Outside the scope of liability

Application pratique:

This case law confirms that the chimney defect, being apparent and noted at handover, falls outside decennial liability. The owner should have enforced the 'perfect completion warranty' (garantie de parfait achèvement) within the first year to compel the builder to install the strapping. Now, beyond that period, the owner may need to fund repairs (estimated €4,500) themselves. They should contact a lawyer to explore whether the builder's contractual breach (non-conformity) can still be pursued under general civil liability (délai de prescription of 5 years from discovery).

Application pratique:

The non-compliance was apparent and reserved at acceptance, so it is excluded from decennial liability. The landlord missed the one-year perfect completion window to force rectification. Now they must urgently carry out waterproofing and seismic joint installation at their own cost (approx. €30,000) to prevent further damage. They should instruct a solicitor to assess whether proceedings for breach of contract (non-performance of a contractual obligation) are still possible, as the ten-year limitation period for personal actions may apply. A preventive legal audit before acceptance would have avoided this costly omission.

Application pratique:

As the seismic non-compliance was apparent and formally reserved, it does not engage decennial liability. The co-ownership lost the opportunity to require corrective works during the first-year perfect completion guarantee. Because the cracking has not rendered the building uninhabitable, decennial cover is clearly inapplicable. The syndic should immediately commission a structural engineer's report to quantify the repair needs (likely exceeding €80,000) and consult a specialist lawyer to consider a claim based on latent damage (if the cracking reveals a previously hidden defect) or breach of the obligation to deliver a compliant building. Timely legal action is critical as the ten-year liability clock is about to expire.