Snagging

I’m sorry to say that the snagging group buy just fell apart. The company is no longer prepared to back the original agreement. They claim it took too long and they demand more money. We can still get a discount, but the base price is now 50 Euros higher and they changed conditions.

The original deal which I negotiated was pretty good: instead of paying 405 Euros list price we only had to come up with 300 Euros. I’m very disappointed with their decision, but I can’t change it (I tried hard!).

We are now facing two problems: will people be willing to pay 50 Euros more AND will there be enough participants to meet the requirements set by this company (at least 10 people and as a new addition: all snags to be done in one week).  The extra complication is that we have to organize this very quick as the first snaggings will have to be done in about a week.

Based on my earlier experience this won’t work. We already had some people backing out of the group buy due to other arrangements so we won’t be able to find at least ten people prepared to pay the higher price and who will meet the new requirement that they complete within a week of each other.

It’s quite frustrating as I put in a lot of work in this project. Lengthy negotiations with the British architect, a lot of organizing and prompting to get all participants to communicate the necessary details, etc. It was completely non profit: the full discount should go to my future neighbours. So, like you, I’m very sorry it didn’t work out.

Some words about snagging and some possible solutions to my earlier post:

Nowadays in Spain snagging happens after completion, not before like it used to be. So you always pay the full amount and compile your list of shortcomings later. You have a year to report minor faults (major construction faults are covered by a ten year warranty). However if you want to have them fixed fast you’ll have to hand over your list of snags within fifteen days after completion. The law states that only these will be fixed within a 28 day period.

 Some options:

-          do it yourself within fifteen days. It’s the cheapest option with the disadvantage that you have to be able to make up your snagging list in Spanish or pay your lawyer to translate it. You can certainly do this if you have a reasonable experience with construction, finishing quality etc.

-          let the before mentioned British architect do it for 405 Euros (and an extra 300 Euro to check if repairs are done properly). PM or mail me if you want this, Maybe I can still get some discount if there are a few people. Remember that he won’t follow up on the snagging report that has to be done by your lawyer.

-          Let me do it through our property management company. Not a non profit thing this time as it really takes hours per apartment so we’ll have to ask a fee for it of 160 Euros. We will provide you with a very detailed report in English and Spanish with photos of all the problem spots and make sure the developer and your lawyer get a copy. This probably won’t be as good as the architect’s report, but as an experienced DIY guy who also attended some snaggings by professionals I’m sure I will catch at least 95% of all possible problems. Remember you still have a year to find hidden faults and have them repaired within guarantee. Again PM or mail me (see signature) if you want this done.

 I hope this answers some of the possible questions. Let me know if I missed things.

(all prices mentioned include of course Spanish VAT)

Hi Max,

We appreciate all your hard work on the snagging issue.

I think we are going to do our own at this stage as we will be over signing and my husband said he will do it, 

You are very good and put a lot of work into this forum. Only sorry we did not get to meet when we were over, don't worry we Will as soon as we get our keys.

We cant believe we got the licence I suppose it will be tomorrow before we hear officially.

What is the next stage we go through now?

Thanks

Lorraine

Hi i wanted someone to do the snagging but without the lights and the water on how can this be done we could have a leak of water and the cooker might not work ? if i can not get over i will get max to do it bye irene/peter

Hi Irene

Having seen how tidy and clean the whole developement now looks and also having seen inside a few months ago I do not expect there to be major faults but I do want to have the snagging done so I will be getting Max to do it. I also be using Max to facilitate the electricity connection and I expect this and the water will be connected before the snagging.

Our completion is now scheduled for Wednesday. I will keep you updated as we go along

Best Wishes

  After doing the first snagging reports there seems to be some common issues:

 -          the marble skirting is done very badly. Lots of peaces are already loose, others show cracks and the overall finish is disappointing.

-          Inside and outside plastering quality differs greatly. Some apartments are good, some need a lot of fixing

-          For the outside plastering issues fixes are very difficult as they need to be followed up by a complete paintjob of the wall. You can’t do bits and peaces as it will show.

-          Tiling differs as well. Some are good, most have at least broken or damaged tiles. Sometimes in the bathroom, sometimes on the balcony.

-          Marble floors are basically done very well, but some have severe scratches (sometimes solvable by polishing them again, but some severe cases have to be grinded and in one case (ours!) one room wasn’t polished at all. We only discovered this after a lot a cleaning!

-          Some showerheads are already broken.

-          Lots of paint splatters on the marble floors.-         

-         Burglar bars are all very rusty. Some parts are never painted as the workman clearly had no key to it :)

-        Incidental problems, ranging from locks not working, damaged shutters and walls with dirty handprints which have to painted again.

The good news is that they resumed fixing snags. At least for our clients; don't know about others. They are collecting keys and are making repairs. I guess they are starting to see the error of their ways and try to turn the tide. They realized I'm to be taken serious and I won't give in if my clients rights are harmed.

My experience is that the devoloper will fix anything that can be fixed easily. I have cracked tiles on the terrace (a common problem). Alfonso claims that they cant get the same tile and offered a different sized and different shade of tile. We said no which is I guess what he wanted us to say. We also had a serious chip in the shower tray (not right through). They filled it and spray painted it. We said this was unsatisfactory and pushed for a new tray through our solicitors. In the end Alfonso told them he was not allowed to change the shower tray. My solicitor says she is having similar difficulties with other apartments so I do not think this is just because my name appears a lot on the proxy votes register! The trouble is the developer will not respond to a threat of legal action and for a snag of this type it is just not worth going to court.

I think there are some things better fixed yourself. We had an electrical power point directly above the cooker when we complained alfonso sent his snag repair man to do the job. This guy moved the socket two tile spaces away from the cooker by extending the cable by making a bare joint covering it with insulation tape then tiling over & if that was not safe enough now the double socket in its new position only works on one side! when complained to the snag man (as best as i could as he doesn't speak any English and my Spanish is not much) he said I now need an electrician!! so why was he attempting to do an electrician's job if he isn't an electrician?

I would agree  that sometimes you  are as well to sort out the snaging yourself..  When eddie and I got our electricity on our light switches were all mixed up the livingroom switch put on the bedroom lights bedroom put on terrace and terrace put on the living room.  Eddie sorted this himself in 5 minutes .Could you image how long it would have taken them to sort?. 

Can i ask if any one has the name of the paint and the colour for the exterior  of the building..  Again  we are not satisfied with the repairs that they have already completed for us and would like to re do this ourselves.

wanda

Hi Wanda & Eddie, If you find this out let me know as we need to do our terrace as well and would prefer to do a proper job ourselves.

Hi All,

This is the sort of information that our newly formed community should be giving to us,either via a website,email or in our post box. Then there should be no excuses if you have painted your apartment the wrong shade/colour. Does anyone know if our community has provided this information for us or is it still on the "to do list"