The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) recently organized thematic controls of real estate developers of residential projects to verify their compliance with the legal provisions on consumer protection.
The ANPC incorrectly assessed that developers do not comply with certain legal provisions on consumer protection. Consequently, it requested the implementation of measures that, in addition to being imposed in relation to breaches of law that have no legal basis, are likely to cause substantial damage to developers. They’ll also lead to additional costs that were not and could not have been taken into account when establishing the budgets of the residential projects.
One of the issues raised by the ANPC is related to developers’ alleged non-compliance with the minimum areas of the apartments, as regulated in Housing Law no. 114/1996 (Housing Law). The ANPC requested developers to (a) stipulate in the sales promises/contracts that clients have been informed about such non-compliance and (b) provide fair compensation to their clients covering the alleged damage caused thereto.
However, the control of apartments’ minimum requirements takes place at the issuance of the building permits. According to the methodological norms for the implementation of the Housing Law (as approved by GD no. 1275/2000), the issuance of building permits must be made with observance of the minimum requirements regarding the areas and the equipment level of the rooms of apartments contained in Annex 1 of the Housing Law. Also, according to the Housing Law, the municipalities (the issuers of building permits), and not the ANPC, verify compliance with the minimum areas contained in Annex 1 of the Housing Law.
Therefore, if (i) construction works were carried out in compliance with the building permit and the technical project, (ii) the apartments’ areas comply exactly with the areas from the technical project; (iii) the municipality issued a building permit for the construction of the residential project; and (iv) the building permit has been in force throughout its validity term, has never been challenged, suspended, or annulled (according to the law, the building permit is presumed to be legal), it means that the municipality considered that the mandatory requirements for apartments contained in the Housing Law are met with respect to the authorized project.
