ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS AND SUBMISSION THEREOF BY POOVEN ELLEN
I wish to place on record my disappointment with Mr Pooven Ellen as laid out below:
1. Deepa Sookraj had contacted Pooven in January 2019 after being highly recommended by Mr Walter Vilares of Do It All Construction.
2. Various arrangements for meetings with Pooven which resulted in a no show without any explanation.
3. We eventually met and we discussed what we wanted and we agreed with Pooven’s recommendation to go up instead of building a unit at the back which would have been limited to 80 square metres as per the bylaws.
4. After a third meeting where a sketch was presented in early February 2019, we were more or less happy with the sketch and we requested the drawings to be sent to us.
5. Pooven had quoted us an amount of R35 000 (Thirty five thousand rand) and advised us that full payment must be effected in order to finalise the drawings including Engineers drawings and for submission to the Municipality for approval. The full payment was made by Urish Sookraj on the 09 February 2019. At this juncture I must reiterate that Pooven discussed with us that he will follow the progress of this project from start to finish – I even recall saying that he will act as the “Project Manager” which he confirmed.
6. We were also advised by Pooven that he will be submitting the plans by the following week after discussing with Mr Walter Vilares.
7. Walter then arranged a meeting with us so that he can do his costing for the work that we required and seeing that he had the drawings with him we then knew that Pooven had corresponded with Walter.
8. Up until this time we were now awaiting approved drawings. Walter informed us that he discussed some changes with Pooven and that He was going to make the changes and submit same to the relevant authorities.
9. Walter then moved in with his team on site with laminated copies of the drawings and started with work in the 2nd week in March 2019
10. Mike Sydney of Mike Sydney and Associates, Walter and Pooven met at our house in the third week of March were concerns were discussed and agreement was reached as to what was required. At this meeting Pooven was informed about including a Jojo tank as well as front and rear awnings as an amendment to the original drawings which we presumed had been already submitted to the relevant authorities.
11. The building process was delayed because the Contractor to lay the slab seemed to have been misinformed however they then proceeded with what they needed to do. An associate of the Engineer subsequently came to site and approved the slab.
12. Walter then proceeded with the building work over the next few weeks to get to roof level which was achieved by the end of April and as far as I am informed, Walter invited the Engineer as well as Pooven to attend a “Roof Wetting” function which was on Friday the 3 May 2019. Neither Pooven nor the Engineer attended.
13. At this juncture all work was going according to timelines until 16 May 2019, when Building Inspector, Jaya Chetty arrived at our house asking for the approved drawings to be presented to him but we did not have any. Deepa then contacted Walter who then contacted Pooven to find out about the submission thereof. Inspector Jaya Chetty then came back on 20 May and ordered Contractor, Walter, to immediately stop all work on site as his offices have no record of ever receiving such drawings.
14. Walter was promised by Pooven that by Thursday 23 May 2019, Approved drawings will be presented.
15. On Wednesday, 22 May 2019, Inspector Jaya Chetty arrived again and discussed with Walter that no work must be executed and had taken pictures of work done thus far. Walter advised that he was removing the scaffolding to return to his supplier as work was stopped and did not want to incur additional costs due to the stoppage.
16. Despite various calls and correspondence between Walter and Pooven, including “Whatsapp” messages and voice notes, up until today, 29 May 2019, nothing has materialised.
17. Thursday, 29 May 2019, Building Inspector, Jaya Chetty arrives again to check if work was being done and informed Deepa that drawings were at the Municipality offices and that he doubts that the drawings will be approved because the awnings at the rear and the Jojo tank placement are not on the drawings on hand despite Pooven being informed to process these amendments. We even requested for the awnings at the front of the garage to be included even though we will undertake that at a later stage.
18. I shudder to think that a person like POOVEN ELLEN, a, “Professional senior architectural technologist” P.S.A.T. 1618, conducts business in this manner.
19. This leaves a lot to be desired about Ethics and accountability.
20. Further this has now severely affected the completion date of 31 May 2019 and with the delay in mind, we have to endure further discomfort and have to be on our toes as our security had been compromised as all the beams were removed when the slab was being laid. Our garage doors and motors have also been damaged and presently we have no access to that area thus our vehicles are parked on the driveway.
21. I advise that legal action against Pooven will be instituted for deceiving us with regards to this project and must reiterate that all our dealings with Pooven and Walter was done in “Good faith” and with turn of events due to the lack of commitment by Pooven to follow a simple task through to finalisation has resulted in severe stress and discomfort.
22. A trip planned long time ago and paid for now has to be rescheduled due to the delays. I urge Walter to also consider Legal remedies to recover funds from Pooven due to work stoppage.
Should you require any further details in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact me.