with Joni Burnett Community repairs vs private repairs

There seems to be a general misconception as to where our private responsibilities end and where the Community’s responsibilities start, when owning a property in Spain.

Your community is a private entity, it is responsible for any repairs from your front door outwards. It is also responsible for the roof, the fabric of the building and the façade and all it’s components. But the community is not responsible for the inside of your property, if you have an issue with your boiler breaking or a broken window panel, these are private issues.

There are some areas that lead to confusion, let’s use the drainpipes as an example: If your shower isn’t connected properly to the mains and the leak causes damage to the property below, then this is your problem, not only will you need to carry out the repairs in your bathroom, but you will also need to cover any damages caused to the property below. If you have an insurance, then they should cover both your repair and the damages caused to others, this has nothing to do with the community.

However, if the leak comes from a common drainage pipe, that is fed by two or more drainage pipes from different apartments, then that pipe is considered communal, and the community and the community insurance will have to cover all the repairs.

The issue with these kinds of repairs, when the community is responsible, is actually carrying the repairs out. If the Community designated repairers need to access your property to carry out a repair, then, by law, you must let them access and do this repair, as, if you do not, you would then be responsible of any further damages caused due to your personal negligence. If you have damp in your apartment, the Community Insurance will cover the damages you have, but only once the Community has carried out the repair. If the community has to access your terrace to repair a leak causing damages, you also are obliged to let the repairers in to do their job, in a timely fashion. They obviously must be careful as they will need to access through your home, but you cannot legally refuse. Intercoms are an issue, as the general plaque outside the block is communal, however, the actual receiver is private, so if there is an issue with the internal receiver, then the repair is on you and not on the community. The same happens with the TV, the Community is responsible for the antenna and distribution to your front door, but from the front door inwards is your responsibility.

Terraces can be a complicated one, generally these are the community’s to repair, but in some instances owners have agreed in the statutes or unanimously in a meeting, that each owner will be fully responsible for their terrace, this makes matters specially complicated when there are damages to the apartment below. Apart from this circumstance, the community is responsible for the fabric of the building and this includes the terrace waterproofing, but each owner is responsible for the upkeep, cleaning, grouting, etc, and is also fully responsible for any damages caused, for example if anything is attached to the floor and breaches the waterproofing causing damages below.

Basically, if you have a property in Spain, make sure you have a home insurance, as the Community insurance does not cover your private property or the damages your property can cause to others.

It is a more practical article this month, I hope you have found it helpful!

Joni Burnett Administrador de Fincas Reg. 2447

Colegio de Administradores de Fincas

Colegiados de Málaga y Melilla COMUNIMAS

Administradores de Fincas colegiados www.comunimas.es info@comunimas.es