Implenia again defeated in dispute over Letzigrund wages
Implenia AG has suffered another defeat in its dispute with the City of Zurich over the wages for work on the Letzigrund Stadium. The Higher Court of the Canton of Zurich dismissed the construction group's appeal in its ruling of September 12, 2016.
The dispute centers on the construction of the Letzigrund sports stadium. The city of Zurich had expressed around 1,400 change requests, which according to Implenia cost around CHF 23 million. The work price was originally CHF 100 million. In the dispute over the settlement, Implenia AG put its total claims at CHF 129.6 million and filed a lawsuit demanding payment of the sum outstanding according to its invoice.
The Zurich District Court upheld Implenia AG's claim, but awarded it only CHF 340,000, taking into account counterclaims by the City of Zurich. Implenia appealed against this. In the appeal proceedings, it reduced some positions but maintained the claim in the reduced amount of CHF 20 million.
Implenia should have checked tender better
The Supreme Court has now dismissed Implenia AG's appeal and justified the decision on the grounds that Implenia should have examined the tender documents. Errors and omissions in the documents do not entitle the construction company to additional claims, according to a court communiqué.
Implenia could not claim additional costs for order changes if no written agreement had been reached on them as contractually agreed, the court added. In addition, costs for accelerating the progress of construction were not to be reimbursed by the city of Zurich if the latter had not accepted the corresponding costs in writing.
Specify additional costs individually
As the Supreme Court further states, the question of "substantiation" - i.e. the concrete and detailed presentation of the additional compensation demanded - had great weight in the appeal proceedings.
Implenia argued that the City of Zurich had demanded so many changes that, according to general experience in the construction industry, this would result in additional costs or loss of discounts on subcontractors' prices for it as a total contractor. It estimated this item at CHF 2.28 million, then reduced the amount to one million on appeal.
The Supreme Court ruled, as did the District Court, that such additional costs or lost discounts must be specified in terms of amount and for each subcontractor individually so that evidence can be taken about them at all.
Implenia has 30 days to appeal the decision of the Supreme Court to the Federal Supreme Court. The company initially said it would analyze the ruling and comment on further action "in due course". (ah)
