Who pays to repair a water leak in a shared building in Spain?

Getting a water leak can be worrying due to both property damage and the cost of repairing it. Obviously if you own a detached property, you’ll have to pay for any repairs yourself, but what happens when you own an apartment in a shared building and the roof is leaking for example?

Do you still pay for all the costs by yourself or is it shared between all the owners in the building?

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The answer depends on where the leak originates and what caused it, but the good news is that in many cases, the Official State Gazette confirms that you can claim repair costs from the homeowners' association.

When you buy an apartment in a shared building in Spain you typically pay a monthly or bimonthly fee to the homeowners' association. This goes into a pot to pay for cleaners, communal electricity in the stairwells, swimming pool upkeep (if the building has one) the salary of a caretaker and of course any necessary repairs.

A large proportion of this is contingency money, in case anything should happen that may require fixing.

In many cases you don’t even need a prior agreement from the Owners' Association, because by law, everyone is required to share the costs when it comes to the general building.

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Article 10 of Law 49/1960 of the Horizontal Property Law in Spain states that shared costs include "the works and projects that are necessary for the proper maintenance and compliance with the duty of upkeep of the property and its common services and facilities”.

It also adds that shared costs include "those necessary to satisfy the basic requirements of safety, habitability, and universal accessibility, as well as the conditions of beauty and any other requirements arising from the imposition, by the Administration, of the legal duty of upkeep”.

When is the homeowners' association responsible for paying for leak repairs and when is it down to you?

Typically, it has to do with where the leak and the reason for it. For example, if your bath or shower is leaking due to a crack in it and it creates damage to the ceiling of your downstairs neighbour, then you will pay for this yourself as it’s part of your property which is at fault.

If for example it’s a leak in the roof that covers the entire building, then the cost of repairs should be shared and come out of the pot.

According to the Horizontal Property Law the homeowners’ association will also be responsible for paying to fix leaks in the communal interior of the building, the garage, and leaks under the flooring or through the tiles.

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What about leaks from a private terrace?

Even in this case, most of the time it’s the community of owners who are responsible for paying if they're caused by deterioration of structural elements, such as the waterproofing beneath the flooring. Because these are elements common to the whole outside of the building, repairs are typically the responsibility of the community, regardless of whether access is exclusive to one owner or not.

Keep in mind though, some associations have community bylaws which may state that in the case private terrace, the owner is responsible for paying for repairs. In this case, you have agreed to the community bylaws and must abide by them.