There are several reasons to take construction defects seriously:
1. Safety hazard.
2. Loss of value.
3. The end of the contractor's warranty period.
4. Functional defects that affect daily life.
5. Aesthetic damage.
6. Defects that worsen when left untreated.
Here is what each one means:
- Safety defects are the most serious kind, since they pose a real hazard to the people living in the home. Residents often can't spot them, because they don't know the building codes and standards well enough to recognize non-standard materials and products.
* Examples include exterior cladding tiles that come loose and fall, insufficient ventilation in the safe room (mamad), gaps between railing bars wide enough for a child to fall through, narrow escape openings, and unsafe glazing. - Loss of value: construction defects worsen by their nature if left untreated, sometimes reaching a point that is very hard to fix.
- The end of the warranty period: the law sets different warranty periods for different elements of the apartment, and under the Sale (Apartments) Law, you should report defects as early as possible.
- Functional defects, for example: crowded sanitary fixtures in the bathroom, or fixed window panes that can't be cleaned.
- Aesthetic defects: usually the ones residents notice first.
* Examples: peeling grout, stained floor tiles, rough plaster. - Worsening over time: most untreated defects get worse through ordinary wear, and the longer you wait, the harder they are to fix.
The engineers of Arad Bedek Bayit, led by building engineer Ron Arad, whom courts appoint as their own expert on construction defects. The company has been inspecting apartments and buildings since 2001. Engineer Ron Arad · More about the company