Although moving to a new home brings about many good emotions, none of us are immune to unpleasant surprises. A suddenly dripping tap, a cracked wall, or leaky windows can quickly make life in a new apartment miserable. Where to turn if you discover a defect in your home and who is responsible for it?
Real estate experts note that in order to avoid unpleasant surprises, before signing a home purchase contract, it is necessary to make sure that the home’s finishing or installation work has been carried out with high quality.
What to pay attention to?
According to Aistė Mikalajūnaitė, Head of the After-Sales Service Department of the real estate development and construction group “Eika”, when planning to move into a new apartment, it is important to carefully inspect it from the walls to the floor and check several key finishing elements.
“Before signing the contract, first inspect the windows: they are usually covered with a protective film, but you can check whether the glass units and window frames are not scratched, and whether the windows open properly. If you do not check these things, it may be difficult to prove defects later. Also inspect the apartment doors, check the locks, and the intercom. Pay attention to the engineering systems – whether there are any leaks, drips, and whether the heating and recuperation system are working,” says A. Mikalajūnaitė.
The expert adds that most defects occur when people rush to do the finishing themselves without first consulting with specialists in this field.
“It is important to know that many construction processes are wet, so a newly purchased home may still be damp. Before starting finishing work, the humidity of the environment and surfaces should be measured so that defects in the finishing work do not become apparent after a while, because the home builder will not compensate for them. It is also important to understand the structure of the building, which not every new homeowner knows. For example, during finishing work, expansion joints must be installed at the joints of different building materials so that cracks that have appeared do not irritate the eye in the future,” says A. Mikalajūnaitė.
According to the head of the warranty department at Eika, when transferring housing to settlers, a transfer deed is usually signed, in which the buyer can record any defects that have been noticed. If during the transfer, the settlers sign that the construction and installation work was carried out properly, and they only notice the defects after some time, it may be more difficult to prove the fault of the contractor or builder for the defects that have been noticed.
Of course, if a defect is noticed, one should immediately contact the manufacturer according to the warranty service procedure, which is indicated to the buyer when signing the contract. It must state which warranty periods apply to individual construction products, materials and equipment.
Warranty from 1 to 20 years
According to the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, a 5-year warranty applies to all visible elements of a building – walls, floors, roof, etc., and a 10-year warranty applies to hidden works, such as structures and pipelines.
“If a resident notices defects in the pipeline within a ten-year period and it is determined that an error was made during construction work, the real estate developer must organize the work to eliminate the defect. And if an intentionally hidden defect is found, i.e. if the builder makes a mistake and hides it with other work, an even 20-year warranty applies,” says A. Mikalajūnaitė.
The shortest warranty, 1–2 years, applies to individual products and devices – glass units, elevators, heat recovery units, meters. The exact warranty period depends on the manufacturer’s warranty.
According to the expert, the real estate developer and contractor are not liable for defects that occurred through no fault of theirs.
“If, after purchasing a home, a person does not heat and ventilate the premises sufficiently and as a result, mold or other damage appears, such defects resulting from improper operation of the apartment will have to be dealt with by the resident himself. Therefore, it is important to properly maintain your home. There is no liability for damage caused by other persons to the building and its belongings – resolving such issues is the obligation of the building administrator,” notes the head of the warranty service department of “Eika”.
If a person buys an old house whose builder no longer exists, taking into account the Civil Code, the warranty applies for only two years and the seller of the house is responsible for any defects that arise.