Guarantee on drilling projects

Question

What is the general laws concerning guarantee on drilling projects in Nigeria? 
In August we sponsored a borehole for a local community in Nigeria. 
The contractor drilling the borehole was the same guy whom had committed a geo survey beforehand. 
Now, half a year after the inauguration of the water service the borehole has collapsed with the pump inside. 
Allegedly he casing that has been used has been to weak. 
The contractor offers a discount on a new borehole, but I'd say he should take full responsibility and cover the new borehole and pump entirely. 
Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did you do? 
Does someone know if there are laws that'll back our claim?
Best regards
Charlie

Iain Howley · Accepted Answer

Hi - Its a difficult one this and there are many questions that need to be answered before a conclusion towards blame can be drawn. It sounds to me as though the contractor has been engaged on a design & build basis so as an expert in his field, he is deemed to have the necessary skill and experience to design the borehole and execute the works properly. Did he produce a technical specification detailing the design works ? ie depth, diameter, casing specifications etc ? or did he just show up and get on with the works without any sort of prescriptive technical spec put forward ? Who has alleged that the casing is too weak ? Is it a consultant ? I could go on asking questions for a long time but the best hope you have is that if a well prepared technical specification was produced by someone who knows what they are doing specified a correct casing type and the driller didnt do as the spec said then you may have a case. If there is no spec then you will have a much harder time trying to prove liability. This is why it can be important to have a skilled consultant involved who can design the borehole properly and the spec is used to engage the contractor. Without one, its difficult to see a satisfactory outcome I'm afraid...Good luck anyway !

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