12- How I found things out and started to fight back!
Finding out about how to find things out
(It may be a good idea to read this blog in the correct order. Hence starting with the oldest post)After having realized the neighbor community would never ever actually repair my roof without me having some very hard evidence that they actually must, I once again asked to see the document enforcing the renovation of the building. I needed to see what parts of the building was under the enforcement.
The Administrator did not, surprise, surprise, answer the emails where I requested the document, and when going to the office to ask for it in person they were never able to give it to me.
So what to do?
I started by calling one of the information offices of Madrid City (this little part of public facing activity actually functions quite well) and they told me to call something called "Departamento de Inspección Técnica de Edificios" (I wrote about it in this blog post). They even provided me a phone number.
As you understand I did not have the reference number or any other means to identify this particular document I needed, but I gave it a shot and called anyway. I had nothing to lose after all.
A very nice lady answers the phone and I explain my predicament. She asks for the address of the building so I tell her and she goes quiet for a moment.
- Oh, that is file number 2011-xxxxx, she tells me but she also tells me the files are not available in any digital format and that I need to go to the office in person in order to see it. There is no possibility to send me a copy.
My visit to the 1950:s
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| It wasn't this bad, but almost |
The place was a mess! An enormous office space filled with row upon row of desks and filing cabinets. Obviously the filing cabinets did not suffice, because on top of them were piles of paper that reached 4 to 5 meters above the floor in total.
It was like walking a labyrinth with high walls that threaten to tip over and bury you under the debris.
Nevertheless I was very well received by the clerks and despite the mountains of documents piled up around us, they managed to find file 2011-xxxxx, and we sat down in the only meeting room to review it together.
Crisis and panic! the only things mentioned in the document stipulating the enforced renovation was indeed the facade, some roofs facing the street and some beams in the cellar. How could this be?!
I showed the clerk the documents I had from the architect and the notary and he he agreed; "my" roofs should have been included in the enforced renovation (I wrote about this in this blog post), and should now be under renovation.
- However, he said, It is actually the responsibility of each neighbor community to report any weak or damaged areas of the building and then do the renovations needed. Sometimes we do an inspection anyway, but we can only inspect the areas we can see and get to. And your roofs can only be seen from your apartment...
So, in this case there actually had been an inspection, but even knowing that the roofs were in a very bad state above my apartment, the community representatives carefully avoided showing that part of the building to the inspectors. A way to save money and forget about a problem I guess.
- So, I asked, what should I do? I am starting to get desperate!
The answer was to file a request for a new inspection, and amend copies of the documents from the architect and the notary to file 2011-xxxxx. So that is what I did.
I was about to say goodbye, when the clerk approached me again;
- Just be aware though, he said, that since it is now a private company doing the inspection, it will now take two months instead of a week before the inspection will actually be done.
So much for private companies being more efficient than public sector...
Next post will be about the long wanted community meeting, a nice promise that was broken and being reported by the neighbors. That post will be a thriller!
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