LATENT DEFECTS, STRUCTURAL AND DESIGN DEFECTS: THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE SYNDICATE

(Condolegal.com)

What are the rights of the Syndicate?

The common portions

The Syndicate may institute any action on the grounds of latent defects, structural defects of the immoveable or defects in the ground. Such legal proceedings may be instituted against the promoter, the contractor, the engineer and/or architect who, as the case may be, directed or supervised the construction and the sub contractor with respect to work performed by him. Moreover, the Syndicate may sue the architect and the engineer for faulty design resulting from an erroneous or faulty plan or expert opinion that they may have submitted.

The private portions

The Syndicate may also institute any action on the grounds of latent defects, faulty design or structural defects affecting the private portions, with the authorization of the co-owners of those portions.

What are the obligations of the Syndicate?

The Syndicate has to maintain, preserve and manage the immoveable, and is therefore liable for damage caused to the co-owners or to third persons resulting from structural defects, faulty design or lack of maintenance of the immoveable.

May both the Syndicate and the co-owners be held liable?

Given such obligation, any co-owner who has sustained a damage resulting from such defects may sue the Syndicate to obtain compensation. Should such co-owner or third person be successful against the Syndicate, that is if the action is maintained and the Syndicate is condemned to pay a sum of money, then, as a legal person, the Syndicate, and the co-owners at the time the cause of action arose, will be held liable to pay the Plaintiff proportionately to the relative value of their fraction.

There is no doubt that it is the duty of any meeting of the co-owners to provide the Syndicate with the financial resources to preserve the immoveable, failing which your co-ownership may very well become a judicial nightmare...