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Peru residents prosecute construction company for selling faulty building

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

The owners of an apartment complex known as Residencial Bolivar, which is made up of 135 apartments in four buildings, will have to pay $6,000 for the evidence necessary to prove they were cheated by the construction company that built their homes.

Those living at the complex, which is located in the Limean district of Pueblo Libre, claim their walls are rapidly deteriorating and cracking because of bad construction work and a faulty structure.

Residents have pressed charges against Berric S.A., the company that was in charge of construction work and gave them their homes just three years ago.

While a study has been carried out by Peru's University of Engineering, stating the buildings have defective structures, another study done by the country's College of Engineers claims the building is fine.

Because of this difference in opinions, neighbors must pay $6,000 to have a third study done to prove or disprove they were sold buildings in bad conditions.

Another conflict in opinions can be seen when analyzing the fact that the Municipality of Pueblo Libre approved the project once it was completed.

The country's Civil Defense Institute claims the buildings are inhabitable, however.

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# john says :
18 September, 2008 [ 16:50 ]

I went the other day to look at an apartment in Surco. I was looking at the building materials being used and the workmanship. I know that Peru doesn't have the most money in the world, but the building work is very poor and maybe that's expected due to the low salaries paid to the employees. I went to there main office and the walls were cracking and moldy in their display home. Even my girlfriends mother's house has been constructed very poorly. Be very careful when choosing a new home or apartment and make sure you check other buildings build around the same time to see  how there condition is. I'm thinking to do most of the work on my house instead of paying for poor workmanship.

# SA says :
18 September, 2008 [ 20:53 ]

Sadly Peru has very poor building codes and rarely inspects or enforces.
This is why they have so many deaths due to collapse of buildings every time there is an earthquake.

# Splaktar says :
19 September, 2008 [ 13:07 ]

Yep, there is almost no enforcement at all of building codes and construction.  Many buildings in Peru have faulty structures or blocked emergency exists.  Many people build extra bedrooms where safety areas are supposed to be located.  Enforcement is difficult and takes many months just to get someone from the municipality to come do an inspection.  Then you have to get the Civil Defense to do an inspection, etc.  It's a major pain in the ass.  Even when they find problems, they often overlook them, specially illegal constructions and safety violations.

I hope these people win their case and get properly compensated.  Construction companies need to quit running scams and using illegal materials to save money.