Mandatory inspections and maintenance in communities of owners

Hello again from Meridional. The safety of residents is our priority, which is why we want this post to focus on the importance of compulsory inspections and maintenance in residents’ associations.

Mandatory inspections and maintenance in communal areas

In a owners’ association, there are communal facilities that require almost constant maintenance and are subject to a series of mandatory inspections to ensure they function properly and, in this way, safeguard the safety of their users and neighbours.

We will look at which elements need to be inspected in owners’ associations and how often they should be inspected.

What inspections and maintenance work are compulsory in owners’ associations?

Maintenance of Lifts and Other Elevators

Regular inspections of lifts are governed by the Regulations on Lifting Equipment and Maintenance, published in Royal Decree 2291/1985 of 8 November, and by the Supplementary Technical Instruction AEM 1 “Lifts”, published in the Presidential Decree No. 88/2013 8 February.

Depending on the specific characteristics and use of the lift, inspections will be carried out at shorter or longer intervals.

• 2 years: Lifts installed in industrial buildings or premises open to the public.
• 4 years: Lifts installed in buildings with more than 4 storeys or more than twenty dwellings.
• 6 years: All other lifts situated in buildings that do not comply with the preceding paragraphs.

Generally, it is the lift maintenance company itself that is responsible for carrying out inspections on this common component. You can check the plate on the lift itself for details of the most recent inspections.

Electrical installations in the Community

The inspection of low-voltage electrical installations is governed by the Low-Voltage Electrical Regulations and their Supplementary Technical Instructions, published in the Royal Decree 842/2002 dated 2 August, and these must be inspected. 

Depending on the specific characteristics of the building or the capacity of the installation, they must be inspected at varying intervals: 

Every 5 years:

• Car parks with more than twenty-five cars.
• Swimming pools with a power rating of more than ten kW.
• Outdoor lighting with a power rating of more than five kW.

Every ten years:

• Those communal areas of the building with an installed capacity of more than 100 kW.

As with lifts, these inspections will be carried out by electricians authorised by the OCA (Authorised Control Bodies).

Diesel tanks

As regards diesel fuel tanks in owners’ associations, these are governed by the Regulations on Petroleum Installations and, like lifts and electrical installations, must undergo regular inspections to ensure they are in good working order.

• Ten-year inspection: For indoor tanks with a capacity of more than three thousand litres and outdoor tanks with a capacity of more than five thousand litres. An authorised inspection may be carried out every five years.
• Inspection every ten years: This will be carried out on smaller-capacity tanks.
• Five-year inspection: Underground installations must undergo leak-tightness tests, during which the pipework will be examined, as will storage tanks that are not double-walled to prevent leaks, nor are they buried in a sump with a submerged cylinder.
• The storage tanks mentioned above will need to undergo a leak test, with the circuit empty and clean, provided that no foreign objects have been found on the surface.

Inspections of diesel fuel facilities and storage tanks, as well as maintenance checks, shall be carried out by specialist technicians authorised by the OCA.

Central Heating Boilers

Royal Decree 238/2013, of 5 April, amending certain articles and technical instructions of the Regulation on Heating Installations in Buildings, approved by Royal Decree 1027/2007 of 20 July, states the following:

“…the Spanish legal system and the requirement set out in the second final provision of Royal Decree 1027/2007 of 20 July, which approves the Regulations on Heating Systems in Buildings, to carry out a periodic inspection at intervals of no more than 5 years…”

Royal Decree 1027/2007

In addition to this, depending on the boiler’s output, one type of inspection or another will need to be carried out, at varying intervals:

These checks and inspections will generally have to be carried out by the same supplier, although they may also be carried out by any other authorised company.

Technical Building Inspection (ITE)

The abbreviation ITE stands for “Technical Building Inspection”. This must be carried out on all buildings in a city, regardless of their use (residential properties, commercial premises, etc.), once they reach a certain age.

Since July 2012, this has been compulsory for buildings over forty-five years old, although there may be local by-laws requiring it for buildings of a different age.

This must be drawn up by authorised professionals (architects, quantity surveyors or structural engineers), who will produce a visual report on the following aspects of your building:

• Structure of the building.
• Headboards.
• Roofs and Roof Terraces.
• Accessibility Features.

If any serious problems are identified, the community will need to hire a structural engineer to oversee the works and then have the ITE carried out again.

It should be noted that, in order to sell a property that is more than forty-five years old, you must produce the ITE certificate.

Penalties 

Failure to carry out any of the compulsory inspections and maintenance works in residents’ associations referred to in the article may result in penalties in the form of fines; furthermore, the uninspected common area may be rendered unusable until it passes the relevant inspection.