In newly built homes, the appearance of defects or construction deficiencies is not uncommon once they are delivered to their owners..

The Ley 38/1999, Building Planning (LOE), confers a series of legal guarantees to said owners so that defects or deficiencies that may appear in the homes, and in the building where they are located, can be claimed and they can be corrected.

The LOE establishes the maximum deadlines in which construction defects must appear so that they can be claimed., this is, establishes some warranty terms. After these deadlines, If the defect appears, it cannot be claimed, without prejudice to the fact that the LOE protects the contractual responsibilities regulated by the Civil Code regarding the sale.. Therefore, it is very important to document and claim construction defects when they appear., recording said claim.

The legal guarantee periods indicated are the following:

• ONE YEAR regarding material damage that affects finishing or finishing elements (for example: paint damage, cracks in walls, scratches on carpentry, etc…).

• THREE YEARS regarding material damage that affects habitability (humidity, defects in acoustic or thermal insulation, etc…).

• TEN YEARS regarding damages affecting the foundation, the supports, the beams, the forged, load-bearing walls or other structural elements, and that directly compromise the mechanical resistance and stability of the building.

The builder must be responsible for construction defects that affect completion or finish.. The senior architects and the technical architects or surveyors will be responsible for the rest of the deficiencies in accordance with their degree of responsibility for the defect.. Without prejudice of the previous, The LOE establishes that The promoter will be liable for construction defects jointly and severally with the rest of the parties involved in the construction..

Without prejudice to the aforementioned distribution of responsibility, of damage affecting the foundation, the supports, the beams, the forged, load-bearing walls or other structural elements, and that directly compromise the mechanical resistance and stability of the building, guaranteed during TEN YEARS, as we have explained, will respond in the same way to the so-called “ten-year insurance”, which is mandatory and is delivered by the promoter upon completion of construction, Therefore, a claim for these concepts can be made to the corresponding insurance company. .

Once the construction defects appear within the aforementioned warranty periods, there is another legal term to proceed with your claim. This period is two years.

In conclusion we will say that it is very important to record construction defects from the moment they appear., and likewise proceed with your claim within the legally established deadlines. Any claim regarding this type of defects, must be done in such a way that it can be proven that it has been done, in order to, at the time, and if the damages are not remedied extrajudicially, be able to proceed to file a judicial claim protected by the guarantees that are legally conferred to the owners of newly built homes.

In Delyser Abogados We have long and extensive experience in this type of claims for construction defects in newly built homes, both in the extrajudicial and judicial spheres, making available to our clients our knowledge and dedication in defending their legitimate rights and interests in a matter as sensitive as housing..

María Victoria Vázquez
social / Lawyer.
Head of the Real Estate Law Department, Urban Planning and Administrative
Delyser Abogados