黑洞社区

Piling specialist Keller has denied it is responsible for faults at a 拢40m wine warehouse that is now the centre of a multimillion-pound legal wrangle.

In June, contractor VolkerFitzpatrick launched legal action against Keller, claiming that piling errors had caused cracks in the warehouse floor.

The contractor is suing Keller for an amount to be determined when the extent of its own liability to the building鈥檚 tenant is established.

VolkerFitzpatrick is facing legal action from tenant Accolade Wines, a major importer of wines into the UK, over losses stemming from the problems with the warehouse, which was built in 2008. The importer claims it may need to relocate from the warehouse, which it estimates could cost up to 拢41m.

VolkerFitzpatrick argued it would need to undertake 鈥渧ery significant remedial works鈥� on the warehouse and said Keller 鈥渇ailed to exercise the appropriate standards of skill and care in undertaking their design and installation work鈥�.

But in papers filed in the Technology and Construction Court, Keller denied its work had been faulty and said that as it had never concluded the contract negotiations for the job it owed no 鈥渄uty of care鈥� to VolkerFitzpatrick.

Keller said that, contrary to VolkerFitzpatrick鈥檚 claim, the piles were deep enough to hold the building and challenged the claimant to prove piling had been the cause of the cracking.

It added: 鈥淰olkerFitzpatrick will be required to prove the damage was not caused by intrinsic defects in the slab.鈥�

It added that the replacement of the piles was 鈥渘either necessary nor reasonable鈥�.

The piling firm said that an ongoing programme of injecting resin under the floor to raise and stabilise it - which started in April 2010 - would be enough to fix the problem and enable Accolade Wines to continue to use the warehouse 鈥渨ith little or no disruption鈥�.

Both VolkerFitzpatrick and Keller declined to comment.

A spokesperson for Accolade Wines declined to comment on the dispute. She added that the warehouse remediation would not impact on Accolade Wines鈥� operations.