N
NoBother
Guest
I wonder if anyone has come across a similar situation to the one I've outlined and pursued it with the developer of their apartments. If so, your experiences and any guidance would be welcomed.
The apartment I bought in in 2007 (development completed in 2006) is in the main very nice and well finished. I am on the residents committee and in recent days we have realised that problems with plumbing are a very frequent occurrence and related damage has cost individuals (and everyone else via our buildings insurance as a result).
Last weekend, an apartment on the 6th floor ended up with their bath overflowing. It did not go over the side of the bath, but via the bath overflow it resulted in apartments down to the 1st floor (ground is commercial) experiencing water flow and in some cases damage. On inspection by a plumber, it appears that the overflow pipe in the apartment on the sixth floor had been very crudely fitted, resulting in it cracking - which caused the flooding at the weekend.
When we discussed it via email among the residents committee members it turns out that at least 75% of us have had some problems with the plumbing (from leaking radiators which have had to be replaced to leaking pipes, boilers and water tanks) some of which have resulted in significant expense due to water damage. There has such a frequency of water damage claims that, although our general buildings cover excess is €500, the excess for water damage claims has been increased to €2,500.
Some people have tried to pursue the plumbers on their own, but realised it was not worth their while, but as a group of residents (if committed), we could have more clout/options.
We could sit and wait for problems such as this to continue, with the possibility that our development could get a reputation as having structural plumbing problems (which when the property market eventually starts up again could affect our property values). Alternatively, we can look at what options are open to us to get the problem sorted.
The good news is that the developers of our apartments are still in business and seem to be doing relatively ok given the very difficult operating environment. They must be aware of some of the problems that people have/are experiencing. That said I can't see them jumping at the idea of committing to remedying the situation.
I figure we need to get some sort of assessment to determine how bad the problem is. If it is determined to be ,particularly bad compared to what would normally be expected, we purchased from the developers and it was up to them to check that the work of those they contracted to do the plumbing of of a reasonable quality (as such flaws could not be identified through a snag check).
Does anyone have any views/experience of something like this (possibly doesn't have to be plumbing only)?
Thanks
NoBother
The apartment I bought in in 2007 (development completed in 2006) is in the main very nice and well finished. I am on the residents committee and in recent days we have realised that problems with plumbing are a very frequent occurrence and related damage has cost individuals (and everyone else via our buildings insurance as a result).
Last weekend, an apartment on the 6th floor ended up with their bath overflowing. It did not go over the side of the bath, but via the bath overflow it resulted in apartments down to the 1st floor (ground is commercial) experiencing water flow and in some cases damage. On inspection by a plumber, it appears that the overflow pipe in the apartment on the sixth floor had been very crudely fitted, resulting in it cracking - which caused the flooding at the weekend.
When we discussed it via email among the residents committee members it turns out that at least 75% of us have had some problems with the plumbing (from leaking radiators which have had to be replaced to leaking pipes, boilers and water tanks) some of which have resulted in significant expense due to water damage. There has such a frequency of water damage claims that, although our general buildings cover excess is €500, the excess for water damage claims has been increased to €2,500.
Some people have tried to pursue the plumbers on their own, but realised it was not worth their while, but as a group of residents (if committed), we could have more clout/options.
We could sit and wait for problems such as this to continue, with the possibility that our development could get a reputation as having structural plumbing problems (which when the property market eventually starts up again could affect our property values). Alternatively, we can look at what options are open to us to get the problem sorted.
The good news is that the developers of our apartments are still in business and seem to be doing relatively ok given the very difficult operating environment. They must be aware of some of the problems that people have/are experiencing. That said I can't see them jumping at the idea of committing to remedying the situation.
I figure we need to get some sort of assessment to determine how bad the problem is. If it is determined to be ,particularly bad compared to what would normally be expected, we purchased from the developers and it was up to them to check that the work of those they contracted to do the plumbing of of a reasonable quality (as such flaws could not be identified through a snag check).
Does anyone have any views/experience of something like this (possibly doesn't have to be plumbing only)?
Thanks
NoBother