Effective litigation lawyer in Spain for construction disputes

It is, of course, no secret that a significant amount of the building work in Spain undertaken during the long Spanish economic boom was defective.  There were quite simply not enough skilled workers around to ensure that construction was handled by time served professionals – and this was compounded by a lack of effective building control by the authorities.  Meanwhile, some greedy and irresponsible developers ‘cut corners’ to save money and speed up the completion of properties. The result has been predictable – with many Spanish properties built over the past fifteen years suffering from a wide array of defects.  These range from extremely serious foundation issues (in some cases leading to property collapse) to more minor concerns over damp ingress or poor insulation (both for heat and sound). Of course, if you own a new (built within the past 10 years) property in Spain that has building problems then…

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6 ways to resolve problems with building work in Spain

Of course, having problems with building work in Spain is not unusual. Construction, whether a project is big or small, tends to be contentious and, all too often, ends in a dispute – usually revolving around costs, timings or the quality of the work itself. The trouble is that the very nature of building work means that the stakes involved are usually high (whether financially or emotionally). This means that the earlier you can recognize potential problems and resolve them – the better! The question is – how can you tell when your building project in Spain is going ‘bad’, once work has started, before real damage or expense is involved? Well, there are some common factors that I have noticed, over the years, that can indicate that all is not well. Individually, they may not be important but several factors together normally mean that you need to take immediate,…

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Liability for construction defects in Spain

All too often property owners in Spain do not take legal action for construction defects to their houses because their builder has either disappeared or gone bankrupt.  Needless to say, on the face of it, there is no point in taking legal action, if the other party has no money or cannot be found. However, luckily for many property owners, the liability for construction defects in Spain does not always end just with the builder.  Indeed, depending upon the defects, a number of other parties may be responsible and these other parties may have insurance policies that cover the defects – in which case taking legal action in Spain can make very good sense. So investigate matters further and seek professional advice, before you ‘accept’ the building defects you have and the ‘fact’ that you will have to pay for any necessary remedial works. The question is who – apart…

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Is it viable to undertake legal action in Spain for construction disputes?

The question for any foreigner considering litigation in Spain is: can I take legal action in Spain effectively – without it costing a fortune and an age to resolve? Most foreigners know very little about the Spanish legal system and, as a consequence, it is not uncommon for potential litigants to throw their hands in the air and avoid legal action – even though they have a winnable case. Despite the commonly held fears of delay and expense, in reality, legal action in Spain is workable and the timings of major legal actions are generally not too far off those of the UK court system. In the latter, cases can take up to two or three years to bring to trial and this is, more or less, true of many court cases in Spain.  That said, timings can depend upon the individual court dealing with your case. Waiting lists and…

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Group court actions in Spain, for construction related problems

Over the past few years we have dealt with a number of major group court actions in Spain relating to building defects in Spain. In fact, some of the cases have been very high profile and have involved large estates, where many of the properties have suffered from serious structural problems.  One estate that we have dealt with, for example, was built upon a clay substrate that was unstable.  This has caused the total collapse of a number of properties and considerable movement in a lot of others.  As you can imagine, this has been very distressing for the property owners concerned, who have seen their dream properties crumble before their very eyes.  Worse still, for many, was the seemingly impossible task of taking successful legal action in Spain against a very large and powerful developer.  That is enough to test the strength of the hardiest property owner! Of course,…

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Suing builders in Spain, litigation or dispute resolution?

Building disputes in Spain are, sadly, not uncommon.  Indeed, hardly a day goes by when I do not receive a call or e-mail from someone who has some sort of construction problem in Spain. In fact, as I have stated before, the construction of new properties in Spain over the past few years has been very variable.  I have certainly seen fine work but, all too often, I come across defective buildings in Spain.  Quite frankly, the level of skill used in Spanish construction has not always been good and this has been made worse by lax (or sometimes no!) building control. Of course, it is not only new buildings that have suffered from poor work.  The same is frequently the case with reform projects.  The latter are notorious for going over-budget and it is far from unknown for property owners to end up with a quality of construction and…

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