Pisitpon Sriploy
Pimpisa Saneevong Na Ayuthya
Should the consumer purchase the condominium from the property developer (the “Developer”) and later move in, and becomes apparent that the defects have arisen, including walls, floor, ceiling, or other areas that may lead to water leakage. The consumers can request the Developer repair the defects within the warranty period set out in the agreement.
By referring to the announcement of the Contracts Committee on condominium business operations subject to contract control, B.E. 2543, Section 3 (10), in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior’s announcement regarding the stipulation of purchase and sale contract forms and purchase and sale contracts for condominiums under the Condominium Act B.E. 2522, Section 8 (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Consumer Laws”), it would be noted that the liability for defect in the Consumer Laws shall include the warranty period of the condominium as follows:
- Minimum of the five-year warranty period for the condominium building construction and integral equipment and
- Minimum of the two-year warranty period for other component parts
The foregoing warranty period will commence from the date of condominium registration according to the Condominium Act B.E. 2522, provided that the Developer is obliged to repair the defects within thirty (30) days after receiving the written notice from the consumer or the building management office.
Nevertheless, in the event that such defection was found after the expiration of the warranty period under the following conditions (i) it would not obviously be visible at the time of acquisition and
(ii) the consumer not have known or should have known about such defection at the time of acquisition, the consumer shall be entitled to file the lawsuit against the Developer in order to receive the procured remedy for the defection within one year from the notification date according to the Civil and Commercial Code (the “CCC”) Section 474.
Furthermore, should the aforementioned defect arise due to the (i) failure to follow construction standards and/or engineering standards or (ii) use of under-standard materials as indicated in the agreement, it shall be deemed as the default of the agreement and the consumer shall entitled to file the lawsuit for compensation (the “Consumer Lawsuit”). The statutory limitation to filing the suits on the basis of a sale and purchase agreement would be ten years after the execution hereof, according to CCC section 193/30.
By filing the Consumer Lawsuit, the consumer shall be exempt from the relevant court fees.
However, such an exemption shall not apply to the court fee in the appeal stage, according to
Section 18 of the Consumer Case Procedure Act B.E. 2551 (2008) (the “CCP Act”). Moreover, the Developer has a burden of proof according to Section 29 of the CCP Act should the disputed issues be related to the substantial in terms of manufacturing, assembly, design, or component of goods, services, or other operations which should be know-how of the Developer.
Should you have any inquiries or procure the preliminary consultation, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or +662 027 7802.