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Attorney-at law Pirkka-Marja Põldvere successful in a construction dispute
Pirkka-Marja Põldvere was successful in representing a client in several court instances in Estonia in a claim from a service contract in construction sector. A subcontractor turned to court requesting that the court would order a contractor to pay a fee for sub-contractor’s deficient work. As a contractual representative of the contractor, Pirkka-Marja Põldvere explained and proved that the claim was without any ground: the contractor could not accept the deficient work from the sub-contractor and had to remove the deficiencies itself to deliver the work to the end-client. Thus, the fact that the end-client had accepted the work does not automatically mean that the subcontractor had duly performed its tasks and had the right for a fee. The appeal court of Tallinn agreed and explained with references to the Supreme Court practice that acceptance by the end client might be a circumstance to consider but the subcontractor shall prove that the works conducted by it were duly performed and the contractor has unlawfully refused to accept the works in a reasonable time. The subcontractor turned to the Estonian Supreme Court but the latter rejected it. Therefore, the appeal court judgement took effect. Pirkka-Marja Põldvere is glad of the result, especially as there are several analogous construction disputes on her table. She noted that if the courts are clearer in their conclusions, it will hopefully be more feasible to reach a reasonable settlement in such cases even before the case reaches the court.
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