Having cracks can be a huge fire safety issue. Between one floor and another, there must be a complete seal called «compartmentalization». This prevents fire from passing from one dwelling to another in blocks of apartments when a fire breaks out. This means that air is not able to pass from one floor to another, between yours and your neighbor’s, because if the compartmentation is broken, it could pose a serious fire risk.
To give as an example the case of a terrace, this is a common element of private use. Even so it has a double condition: that of being a common element that covers the floor below it; and that of being a private element due to the use given to it by the owner of the floor where the terrace is located.
Taking into account the current COVID-19 Alarm Status, it is necessary to restrict some work, following the appropriate safety protocol. Those that remain in force will have to be carried out as carefully as possible, following the established hygiene and prevention recommendations. Some repair companies will continue to provide services for electrical breakdowns, boiler repairs or gas repairs.
As ruled by the BOE: «Those providing cleaning, maintenance, urgent breakdown repair and surveillance services, as well as providing services in the collection, management and treatment of hazardous waste, as well as urban, hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste, wastewater collection and treatment, decontamination activities and other waste management services and transport and removal of by-products or in any of the entities belonging to the Public Sector, in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 of Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts.»
If there are works in progress, whether they are private or located in common areas of the building, they will be able to continue operating for the time being. The downside is that many will end up suffering from supply shortages as many of the warehouses that supply building materials will be closed.
The corresponding measures imposed by the Government in the face of the advance of the Coronavirus have caught us all by surprise. We will have to get used to this situation of uncertainty and prevention in the coming days.
Although in the following weeks our movements outside our home will be reduced, this does not mean that we will be safe inside our own building. We will have to be cautious inside and outside our homes
It is difficult for homes in Spain to embrace energy efficiency as such. This is because the communities of neighbors, can not meet the cost of the relevant works to this improvement. Sooner or later these rehabilitations will have to be undertaken, there is no doubt about that. In Spain, 55% of the houses built before 1980 were built without taking into account any energy regulations. At the same time, 85% of homes with green energy certificates do not have a correct rating
The first thing to keep in mind is that Horizontal Property is a form of co-ownership, in which the owners of a property that is divided into apartments share common elements.
The fact of undertaking a work in a house, whether of total or partial reform, rehabilitation or new work, supposes an uncertainty for the person or community that undertakes it. The first of them is what can the work cost? The solution is the budget.
To contract the works we must know our garden well, know if it has trees, hedges, lawns, shrubs, fountains, etc. It is necessary to make an inventory of all the plantations and elements that we are going to take care of and to have clear what type of services our garden needs.
