Badly plumbed apartment - my rights

DBoyd

Hi all,

I purchased an apartment in <snip>, Dublin approx 2.5 years ago. I bought from an individual who bought from plans but was never lived in prior to me moving in,

I noticed at the time the water in the toilet after I flushed was very hot. Considered it nothing more than a nuisance until last week when the toilet started leaking from the cistern. I called a plumber out who said it was the boiling water in the cistern that was causing damage and valves and washers etc were literally melting.

It could be a very big job to fix. Does anyone know my rights here? Should <snip>, the builder, stand over this error and fix it?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks
Darren

Sponge Bob

Legal problem is that it was snagged and 'passed' by the original purchaser. If the builder has unsold units they have a foreman on site somewhere, go see them. If the word gets out that the Northern Cross apartments have ****e plumbing they will not be able to sell the remaining units in <snip> because of the faulty substandard plumbing.

Threaten the media on the builder.

DBoyd

Thanks Sponge Bob

Cuddlesworth

DBoyd wrote: »

Hi all,

I purchased an apartment in Northern Cross, Dublin approx 2.5 years ago. I bought from an individual who bought from plans but was never lived in prior to me moving in,

I noticed at the time the water in the toilet after I flushed was very hot. Considered it nothing more than a nuisance until last week when the toilet started leaking from the cistern. I called a plumber out who said it was the boiling water in the cistern that was causing damage and valves and washers etc were literally melting.

It could be a very big job to fix. Does anyone know my rights here? Should Walls, the builder, stand over this error and fix it?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks
Darren

Very big job? Maybe a hour to bring a cold water feed to the toilet(possibly less depending on the pipe work) and twenty quid to replace everything inside the cistern.

I would start with asking another plumber out who won't turn it into a big job.


As for builder, its been like that for two and a half years. They are not responsible for it after one year, its up to the occupant to point out the work for snagging during this period. And you readily admit you ignored it for a long period of time.

Paulw

Similar happened in our development, but it was discovered while the developer was still on-site. Not really a major job to fix at the time (just changing of pipes coming out of the tank), and it was too soon for damage to be caused (thankfully).

Your biggest problem is the fact that it is over 2 years since the place was finished, so it now turns out that you are liable for any cost of repairs.

dudara

Moved to Accomodation & Property as I think you'll get better advice there

dudara

Victor

Talk to your solicitor and find out about the defects liability period. This is likely to have start at the time of contract / occupation, not when you bought the option from someone else.

It is not so clear whether this is a patent (typically 1-2 years) or latent (6-12 years) defect.

DBoyd

Thanks all for the advice. Decided to bite the bullet and get it sorted. Developer decided not to correct the mistake.

Thankfully SID31417t came out and fixed it for me. Was of great assistance and was very fair on price, strongly recommend Sid if anyone else has plumbing related issue's,

Thanks Sid