15- My architect turns out to be a fraud and I may have committed a serious crime
A strange visit from the authorities and discovering that my architect is a fraud.
(It may be a good idea to read the posts in order and start with the oldest one)I am sorry for the long silence but life has taken a lot of strange turns and with one thing and another I never came around to continue the story.
However, here are the events in early June 2015:
A panic message from my architect
I am sitting at work when my architect messages me and the panic shines though even in the short message she sends me:
The region of Madrid has sent inspectors to the apartment in order to inspect and secure the working conditions for the people renovating it. They are not happy with what they see.
Workers without safety measures like helmets etc
- Not toilet (of course not, they are there to build a new toilet!)
- No dressing room (seriously??)
- No evacuation plan
- No sign about where to find the closest hospital
Hence; if you plan to rebuild the only working toilet in your studio apartment you first need to build a new toilet for the workers and you must also construct a dressing room for them. And just hope they are of the same sex so that you do not need to build two dressing rooms in your 30 square meter space. Spain is an absurd country!
However, the strange thing is that normally, this kind of requirements are not applicable for minor renovations like in apartments, but apparently one or more of my neighbors really want to mess thing up for me and thereby have called some friend in the regional administration. And hence yes... they may apply anyway.
What really surprises me though, is the following:
It turns out that I am the one responsible, should anything happen to the workers, like someone falling of a ladder or likewise. Not the architect who I am paying 20% on top of the offer in order to supervise the work being done! Those 20% amounts to about 15000 Euro and she declines any responsibility!
This actually means that, legally speaking, I am the responsible construction manager. And in order to be that I should have gone a course in construction and work place safety and I should have an insurance on top of that. This despite, and I repeat, that I am paying a shitload of money to the architect!
Now I am in really deep trouble:
The community of Madrid is requesting a full blow project documentation and the Region of Madrid wants to fine me for not following the regulations for workplaces and safety and lacking the necessary prerequisites for being the responsible construction manager.
To say that I was disappointed and felt fooled by the architect and (by now former) friend of mine is a big understatement. I decide to temporarily stop all work and this time see to it that everything is 100% legal.
In the next post though:
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