How to claim for construction defects in the home
To request thecorrection of existing construction defects in a home, or claim alternative financial compensation, the interested party you have to try them.
The appropriate means will be an expert report from a specialized technician that reveals the nature of the defects observed, the cause that caused them, the form of repair and the economic cost.
The appropriate way to file this claim will be a declaration procedure before the competent Court of First Instance. It is advisable to prove that you have previously tried an out-of-court solution by means of a reliable notification indicating the defects that have appeared.
In newly built homes the promoter, builder, subcontractors, designer, project management and other agents involved can be held accountable in construction.
The Building Regulation Law contemplates different guarantee periods, counting from the reception of the works, 10 years for structural defects, 3 years for damage caused for defects in construction elements or facilities that negatively affect habitability and 1 year for damages caused by defects in completion or finish.
Legal actions prescribe, in any case, 2 years from the moment the construction defects appeared
In second-hand homes, once the guarantee periods mentioned above have expired, the buyer may only take action against the seller. Which will respond whenever:
- not overt
- have a certain seriousness for making the home unsuitable for use or reduce its use in such a way that if the buyer had known about it, he would not have acquired it or would have paid a lower price
- the buyer is not an expert who is presumed to have known of such defects.
In the event of an arbitration agreement between the parties, the claims for defects would have to be redirected through an arbitration procedure.
We share the full article written by José Luis Casajuana Espinoza , Director and founder of JL Casajuana Abogados, which was published by Real Estate magazine on July 1, 2017.
