Landscaper liable for subsiding garden on peat: damage over 250,000 euros |
|
|
|
|
 |
| 117 sec |
A landscaping company from South Holland has been ordered by the Rotterdam court to pay more than 235,000 euros in damages to a private client. The case revolved around a newly laid garden that subsided severely shortly after completion. The ruling shows how great the financial consequences can be when elevation on peat soil is carried out incorrectly.
A few years ago, the client had a new home built in Capelle aan den IJssel. For the garden, he hired a landscaping company. The design included a significant elevation of the terrain: up to one and a half meters between the access bridge and the house. To achieve this, the landscaper applied a thick layer of sand and repac, a mixture of crushed rubble. The garden was completed in the summer of 2022. Soon after, problems arose. Paving subsided, holes appeared in the lawn, and the height difference between the garden and the house increased. Underground pipes were also damaged. The client held the landscaper liable and went to court.
|
|
To achieve this, the landscaper applied a thick layer of sand and repac, a mixture of crushed rubble
| |
|
Duty to warn
To achieve this, the landscaper applied a thick layer of sand and repac, a mixture of crushed rubble. The court ruled that the landscaper had fallen short in its obligations. A client may reasonably expect that a new garden will not subside so severely shortly after being laid—especially since it is well known that peat soil can subside quickly when heavy materials are used. The company should therefore have pointed out those risks and, if necessary, conducted further research. This did not happen. Because the client had already been warned during a construction meeting about possible problems with the pipes of the thermal energy storage system, the landscaper does not have to compensate for that damage. For the other subsidence and consequential damage, however, the company bears full responsibility.
Financial consequences
The judge estimated the repair costs for the terrain itself at nearly 220,000 euros. On top of that come amounts for relaying the sewer and rainwater drainage systems and repairing the house entrance. Altogether, the damage amounts to more than 251,000 euros. Since the client still had outstanding invoices from the landscaper, this amount was offset. Ultimately, a principal sum of 235,518 euros remains that the company must pay its client. But that is not all. The landscaper must also reimburse nearly 3,700 euros in extrajudicial costs and cover more than 7,800 euros in legal costs and over 3,500 euros in seizure costs. In a separate proceeding, the landscaping company tried to hold the main contractor of the house construction responsible for part of the damage, but that defense was rejected. The landscaper argued that the subsidence directly around the house should be borne by the contractor. The judge did not agree. As a result, the company must also pay more than 13,000 euros in legal costs of the main contractor.
|
|
In a separate proceeding, the landscaping company tried to hold the main contractor of the house construction responsible for part of the damage
| |
|
Total picture
The financial consequences for the landscaping company are severe. In total, the bill, excluding interest and additional costs, amounts to nearly 264,000 euros. This ruling illustrates the great risks when elevations are carried out on weak peat soil and the duty to warn the client is not properly fulfilled.
Source reference
ECLI:NL:RBROT:2025:9020
|
This article was previously published on september 25, 2025 on the website
of de hovenier.
| LOG IN
with your email address to respond.
|
|
|
| There are no comments yet. |
Tip the editors
|
