Cracks in apartment wall - who is responsible?

[Rudi]

Hola everybody.

I hope someone will be able to offer me some advice.

I have an atico apartment which is 5 or six years old. It forms the corner or esquina of the building. Over the past while horizontal cracks have appeared all along the walls - exactly at the level of the floor of the roof terrace above. These cracks ar getting worse each month and plaster is beginning to fall onto the terrace.

I contacted my Administrator and they said the builder would come to see it. But after a long wait they told me they were contacting my insurance. I still have received no answer.

Does anybody know who is responsible in a case like this? Surely it is the builder. The damage looks like 'settling cracks' caused by the settling of the building and doesn't seem like something an insurance company would pay out on.

I would be extremely grateful for any suggestions as to what I should do.

Gracias a todos

[Expert advisor]

If the property is of new construction, and its building licence was issued later than the year 2000 and the damages are affecting the structure, you will be covered by the ten years guarantee contracted by the developer as it is a legal obligation. However, there are two considerations: the first one is if the licence is previous to the mentioned year but there have not passed 10 years, the agents involved on the construction will be liable (developer, builder, architects). The architects usually have insurance with their official associations.
On the other hand, you should get a technical report which will clarify what has caused the damages and where.

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