POLARIS WORLD HAS STOPPED ALL RECTIFICATION WORK ON CONDADO

We have just been informed by Customer Services  that the Director Jose L. Luis of Polaris World has put a hold on all work on Condada including any rectification of building defects, is he waiting for the three year insurance to lapse!!!!!!!!!

We have been trying since January for Polaris World to correct their sub standard workmanship to the roof of penthouse block 16 which is causing water ingress within our apartment.  

What we really don’t understand is why Mileniun aren’t pushing, as every heavy rainfall will only reignite the problem. If Mileniun just keep painting the interiors and claiming from its insurer the premiums and excess will increase which will be passed onto the community charges. 

What really is worrying is that if the cause of the water ingress isn’t rectified, the actual structure will start (assuming it hasn’t already) deteriorate dramatically.

If anyone has structural issues perhaps you can contract your President so that we can start legal proceedings.

We absolutely love the resort but are frightened our dream home is going to crumble away beneath us.

You might be best to contact your president and get them to raise the issue within a presidents meeting.  It could be that if there were sufficient properties involved the community could take action on their behalf.

I am just not sure what the role of the community and the presidents should be in this.  Personally I think if they can do something as a "joint" effort than I think the chances of getting action from Polaris would be increased. 

But is it a community or a private issue?  I think it would benefit the community if Polaris were forced to act but that's my personal view.

THIS IS A DISGRACE AND POLARIS SHOULD HANG THEIR HEADS IN SHAME.

Hi

In my opinion a class action as a group coordinated my our Presidents and management company is the only way forward.

Phil

is there no 10 year building protection scheme like we have in the UK with NHBC?

 This is a disgrace, but the only way to force Polaris to carry out the repairs is to take ( or threaten to ) them to court.

Repairs to individual properties are not the responsibility of the administrator, they are only employed by the community to manage the collection of fees and the maintenance of common areas or the resort.   The presidents have taken this up a number of times over the past year but polaris just ignore them. 

The 10 year warranty is for structural problems, water ingress is only covered for three years, the insurance only kicks in if the developer goes bust, which sadly is not the case here.  Although we live in home. 

Polaris are hoping that the individual cost of a court case will put people off, so the only way forward would be for a number of owners with the same problem to join together in a "class action" 

There is a note on the community website about this.  If there are a  number of owners wlth the same problem they can group together and share the cost if getting a survey done by an independent architect,  if the report shows that the problem is caused by either a build construction or design defect then the developer can be taken to court and forced to pay.  The note says to contact Mileniun to discuss costs of this action

L

I was sure that when we looked at the contract prior to signing there was mention made of a 10 year guarantee on the buildings.  I may be wrong but it would be worth checking

L

the 10 year warranty may only be for structural problems, however Rain should not affect the structur of the building, Thus IMO its a structural build problem.

Poor build quality

The law specifies different timeframes in which a developer is obliged to intervene at no cost to the buyer to correct faults or indemnify the buyer for any damages caused. The type of construction fault determines the timeframe.

10 YEAR CONSTRUCTION WARRANTY

Serious structural faults that affect construction elements such as the foundations or retaining walls.

This guarantee is basically an insurance policy with an insurance company, not your developer or builder. If you have serious structural problems within 10 years of construction you will have to contact the insurance company, who will send an inspector. If they agree that you have structural problems covered by your guarantee they will cover the costs of correcting the problem. If they don’t agree, you will have to take them to court or pay for the work yourself.

3 YEAR WARRANTY

Less serious structural faults that nevertheless render the property or parts of the property uninhabitable, for instance leaking roofs.

By law, the companies and professionals involved in building the property are obliged to correct these kind of faults. ‘Honourable’ and highly professional companies will meet their obligations, but such companies are in short supply. In reality, many owners find it difficult to get promoters and builders to take responsibility. You may have to use a lawyer to force compliance, which involves paying for a survey, getting the results notarised, then having a writ issued against anyone you can claim against, such as the promoter, builder, or architect. This will cost several thousand Euros, perhaps much more, and could take more than a year.  It may be cheaper, and will certainly be quicker, if you take it on the chin and pay for the work yourself.

The timer starts form the completion of construction, NOT when the new owner completes, so for Condado the three years will expire mid 2011. 

Whilst I agree that a building should not leak, in reality if the developer is refusing to correct the problem we only have about a year to get them to repair it.

L

 If the structural integrity is compromised, and water gets to the reinforcing bars, then.............................pretty obvious isn't it?

keeve

The work of the Presidents is to represent the interests of the owners in the running of the resort and its maintenance.

