Expert Report for Construction Company due to Parquet Defects in New Development

1. The Challenge: Dozens of Homes with After-Sales Claims

One of the largest national construction companies faced a complex problem in a new residential development in Baix Llobregat: dozens of new owners submitted formal complaints about widespread defects in the parquet of their homes. The technical and legal doubt was crucial: Was it a manufacturing defect of the premium planks installed or an execution failure by the subcontracted installation company? They needed an independent technical report to determine responsibilities.

2. Expert Investigation: Execution Analysis

Our work consisted of conducting a methodical inspection on a representative sample of the affected homes. Accompanied by the construction company's after-sales department, we identified a systemic pattern of defects that was invariably repeated:

• Broken Connecting Clips: Numerous planks yielded vertically when stepped on due to the breakage of the anchoring system, a typical defect of using brute force or bad practice during the installation phase.
• 'Staircase Effect': The layout of the planks did not respect the minimum longitudinal offset required by technical regulations (UNE 56810), weakening the whole and generating an unacceptable aesthetic pattern.
• Poor Adjustments and Undulations: Excessive separations and a wavy effect were documented where the flooring met the baseboards, indicative of a total lack of prior leveling of the base.
• Lack of Quality Control: Planks were found installed with obvious marks that should have been visually discarded by the operators prior to assembly.

3. Conclusion: Responsibility in Installation

Our expert report was conclusive: the material supplied showed no manufacturing flaws or original dimensional alterations. All the defects detected were unequivocally attributable to an incorrect and negligent execution of the installation by the subcontractor.

Thanks to the robustness of this expert report, the developer construction company was able to exempt the material manufacturer from blame and legally shift the responsibility and the full cost of the rectification to the installation company, resolving the after-sales crisis with guarantees.