The Court of Appeal of Genoa rejected both the principal and incidental appeals brought against the judgment of the Tribunal of the Ligurian capital, which had dismissed all claims of liability raised against a Genoa-based architect — designer and works supervisor of a major industrial excellence hub — represented in both instances by Cassinelli Studio Legale.
The dispute originated from a payment claim brought by the contractor against the client, a Swiss company active in highly specialized manufacturing, which in turn had filed a counterclaim seeking payment of the contractual delay penalties.
The contractor then called the designer and works supervisor into warranty, arguing that the delays were attributable to his conduct.
Both the Tribunal of Genoa and the Court of Appeal excluded any liability of the well-known professional, dismissing all claims against him, and affirmed — among other things — the following principle of law:
“In the matter of construction contracts, a client’s request for significant and substantial variations to the works, made during the execution of the contract, entails a consensual modification of the contractual framework and the lapse of the originally agreed delivery date and delay penalty. However, the penalty clause remains effective if the parties agree upon a new deadline; otherwise, if the client wishes to obtain compensation for damages due to delayed delivery of the work, the burden is on the client to prove the contractor’s fault.”
The defense was handled by Nicola Cassinelli and Karim Dahmouni.