problem presumably is likely to be through council, but even then it needs to be fixed for us as well 
experiences on how contractors with excavators see liability versus how council sees it?

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## Bros

I once read that no contract can exclude negligence and it sounds like negligence to me.

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## OBBob

I think the council would expect whomever damaged the road (or contracted the work) to pay for it. I don't think concrete would be acceptable. Do you require a permit or crossover bond in your area?

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## Spottiswoode

Concrete in an asphalt road is a bad idea.

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## Sir Stinkalot

It will all depend on locality. Did you need Council approval for the pool? Typically one of the standard permit conditions covers damage outside the property. In most instances you will be responsible for the repair costs but you should be pushing for the contractor to pay the costs.

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## r3nov8or

Pretty sure it's on the permit holder. Best you get it done, before the council mobilizers its crack asphalt team and sends you a bill to match

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## pharmaboy2

> Pretty sure it's on the permit holder. Best you get it done, before the council mobilizers its crack asphalt team and sends you a bill to match

  Lol, thx for the amusement - it's needed. 
and thx for the input everyone else - I'm thinking a trailer load of hot mix and patch it with a wacker packer, then try and convince council to relay the whole road (neighbours have been trying for a while) or bite the bullet and repair the bit outside my place , 3m wide 15m long 
costs to do this much ?

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## Bros

> bite the bullet and repair the bit outside my place , 3m wide 15m long 
> costs to do this much ?

  Be careful doing that as people have been taken to court for doing unauthorised work on council property. 
 I still believe it is the nut on the lever who is responsible not you.

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## Marc

In a court of law, the contractor is responsible.
What if he rips out your water main or your cables? Still no responsibility? It's exactly the same. He has insurance for that and it costs him between 15k and 50k depending on turnover.
The council who owns the road will go for the easy target. You. 
They have a clause in the permit for damage to the footpath. Never seen a clause including the road but it may depend on council and type of work. The times I had to do this the council asked for photos of the footpath and kerb, to compare after the work is finished and exclude existing damage. 
You must have some photo of the front of your house including the road somewhere showing previous damage.
They also asked me for a deposit to be returned if there was no damage. 
The contractor knows this and that is why he does not really care. You will have to pay the council and then try to recover from him or his insurance. Check with your insurance because you may be covered for damage done by third parties that become your responsibility.
As far as repairs done by you ... it really depends entirely from how sound your repairs are going to be and the council inspector in question, no necessarily in that order. 
It sounds like a question for a local solicitor.

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## r3nov8or

Permits here do include a report on the state of the footpaths, re existing cracks, gouges etc, and the council takes photos (so do I) but not the road at all, so yeah there may be some angle there

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## Spottiswoode

15x3x30mm = 3.2 tonne. Dunno about the current prices but should be under $200/tonne. For that sort of area you'd want a roller too if you want it to look like one piece. Spreading asphalt isn't hard, but it is a bit of a black art making it look good.

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## intertd6

> Hi experienced people's, 
> i have an exavator out the front of my place on a pool build - the excavator has ripped out all the previous pothole repairs on the common road (shared public road).  It's not cleaned up yet, but I suspect it's going to need at least patching with hotmix.  At this point he thinks the concretors can throw some excess concrete in the holes and trowel off, but before I pay anyone money I want to know if they are responsible  
> (their contract of course denies all responsibility for anything conceivable).   Problem presumably is likely to be through council, but even then it needs to be fixed for us as well 
> experiences on how contractors with excavators see liability versus how council sees it?

  you need to put in writing with pictures & tell them the contractor about the damage to the roadway, retention for the sum of the estimated damage would be advisable if you have paid a bond to the council, your contract would cover anything onsite , the damage was caused beyond your site so really that is their responsibility, if you haven't paid a bond & the council come after you, just give them their details & your documentation of how the damage happened.
inter

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## bradcorp

Since your neighbours are already pushing for the entire road to be replaced, I'm guessing the road is rubbish? If it were me, I'd just be reporting the existence of pot holes to the council. I wouldn't report how they occurred, just that the repair job that was done has come loose. The people they dispatch to fix it probably aren't overly interested in detective work to identify the cause, they're just there to fill in a hole.

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