Damage to the property

The Provincial Court (AP) had to decide on the appeal of some homeowners who had sued for damages and losses that appeared in their property. The homeowners, upon seeing various cracks and fissures in their home, thought they could claim because they understood that these were damages that had not expired, as they continued to appear and they thought the deadline was still open.

However, the AP explained that the Building Regulation Law establishes different warranty periods depending on the type of damage to the property, such as one year for so-called "finish defects" (such as the superficial cracks and fissures that appeared in this case), three years for damages affecting habitability, and ten years for more serious damages related to the structure or foundations. Additionally, even if the damages occur within the period, the landlord only has two years from detection to file the lawsuit.

In the case of these homeowners, the damages were fissures and cracks caused by minor defects in the execution of finishes and coatings, so they only had one year to claim from the delivery of the property. As 5 years had passed since the construction when they filed the complaint, the AP rejected the claim without discussing if the two-year "prescription" period had elapsed since the damages were noticed.

In conclusion, if the damage you have at home is only related to finishes, it is important to claim it immediately, because the warranty is very short and if a year passes, there is nothing to be done.