Hi Sutty, Sounds like you're having a fantastic January - and I don't envy you! Is the project still ongoing? I'd argue the case that the movement of paving stones as a result of the adverse weather is maybe not forseeable; as who knew the weather would be so bad for so long? It may be worth asking your project manager why, if it were so obvioius, he didn't point it out to you in the spirit of glasnost and cooperation? Can I ask, do the paving stones form a public footpath for access to an office building? Is the site still ongoing? One might wonder why the client's employees would be accessing the building using a path through an existing construction site. Not knowing what your role is within the project, I would suggest you instruct the project manager to rectify the problem - he might complain it's a "CDM issue" - but it's a project issue and if he's in overall control of the works then it's his job to sort it. Whether he does it or instructs the subcontractor to come back and do the job again (which we had to do on one project due to poor workmanship) the issue must be sorted and I don't think I would stand for a project manager telling me it's not his job. Maybe I've grasped the wrong end of the stick. Anyway... hope that helps somehow! Alex

Are you implying that new paving stones were laid prior to the snow fall and due to the snow they are unstable and that is why they have to be lifted, which then would present members of the public with an uneven surface to walk on. If this is the case i would contact those who laid them and request that they be lifted and relaid at no additional cost as they are sub standard. If it is not a snow issue and the paving slabs would have to have been removed anyway, then this should have been addressed at an earlier stage.

Thanks to those that have replied, here are a few more details. The building in question is a new school, it was completed in March last year and has been in use since easter, the extreme cold has been around since mid december and there has been a covering of snow since the week before christmas. The project is now coming toward the end of it's 12 month defects liability period, which explains why nobody is admitting to wrong doing or poor work man ship, the client wants an instant solution and everybody is passing the buck. it appears to me to be simply the problem of the client, we are all trying to come to a mutually happy conclusion but the client just want is sorting. will he be asking the same next year if we get snow again?

The issue of moving slabs or lock block is not caused by poor workmanship but simply ground heave due to the frost in the ground! It can and does happen on any laid surface new or old! Tarmaced roads suffer from it also! Depending on where you are in the country it may be only occasionally that this problem arises but in some areas it happens every year! Depending on the severity of the heave, the surface often fixes its self when the ground penetrating frost lifts! Large heaves often leave the slabs stacked on top of the adjacent slab and they will need to be repositioned!