Service
Problems and repairs
Nobody should have to coordinate the insurer, the plumber and the office themselves. That is our job, and you should be able to see what stage yours is at without chasing it.
The sentence that infuriates an owner is not «it cannot be fixed». It is «we have passed it to the insurer», said five weeks ago, with nothing behind it.
It does not say what stage it is at, who has to move next, or by when. Meanwhile the owner ends up ringing the insurer, the plumber and the office separately, which is exactly what they should not have to do.
The seven stages
Every job is always in one of these seven, and you can ask which one yours is in.
Open
You have reported it and we have acknowledged it. It has a number and a named owner.
Diagnosed
We know what it is and whose it is: the community, a supplier, the insurer or the developer.
Quoted
There is a price in writing. Above the threshold the meeting set, there are three quotes.
Approved
Somebody with the authority has said yes, and the record shows who and when.
Scheduled
The supplier has committed to a date.
In progress
It is being done, with dated photographs where that makes sense.
Resolved
Finished and checked. If it was a building defect, it does not close until the community's own surveyor confirms it.
One person owns the case. When an insurer, a contractor and the community are all involved, we are the single point of contact and we keep the case until it closes. You do not coordinate three companies. We do, and we tell you where it stands.
What we promise, and what we do not
| We promise | Within |
|---|---|
| Acknowledgement of your message | Immediately |
| A first reply from a person | 1 working day |
| A named owner, a stage and a next action with a date | 2 working days |
| An update while the case is open | Every week |
We do not promise repair times, and it is worth understanding why. How long a leak takes to fix depends on the contractor, the insurer's surveyor and sometimes the court. Promising you a repair date would be promising something we do not control.
What we do control is how long we take to reply, to put a name on the case and to tell you honestly where it stands, including when the answer is «still waiting for the insurer, we chased on the 14th and we chase again on the 28th». That is what we answer for.
What happens to the photographs
They carry the date and the place in the file name, and we keep them after the case closes. It looks like housekeeping and it is not. If a year later it turns out that was a building defect rather than a breakdown, the dated photograph of the first time it appeared is the evidence that fixes when the clock started.
Questions
Who pays to repair damp in a common area in Spain?
It depends on the cause, which is why diagnosis comes before any quote. If it comes from a common element, the community pays, from the budget or from a levy. If it comes from inside a private flat, that owner pays. If it is still inside the building warranty, it may fall to the developer or the builder. And insurance may cover it in any of those cases.
How quickly must a community deal with an urgent repair?
The Horizontal Property Act sets no repair deadlines. What article 10 does impose is the community's duty to carry out the works needed to keep the building properly maintained. In practice, what you should demand from your administrator is a response time and a named person, not a repair date that depends on other people.
Can I fix something in a common area myself and bill the community?
As a rule no, unless it is genuinely urgent and necessary. Article 7 of the Horizontal Property Act requires you to notify whoever represents the community before carrying out any work affecting common elements. If you go ahead on your own, you may end up paying for it and, in some cases, having to put everything back as it was.