Rosemary

Totally agree, actually I came back on here to make that point and you had beaten me to it. When I had my roof terrace renovated it was done by my neighbour who is a reliable builder in my town and even though we are friendly and I trust his word I still asked to see the licence. Basically it is the house owners responsibility at the end of the day so it is always advisable to double check and not take anyones word for it.

Rosemary

paulhe

Agreed, of course it is the owners responsibility to check the licence. I am a lawyer (barrister and solicitor) in Australia and solicitor (non practising) in UK, however , as I have said, I have only one week to sort this out and even less time to meet builders for quotes because of my personal circumstances, and builders do apply for licences . Can someone please answer my request for some recommendations on builders in the area . My usual experience with this and other threads is that the response is usually helpful . I am travelling to Martos I am staying there only two days to hopefully arrange builders quotes
paul

paulhe

Does anyone living in the Martos/Jean areas have any experience with builders Campo Construction? Any other reputable builders to recommend please ?
Paul

Mark604

There is a builder in Alcaudete I've used for years and re-constructed my house. Now does the things to it that are wearing out.
As expected there is no website but his firm is called Construcciones Semavi.
The owner is Manuel - tel 678724128.
His son, Sergio, who is more likely to answer the phone is on tel - 657803543
His workers will travel within the Jaen area to do the jobs.
I've had dealings with them for the last twelve years and you can get the job they do cheaper, but not by much and not done so well. They'll also sort out the permits, take the rubble away etc etc..
But - they don't speak English if that is a barrier.

paulhe

Thanks , our Spanish is not competent , especially for this type of work however we may be able to obtain the services of a gestoria

Moses2013

A quick Google shows several construction companies in the area with websites. Only allowing two days to sort things out is maybe a bit too rushed and any reputable builder will be busy working, so expecting them to give you a final quote that is valid sounds a bit too good to be true. It usually takes weeks, if not months to get a plumber alone and building material prices are higher than ever.
Good luck and I hope you don't take the first builder you get just because you are in a rush.

paulhe

Thanks , my plan is to hopefully have two or better three quotes . I hoped to then correspond via email or Zoom etc to organise, if it can’t be done then it can’t . my family live in UK so they may be able to come over if needed. We were intending to come out for longer in June/July however a funeral in UK meant we had to apply for permission to leave and while in UK for the funeral I decided to come over to the house. We have to quarantine in a gov hotel for two weeks when we return next week to Aus hence our time here is very short
paul

paulhe

Just to update and to thank people for providing advice . I managed to arrange for two builders to attend the house. They were very easy to communicate with and it was not difficult to arrange and speak with Sergio with google translate (I intend to learn competent Spanish in time ) on WhatsApp . I had to cancel both meetings however, since when my wife and I visited the property in advance to take measurements and consider finally what we wanted doing, there was a family/people living in the house ! We just walked in as the lock had not been changed and no sign of any forced entry . When we last saw the place we had everything cleared out including the old kitchen , ready for the works we wanted doing . That was in 2019 , we haven’t visited since because of COVID and not being allowed to leave Aus .
I want to give a massive shout out to Andy (one of the builders) and especially his wife Diane who came with us to the Guardia Civil to make a Denuncia . I suspect the person that has done this (put people in to rent without my permission) but I am making further enquires before formal accusation
Beware if you have empty houses in Martos or near ! They are not squatting , in my view they have one of my keys
Paul

Mark604

Bad news. You are aware a member of this forum had great difficulty though with a squatter. There is a previous thread but the Part II is here -

Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

I presume you've left a key with someone who has now rented out your house whilst you couldn't be there.

paulhe

No, I purchased the house and had a person associated with that agency change the locks for me - a builder he knew was to clear the house and make good the roof which had collapsed . I visited the following year 2019 to collect the keys from him and check the property was cleared and roof repaired, it was and I was happy. As I said above I arranged to see property again with builders at the first available opportunity for me (as stated this was on Thursday ) . Not only were people living there but also they had fitted a kitchen, they are connected to the electricity and water (neither of which was connected by me, when I purchased the house there was no connection of water or electricity)
I had not given a key to anyone nor had this person a power of attorney to act on my behalf nor had I ever given permission for my house to be rented while it was empty - in my view it was unfit for habitation at the time I last saw the place.
The people living there in my view were clearly not squatters in the traditional sense - they had not broken in , they must have a key that fits the lock that was replaced . I received two copy keys , one of which I used to gain entry on Thursday
my enquires thus far suggest to me that this situation is not unique in Martos . As I say before naming the person I suspect I will make further enquires.
I am simply reporting it as a warning to others who may have empty properties in the area
paul

Mark604

Just as a thought, I bought mine from an agency. They recommended a builder, who was from the UK living in Spain, to start off my renovations. He quoted an acceptable price and we agreed for him to start. The work he did was very good - but - he soon started adding extras on and on and on for more and more money. There was also a dispute with one of his UK workers who for reasons unknown to us and can't work out why, started bad mouthing us. At the earliest point we could we stopped him doing any more. He has since left the area. We then approached the contacts I've given you. They have always quoted a price and rigidly stuck to it. Their work is also very good.
I think though but hope not, you'll not find a quick resolution to your problem and it will be some time before you are ready to do any building work.

By the way, I'd immediately change the locks when there was nobody there.

paulhe

Thank you

Rosemary

Did they provide a quote that included IVA? