If I can no longer claim under the “LOE”, Spain's Building Act, is there another way to claim against the architect?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

Yes. You may still have a claim for breach of the contract signed with the architect, because the “Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación” (LOE), the Building Act, expressly preserves it. The “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, confirmed this in judgment 860/2026 of 4 June, in a case in which the time limit for claiming against the architect and the building surveyor (the “aparejador”) under the LOE had already passed but the contractual claim was still open. That claim belongs to whoever engaged the architect and, according to the judgment, also to those who later buy the homes and to the owners' association they form. That case came from Cádiz and was governed by the Spanish Civil Code (“Código Civil”), which allows five years, but in Catalonia the time limit is in principle ten years if the contract is governed by Catalan law. Three periods that should not be confused The judgment distinguishes three periods that are often mixed up: The LOE guarantee period, which is the time within which the damage must appear. For the architect, it is ten years if the damage affects the structure and three if it affects habitability, as damp does. It runs from the handover of the works, the act by which the builder hands over the finished building to the developer. The time limit for claiming under the LOE, which is two years from when the damage appears. The time limit for the claim for breach of contract, which is independent of the other two. That is why the contractual route may still be open even if the damage appears after the guarantee period or more than two years have passed since it appeared. Who can claim and what has to be proved Whoever engaged the architect, usually the developer, the housing cooperative or the private individual who had the house built. According to the judgment, also those who later buy the homes and the owners' association they form. In that case, the building had been developed by a housing cooperative. When the homes were allocated, its claims against the building professionals passed to the members of the cooperative and to their owners' association, even though they had not signed those contracts. The Supreme Court points out that, in construction, the courts take a flexible approach to the rule that a contract only has effect between those who signed it. It has to be proved that the damage results from a breach by the architect in the design, in the supervision of the works or in the final works certificate (“certificado final de obra”), the document with which those supervising the works declare them finished. A report from another architect is usually needed. If the architect, the building surveyor and the builder caused the damage between them and each one's share cannot be separated, they may all be liable for the whole. The time limit and other routes In Catalonia, the ten-year time limit runs from when the breach and the damage become known or could have become known. A written claim interrupts it and makes it start again. Even so, do not wait. The architect's insurance usually only covers claims made while the policy is in force, so it is advisable to claim against both their current insurer and the one they had before. Before suing, the law requires you to attempt negotiation. There may also be other routes: If you bought the home, a claim against whoever sold it to you, under the contract of sale. The professional association that checked and stamped the design (the “visado”), which is liable if the architect does not pay, but only for the defects it should have spotted when checking it, which are usually formal ones. If you have been told that the LOE does not apply because the works were left half-finished and were never handed over, do not write it off. In a case like that, the Supreme Court upheld an architect's liability under the LOE in judgment 643/2026 of 28 April.