According to established case law, a certain degree of severity is enough to prevent the normal enjoyment of the property for its purpose, or to make its use seriously irritating or annoying. The suitability of parking spaces for their intended purpose must be regarded as essential, and that suitability covers both their dimensions and their access.
It must be accepted that establishing such inadequacy, with this scope, requires more than a mere visual inspection of the parking space. Its effective and repeated use is needed to verify the degree of difficulty or hardship that makes the subject of the contract definitively unfit for use.
Can I claim if I have to make too many manoeuvres to park?
Yes. Parking a car in a space does not necessarily have to be done “in one go” without any manoeuvres, as the layout of the basement, the arrangement of other spaces, etc. may make that unrealistic. What cannot be tolerated is having to carry out a series of complicated manoeuvres in order to park. We would consider that needing more than three manoeuvres is already irritating and annoying use, as the judges put it. If this is your case, contact us.
Liability for parking manoeuvres in the garage
To determine who is responsible for the inadequacy of the parking spaces, an expert specialising in claims for parking spaces must carry out certain tests and measurements on which to base the expert report. Those responsible for the poor suitability of the spaces may be the designer who laid them out incorrectly in the project; the builder or the site management team for not executing them as stated in the project; or the developer, as the last party responsible and ultimately liable as the seller, for having sold something unfit for its intended purpose.
Under Article 10.2(b), the project should have been drawn up in accordance with the regulations in force, and if it was not, this should have been corrected during execution.
Furthermore, under Article 12.3(c) and (d), they should in any case have warned of the non-compliance or unsuitability of the site during execution of the works, as it was their duty to:
c) Resolve contingencies arising on site and record in the Book of Orders and Instructions the precise instructions for the correct interpretation of the project;
d) Draw up, at the request of the developer or with their agreement, any modifications to the project that the progress of the works may require, provided they comply with the regulatory provisions contemplated and observed in drafting the project.