I engaged Contour Readymix Pvt. Ltd. to do provide readymix of M20 to a small building I am constructing. After Contour Readymix suppled M15 or below grade concrete instead of the stipulated M20, my structural consultant has said there is no recourse now but to demolish the slab and beams that were poured using the defective Contour Readymix concrete. The contracted value of the ready mix from Contour was only Rs. 1.5 lakhs, but the total loss to me as a result of their fraud is going to be over Rs. 15 lakhs.
Test after test confirmed that the Contour Readymix was in some instances as low as M11. Yet, they have denied all accountability and to make matters worse, they have falsely claimed that it was raining during the period of concret ... View Moreing. The fact is that not a single drop of rain fell during that period, but they have chosen to try and get out of their obligations by making this explicitly false and malicious allegation.
Fortunately, when this matter goes to the courts, we have to only prove our claims that the concrete they supplied did not meet the stipulated M20 grade. Any allegations on their part like trying to blame the defective results of the concrete on false factors like rain will not work, since they have to meet the burden of proving their allegations in order to use that as an argument for why the concrete is defective.
While we are confident of prevailing in court, I felt it is necessary that such a company that blatantly disregards public safety and will go to any lengths to make money while endangering the lives of others, should be brought to public notice. If you or anyone you know is considering doing a concrete pour using ready mix, I would first recommend that you stick to the industry proven professionals like Ultratech or RMC India.
I have learned that through an expensive experience, but more importantly, I am concerned that unscrupulous players like Contour get away by so carelessly disregarding safety. If for any reason you decide you are going to engage Contour, perhaps due to a lower price, then I strongly recommend that you get in writing all details of the product they will provide and also make sure you get them to sign a document on the day of providing the concrete, whether or not it is raining. While such a false allegation later from their side will mean they have the burden of proving it, it will be unnecessarily a time-consuming distraction for you. Instead, protect yourself with a written and signed statement from someone accountable to sign for the company, whether it was raining.
I would also recommend you get your structural engineers to verify that all your steel reinforcement work has been completed before the concrete pour, since that is another tactic Contour has tried with us. Fortunately, we have everything documented to prove their allegations wrong and the burden of proof on their part to prove their baseless allegations is going to hurt them. View Less