A specialized inter-district economic court in Zhambyl region has ordered a facade panel supplier to pay a developer 43.5 million tenge in damages over substandard products, the website infohub.kz reports.

According to the Supreme Court's official Telegram channel, the appellate instance upheld the ruling.

The facade panels were supplied for the construction of a residential complex in Almaty region. After defects were identified, the supplier replaced the substandard panels. But after they were reinstalled, the panels began to deteriorate again. Numerous cracks were found across an area of more than 2,800 square meters.

Laboratory tests confirmed that the panels' strength and density fell short of the established requirements.

The developer had to dismantle and replace the defective panels at its own expense, along with related work. This cost nearly 23 million tenge.

The developer had previously recovered 19.35 million tenge from the supplier — the cost of the substandard goods.

In filing a second lawsuit, the developer said the poor quality of the supplied products had caused it losses totaling more than 43 million tenge, including the costs of remedying the consequences of the defective panels.

The supplier, objecting to the claim, argued that the panels had deteriorated because the customer violated installation technology.

During preparations for the trial at a specialized inter-district court in Astana, the parties filed motions to apply extraterritorial jurisdiction. By court order, the case was transferred to the specialized inter-district economic court of Zhambyl region.

Having reviewed the case, the court established a causal link between the plaintiff's expenses and the defendant's improper fulfillment of its obligations regarding product quality. The defendant's arguments about installation technology violations were not confirmed.

The court of first instance awarded the plaintiff 43.5 million tenge in damages from the defendant, as well as 4.3 million tenge in legal costs.

On appeal, the court ruling was left unchanged.