A contractor has been ordered to pay a hotel owner over €280,000 in damages after a court concluded that the electrical and plumbing works carried out were not up to trade standards.

The court heard that a contract of works had been entered into between Crown Hotels and AMC Electric for the latter to provide electrical and plumbing services in hotels owned by Crown Hotels.

The value of the contract was of Lm137,000 and the parties agreed upon payments in installments following certification of the works by an engineer.

But Crown Hotels claimed that AMC had not properly carried out its part of the contract and that the consultant engineer engaged by the hotels had certified that the works had not been carried out properly and in accordance with the standards of the trade.

The court heard the engineer testify that the pipes installed by AMC had leaked and that the latter company had not rectified its faulty workmanship.

In fact, Crown Hotels had to engage the services of Elesolar Ltd to carry out the contract of works and complete it.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Raymond C Pace concluded that Crown Hotels suffered damages of €282,280 and ordered AMC to pay this sum by way of damages.