Design defects can cause various types of construction damage, of varying degrees of severity; The most serious is when there is a miscalculation of the structure and cracks appear, due to differential settlement of the foundation, even leading to the collapse of the house;
A project must consider many variants, the geotechnical study of the ground, its bearing capacity, the projected foundation, the materials used, the distribution of structural elements;
Claim of incorrect project design
When there is evidence of an incorrect design of the project, either as a consequence of the absence of a geotechnical report, or ignoring its recommendations, and that as a consequence a inadequate foundations for the land on which it is to be built, causing settlements and cracks in the dwellingis when you have to complain.
Another cause of complaint can occur when there is too much light in a house (excessive spacing of the pillars) causing excessive stresses in the floor slab, causing cracks and uneven floors;
However, the person who accepts the management of a work whose initial project has not been drawn up by himself, also assumes the responsibilities derived from the omissions, deficiencies or imperfections of the project, without prejudice to the repetition that may correspond to him against the designer, according to article 17.7 LOE .
And according to Article 12.3 paragraphs c) and d) the project manager must resolve the contingencies that occur in the work and enter in the Book of Orders and Assistance the precise instructions for the correct interpretation of the project, drawing up modifications to the project that are required by the progress of the work, provided that they are adapted to the regulatory provisions;
It will be an expert architect who will study the project and determine whether there was an incorrect design of the housing project or of the building;
Responsibilities in project defects
The responsible for design defects is the project architect and the project manager, and, by extension, their insurance companies;
Their responsibility is to properly design and plan the project for the house or building, taking into account the ground where it is to be built, taking into account the geotechnical report and its recommendations, that the calculation of the structure is adequate and that no slab deflections are produced, causing unevenness in the ground, cracks, excessive settlements or, of course, the collapse of the building;
According to Art. 3.1; b) of the Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación: Buildings shall be designed, constructed, maintained and preserved in such a way that damage to the building, or parts thereof, which originates in or affects the foundation, or structural elements, does not occur.
The project must obviously be subject to the corresponding technical and urban planning regulations (article 10.1 and 10.2.b of the LOE); And in this sense, the technical construction standard par excellence is the Technical Building Code approved by Royal Decree 314/2006 of 17 March;
The Technical Building Code (CTE), requires (in its Part I, Annex I), that the project contains in its construction report a justification of the characteristics of the soil and parameters to be considered for the calculation of the part of the structural system corresponding to the foundation” and regarding the structural system (foundation, supporting structure and horizontal structure), it must “establish the data and the starting hypothesis, the programme of needs, the calculation bases and procedures or methods used for the entire structural system, as well as the characteristics of the materials involved”;
If the architect has not only failed to comply with his task as a designer, but also to manage the work with regular checks, then he should be held liable for all the responsibilities inherent to his position and professional assignment;
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