Protecting yourself against building issues before buying apartment?

VonLuck

I am currently looking at purchasing an apartment, but as I delve deeper into my research, I'm slowly but surely getting concerned about the build quality of the pre-recession apartments.

There have been a few high profile apartment blocks which were affected by fire issues, and with the recent Grenfell incident, I'm sure it's much more in peoples minds.

But when buying an apartment, there is no way of actually knowing if there is adequate fire protection as everything is hidden. It's not only fire issues, but potentially structural e.g. the recent issues with the schools which could have happened to any apartment building.

Is there any way of avoiding falling victim to huge outlays of money to fix these issues which could crop up at any time? I was thinking that I could find out who the developer was and hope they are still in existence and cover the costs, but I'm not sure if that's even a guarantee. Is it just a risk all purchasers of pre-2010 apartments have to take?

Dolbhad

VonLuck wrote: »

I am currently looking at purchasing an apartment, but as I delve deeper into my research, I'm slowly but surely getting concerned about the build quality of the pre-recession apartments.

There have been a few high profile apartment blocks which were affected by fire issues, and with the recent Grenfell incident, I'm sure it's much more in peoples minds.

But when buying an apartment, there is no way of actually knowing if there is adequate fire protection as everything is hidden. It's not only fire issues, but potentially structural e.g. the recent issues with the schools which could have happened to any apartment building.

Is there any way of avoiding falling victim to huge outlays of money to fix these issues which could crop up at any time? I was thinking that I could find out who the developer was and hope they are still in existence and cover the costs, but I'm not sure if that's even a guarantee. Is it just a risk all purchasers of pre-2010 apartments have to take?

The main issue with costs and apartments is you are bound to a management company. Every owner is a member and part of the contract is you will pay management fees. The fees can be reasonable when you buy it but there is nothing stopping them going up on future. If substantial works needs to be a carried out, the management company pays and unless there is a significant sum of money in the sinking fund (usually not) owners of apartments have to pay.

Usually builder transfers common areas to management company so even if builder is in existence, I don’t think there is much of a comeback against the builder. Your solicitor gets documents like fire safety certificate which can give some comfort.

riclad

I heard on the news today about apartments in dublin they mentioned 4 apartment blocks .
Issues with lack of fire protection , people in apartments could hear random sounds from other units eg low quality sound insulation
One block has fire protection faults it will cost millions to fix it.
each owner could get a bill for 26k to cover the cost of repairs or upgrading the fire protection structure .
The problem is in the boom many buildings were not inspected ,
someone just signed off ,this building is in line with building regs, as per plans and documents sent in by the architect/builder to the planning department .
Also many builders went bust after 2007 so the only people who can fund
the repairs are the owners .
maybe look at apartments built after 2010 .
Or go to www. google.ie name of apartment x issues fire protection faults etc