Image d’illustration.
The administrative court of Nantes ordered the City of Angers (Maine-et-Loire) to pay nearly €5,000 in compensation to one of its citizens, whose property was flooded in the fall of 2018 after its pipes wastewater and rainwater have not been connected to the public network following public works.
Jean-Marie XXX initially requested nearly €15,000 from the municipality, and an additional €3,000 for his legal fees: this resident of rue de la Madeleine complained that a cast iron “dolphin” had also been “broken” and another “sawed” during previous work carried out in 2016 and 2017. The floor of the threshold of his porte cochère had been “damaged” at the same time.
But “it results from the investigation that the dolphins (…) were damaged by construction equipment, and not that this damage would find its determining cause in a defective design or organization of the construction site”, objects on this point the administrative court from Nantes. “Therefore, the judicial court has sole jurisdiction to hear the action seeking compensation for such damage. »
Concerning the flood of October 2018, “the reality of this disaster” is “attested (…) by emails (…) from the municipality of Angers and the report established by the applicant’s insurer” note the judges in this decision dated January 9, 2024. “This damage results, during road works for which the municipality was the project owner (…), from a lack of connection to the public network (…) of the applicant’s house. »
However, all work will not be reimbursed: the repair of the tiling of the porch of the house was “his sole initiative”, considered the court, and “it does not appear from the investigation” that it was “strictly necessary” to determine the origin of the disaster.
“On the other hand, Mr. XXX is entitled to be compensated for the entire cost of repairing the base walls of the porch which were damaged by the flood, as well as the necessary exploration costs,” underline the magistrates. “An exact assessment of these damages will be made, estimating them at the sum of €4,980.04. »
“If the municipality argues that the repair of the walls (…) would constitute an improvement which would justify (…) the application of a dilapidation coefficient, it does not follow from the instruction that this repair would correspond to works other than those strictly necessary, nor that the processes used would not be the least expensive possible”, concludes the Nantes administrative court. To these sums, the city of Angers will therefore have to add €1,200 for the interested party’s legal fees./GF (
2024-03-06 23:24:25
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