Post-renovation guarantees: periods, coverage and claims

What warranty does a home renovation have in Spain?

Spanish law sets three liability periods for defects: one year for finishes, three years for defects that affect habitability and ten years for the structure. They run from handover of the works. This is article 17 of the Building Act (LOE, Ley 38/1999). A contract usually adds its own terms on top of the law.

One caveat up front: the LOE does not apply to every renovation. Below is where the line sits, because it decides which periods you can rely on.

What do the one, three and ten year periods actually cover?

One year covers execution defects in finishing elements, three years cover defects in building elements or installations that compromise habitability, and ten years cover foundations, columns, beams and floor slabs. That is the wording of article 17 LOE; how it maps to a specific failure is for an expert to decide.

In practice, tiles that lift, open joints and paint or lacquer defects usually fall under the one-year period. A bathroom leak from poor waterproofing, persistent damp, installation noise above the permitted level or an extractor that does not work usually fall under three years. For an Eixample flat the ten years mostly concern load-bearing walls and floor slabs: if you reinforced them, that period applies to them.

The contractor answers for damage, not for every annoyance. A door that closes tighter than you would like is a snagging item under the contract, not grounds for a claim.

Does the LOE apply if my renovation is small?

Not always. Article 2 of the LOE covers works on the building as a whole, works that alter its exterior composition, volume or structural system, and changes of use. A cosmetic refresh of one room, new surface finishes or installed furniture normally stay outside it.

In that case the contract, general civil-law rules on hidden defects and consumer law for goods you buy are what apply. For products bought from a seller, consumer law gives a three-year legal guarantee from delivery (Texto Refundido de la Ley General para la Defensa de los Consumidores). For tiles, sanitaryware and appliances it is a useful fallback period.

A full renovation with a new layout, a project and a licencia de obra mayor generally falls inside the LOE. In Catalonia the regional Codi civil also governs part of these questions, so show the case to a lawyer before sending the first letter to the contractor.

When do the periods start and what is a handover with reservations?

The periods run from handover without reservations, or from the date reservations are corrected. If you sign the handover record with a list of defects, the one-year period for those items starts once they are fixed. That follows from article 17 LOE.

Silence counts as acceptance too: under article 6, if thirty days pass from the stated date and the client raises no reservations or rejection, handover is deemed to have taken place. So the inspection cannot wait for your next trip. If you live outside Spain, agree in advance who accepts the works on your behalf and against which list.

A liability claim under the LOE expires after two years (article 18), counted from when the damage occurs. Even so, do not wait: the later you document a defect, the easier it is to dispute its cause.

How do I file a claim for a defect?

Write to the contractor, through the channel named in the contract, and attach photos. A spoken "it leaked" proves nothing. For serious defects a burofax is sent alongside the email, because it records the date and the text.

The letter needs five things: address and room, a description of the defect, the date you noticed it, dated photos and video, and a request to inspect within a reasonable time; one or two weeks is usual. If water is running now, shut it off and limit the damage first, then write.

Do not hire another tradesperson before the contractor has inspected. If you do, they can argue that outside work changed the cause, and you will not recover the cost. Emergencies are the exception: do the minimum and photograph everything before and after. If the contractor stays silent or disputes the cause, the next step is an independent expert report (perito), which carries more weight than any message thread.

What is not covered by the warranty?

Wear and tear, consumables and the results of poor maintenance. These are not defects, and the contractor does not have to fix them free of charge.

Wear includes silicone joints around showers and baths, gaskets, ventilation and heat-recovery filters, grout in wet areas, lamps and LED drivers, and the oil or wax on a wooden floor that must be renewed as the maker instructs. Parquet and solid timber panels open small gaps in a dry winter and return to size in summer: that is how the material behaves.

Natural stone has veining, patches and shade differences, which are its nature, not a fault. Marble etched by an acid after cleaning with the wrong product is not a warranty case either. Appliances carry the manufacturer's guarantee, for the period stated in their documents, and you claim through the brand's service. Changes you or another tradesperson made after handover are not covered.

Who pays to repair a hidden defect?

The contractor you signed with answers to you, and that includes the work of their subcontractors. How they split costs afterwards should not concern you.

Under article 17 LOE, the contractor is also directly liable for damage caused by deficient construction products they bought or accepted, with a right of recourse against the supplier. If you brought the material yourself, the line blurs: the contractor answers for installation, while the quality of the tile or the fixture is for the manufacturer and the seller to settle. More on that arrangement in our article on client-supplied materials.

A hidden defect shows up once walls and floors are closed. The smallest area is opened, the cause is documented and only then is the payer decided. If the cause is installation, whoever did it pays. If it is the material, the claim travels up the chain to the supplier. If it is use, the owner pays.

How do we help you avoid claims in the first place?

There are fewer disputes when everything is written down in advance. At BCN YARD one person is responsible for the site, payments follow stages under the contract and the final price is fixed in the estimate after the visit and measurements. Read the warranty terms before signing; we are happy to go through them with you point by point, in Spanish or Russian.

At handover we draw up the snagging list with you and track it to closure. For a home you use a few weeks a year, that works better than any promise: you hold a document with dates.