UNACCEPTABLE WORKMANSHIP AND NON PERFORMANCE

We appointed Fabtec Skylights to manufacture and install a skylight to our new kitchen. We selected Fabtec based on his price and his own referral when presenting the proposal - ' quote i do all the work for outsurance' unquote Mark Kopel. we paid the deposit as requested, the project was delayed several occasions. On completion we never received a formal handover from the Mr Kopel. We received heavy rains after the completion which lead us to the discovery of various leaks coming from the following: Too many condensation holes, incorrect specification on the gutter and down pipe size, cross brackets within the gutter system restricted debris from flowing freely. Following the leaks we with held less than 5% of the outstanding balance. Fabtec attended to the leaks but did not fix them completely and continued to refuse to accept the leaks as part of their responsibility and continued to blame our roofing and lack of cleaning the debris from the gutter system. We took the matter to the Skylights Association for further investigation which lead to a detailed report on the installation and manufacture of the components from the chairman of the Skylights Association as well as a third party corrosion consultant on the protection system of the skylight framework. The following points where raised and identified: Poor and incomplete installation with regards to the glass and framework, Incorrect specification of material used for gutter down pipes, inferior material selection and use, incorrect fabrication of gutters and down pipes, incorrect corrosion protection, Incorrect fall of gutters app**** i.e. some areas the water doesn't drain and remains stagnant causes further damage on the badly treated welds and cross bars in the gutter system, unacceptable finish of silicone and paint work. Upon inspection from The Skylights Association a letter was sent to Fabtec Skylights addressed to Mr Kopel, allowing a certain period to rectify the issues raised, unfortunately Mr Kopel has not attended to any of the areas on the report. The report was submitted to SAGGA - South African Glass & Glazing Association and Fabtec Skylights was given a certain period to repair and adhere to the complaints on the report to this date he has not attended to the complaints or issues, subsequently Fabtec Skylights membership with SAGGA has been suspended. The costs to repair the un professional workmanship would equate to re-installing the entire skylight system which would include not only the skylight material and installation, but also the electrical points, wall finishes, waterproofing and not to mention exposing the newly fitted kitchen cupboards and equipment to the external elements and having to create a make shift kitchen whilst waiting for the repairs. Furthermore Fabtec Skylights reported me to Accountability as a bad payer, we will refuse to pay the outstanding until this matter is resolved. I would definitely not consider Fabtec Skylights or any company related to Mr Kopel for any work or project. The project was installed over 1 year ago, we were hoping that the removal from SAGGA would initiate some sort of interest from Mr Kopel to attend to the repairs however it has only left us with an expensive skylight which continues to leak into our new kitchen every time we have rainfall. As responsible citizens we have a duty to report this so that other people are not affected. We have given Mr Kopel 12 months to fix his poor workmanship and will no longer stand for it.