The work of the Management Company is to manage the resort and it administration on a day to day basis, they also provide advice including legal advice to the presidents.

I would have thought it is reasonable to expect that the Presidents and the Management Company would represent our collective interest in this issue.

The alternative is to continue representing ourselves individually which clearly isn’t working, or setup a separate comity to deal with this issue.

I do understand that our community fees should not be used to fund any necessary action and we would probably have to pay into an action fund to take legal action if necessary.

I have in the past been involved in a similar action on a housing estate I lived on in the UK some years ago. The builder just ignored the individual residents until we set up an action group, we each put a small payment into a fund so we could have a survey undertaken to prove the defect. We then approached the builder with the evidence which to start with they ignored. We then instructed a law firm to take action on the builder, when the builder was presented with a court date for the class action they caved in and paid to have the work done and also refunded all our costs. The cost to the builder involved was very little as all they did was instruct the subcontractor to re do the work they hadn’t don properly in the first place. The builder also covered the cost of the original surveyor we had instructed to supervise the corrective work.

All this can be done but we have to move forward as one, with one voice, which as I said at the start would make sense if that voice was coordinated by our presidents and our management company. Or we can carry on as we are and watch the time run out which is what PW would like us to do.

Phil

I have been trying to mail customers services the last couple of days, but they just reject. This explains alot!

We have a huge crack appearing in the wall between ours and next doors property, which is worrying. Amazingly Polaris are trying to sell that place!!

Searching the net I have just found this from an interview Jose Luis gave a couple of years ago, quite ironic after what has been posted today

Is there a crucial business lesson you have learnt in your experiences with Polaris World?

The most important lesson I have learnt is the importance of honesty and fulfilment of commitments to clients; anyone who gives you his hand and looks in your eyes (pauses) if you fulfil that expectation, you will succeed. If not, nothing works.

Steve

Oh and this!!

In property, people are investing hopes, dreams as well as money. Do you feel a personal responsibility for people who buy from the company?

Absolutely. We take care of people not just during the process of selling but after that. We want every client satisfied. We are, you’re right, dealing with peoples’ dreams – these things are too delicate to be mismanaged. We are not developers who just sell one project and leave. We invest in that project. We spend millions of Euros on amenities – on restaurants and pubs for example. Those investments during the first years generate losses for us but we stay there till they work. We sometimes have to adapt what kinds of cuisine we offering, the kinds of pubs we’re opening and that takes even more investment. We believe that our concept will work in the future if we take care of the present. That is not just a business principle; it’s a moral principle, too.

 PGM,

See my post below which states ;- "There is a note on the community website about this.  If there are a  number of owners wlth the same problem they can group together and share the cost if getting a survey done by an independent architect,  if the report shows that the problem is caused by either a build construction or design defect then the developer can be taken to court and forced to pay.  The note says to contact Mileniun to discuss costs of this action"

So the presidents and the administrator are already working on this, owners with problems need to contact Mileniun.

Steviev,

Great quotes, could I ask for the source please.

Thanks

L

Hi

This is the link where I obtained the quotes from

http://www.theangelinvestor.com/article/100053/Polaris-World-Jose-Luis-Hernandez-Spanish-Property/

steve

 Thanks Steve

Morals & Integrity. Obviously not something that goes hand in hand with Polaris ethos is it ?? Disgracefull.

It is quite obvious to all now that the only things they are willing to do are those that benefit themselves. Wherever PW still have their claws in our resort we will struggle to improve the situation.

I would suggest that someone in authority on the Presidents committee gets in contact with the Committee at La Torre and find out how they handled their structural problems - of which they had quite a few, especially in the apartment blocks 

At L.T. they organised a Resort -wide architects survey of all the accommodation blocks and ended up with a thick document listing items which were in need of rectification. I believe they then either took PW to court over the matter, or threatened to. Either way, I believe that progress is now being made 

The report and subsequent action was organised by the resort Committee, who were in a much better position to coordinate matters than several small gorups of owners

PB 

I've been in commercial and industrail roofing (Building EnvelopeBusiness) for last 30 years and roof defects are normally easily identified. While on the roof of the penthouses I noticed the the air conditioning companies most people praise for their great works are "leaks" waiting to happen. Go up yourselves and see the mess they leave behind them, see also the angle of the cables and pipes. These should be coming out our the wall openings downwards and fully sealed and shrouded, certainly not vertically and left open. Cearly seen on blocks both 10 and 11.

Thanks Daniels. I have damp developing in my appartment and the insurance company are coming out to look. Ill get them to check the roof as im on the top floor. May be worth others checking as well.