Claims for construction defects are on the rise.

Claims for construction defects double as a result of lockdown.

DPcon S.L. is a company with extensive experience in drafting expert reports on construction defects and subsequently claiming against developers and building contractors, and has been working in the sector for more than 30 years. Even so, in 2020 it saw a significant increase in demand, doubling its normal volume of clients over the last year and maintaining this trend in the first quarter of this year.

Coincidence or not, this increase in construction claims is probably due to the restrictions on movement and, in particular, to the stay-at-home lockdown. The fact that people have been forced to spend more time at home has undoubtedly affected how we regard our own homes and the minimum conditions they must meet. As a result, owners are more aware of, and more affected by, the damage in their homes, since they know it is essential that their homes meet the necessary habitability requirements to be suitable and comfortable, given that they will be spending long periods in them.

Damage that had previously gone unnoticed, or had been tolerated in new-build homes, has now become far more bothersome. Condensation, hairline cracks in door frames, draughts through windows, poor sound insulation or faulty ventilation “shunts” were not previously claimed. Now owners draw up long lists of damage to be recorded in a damage survey by an expert, so that they can then be claimed.

Likewise, problems with installations, or a lack of proper energy efficiency, which can mean a large annual cost, are very frequent claims. Although construction is supposedly better than a decade ago, complaints of this kind to developers have increased exponentially, since owners are more aware and do not accept building defects that impair the habitability of their properties. Precisely in order to claim them, there are legal time limits for taking action over all these types of damage covered by the Spanish Building Act (Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación) (Act 38/1999 of 5 November).

To this end, the team at DPcon Reclamación daños constructivos has experts, fully qualified architects specialising in building pathology, who produce expert reports to determine the cause of the damage and put forward a repair proposal; the legal department, for its part, has lawyers experienced in construction law and specifically in this type of claim, to claim the appropriate compensation previously assessed by the experts.

This company, specialising in construction defect claims, has spent three decades working mainly with property administrators, helping to advise their homeowners’ associations on claiming for construction defects, but its clients also include private individuals, owners and self-builders of detached houses, as well as professionals.

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DPcon Reclamaciones Daños Constructivos.