Tenants damage newly installed pavers

Hi all,
I'm looking for advice about my situation. We are doing rear block development that is now nearly complete. We have recently paved the driveway for the rear house and a carbay for the front house.

The front house is tenanted, however as soon as we installed the driveway, they damaged it the next day and keep doing more damages to the pavers since. Here is the problem, it is a double carbay and yet they use it to park 3 cars. They have constant visitors and most of them(tenants included) don't drive sensibly, they keep going over the pavers into the sand. The most annoying thing is that they park on the driveway, blocking access to the back house (and due to their driving we get some more damage pavers on the driveway as a result).

We have a property manager and have reported this for them to bring it up with tenants, but it looks like they haven't done anything. So we took it upon ourselves to tell them off.

Given it's just newly installed, how do I claim for these damages ?

 

Firstly, to legally have a cause of action against the tenants for the damage, you need to show that they either intentionally or negligently caused the damage.

For negligence, the test here is probably "what did the tenants do that they shouldn't have done - which led to the damage?".

 

What type of pavers?

How were they installed?

Who installed them?

pinkboy

 

Yeah, it is a driveway/parking bay.
Cars often go over the edges if there are no physical barriers preventing this.
You may need to install bollards all around the perimeter to prevent it, or put in those concrete stoppers you see in commercial parking spaces.
Still, the pavers shouldn't be failing so easily on the edges of the driveway/parking bay if they were reinforced properly.

Personally, I'd prefer decorative concrete every time over pavers due to the high performance/low maintenance.

 

How do you know the agent hadn't done anything, had they confirmed this with you?

It is a little unprofessional to go and tell off the tenants without knowing the full story.
It would be a different situation if you were privately managing and willing to deal with the consequences of your actions.
If the agency is not satisfactory for the job, you should replace them ASAP.

Seems a bit messy now and probably won't end well.

 

Is there a record on file that clearly shows the condition of the pavers when they were installed? If not it will be tough having no benchmark to compare against.

 

If the pavers had been installed correctly then cars would not have caused damage even if they drove over the edges. Sounds as if the edges were not adequately stabilised.
Marg

 

Are they driving cars?
It's not normal for pavers on a newly laid driveway to get damaged, regardless of how one drives.
The claim should be with the supplier of the pavers, provided they were laid correctly in accordance with manufacturers instructions.
Solid stable base with haunched edging.

 

Don't tell them off - it's reactive.
Send them an email or letter stating that you have noted damage.

If they were never warned not to drive over the pavers then you may not get any compensation.

Get a quote from original company for repairs.

Ask the tenant - in writing - to repair the damage and give them a chance to get their own quotes.

Claim the amount at the end of lease through the bond or insurance claim. That is the easiest thing you can do.

If it's challenged at a hearing it could go either way if instructions to the tenant were not clear.

 

Also claim compensation from company who installed the pavers.

My driveway is paved and has access to back which is paved also, we have been driving cars over the papers for last 20 years with no damage. The edges are concrete and my dad and brother often drive over the edges onto the lawn of there is no room for them. There is absolutely no damage to pavers as a result.

 

Fair wear and tear from the tenant point of view, so unless you can provide evidence that the usage exceeds the design loading and that the correct paver has been specified and laid you're riding the wrong horse.

Poor workmanship by the contractors if they haven’t been laid in accordance with the specs.

 

That driveway has to get sorted out, as being common property, it will be tough blaming either party in future without clear evidence for any future damage and who caused it.

The whole thing may need to be relaid properly to avoid future headaches.

 

Sounds like they have been poorly laid in the first place. Do you have any photos?

Tools

 

Probably laid with enough base for pedestrian traffic, not vehicles and / or poor quality pavers.

 

I think what the OP is saying is that the area that was paved was for 2 cars but instead 3 cars are parking there. Meaning one of the cars is having to drive off the edge. I think the damage being referred to is the pavers coming out of alignment as the weight of the vehicle rolls over the edge. I don't think he actually means the pavers are damaged, as in they are broken or crushed.
If it is what I have mentioned above, then either the pavers have been laid above ground with the area surrounding the pavers being lower than the paved area. Or the edge of the pavers have not properly been packed underneath to create solid ground therefore are 'sinking' under weight as the car applies pressure. Either way, sounds like a poorly done job. I'd be interested to see photos to know for sure what's going on.

 

I believe the correct method to edge pavers is using a concrete bead as @Xenia mentioned.
OP, does your IP have a concrete bead like the one in the attachment?

 

Its called "coping", York

 

Maybe some simple mathematics could help.

Paver + Windscreen = (Possibly) message received.

 

What do you mean by damaging?
Moving? Breaking? Lifting?
They are designed and laid to drive on so driving on them shouldn't damage them. Maybe they will move if not edged in with concrete, or lift if angles aren't cut correctly.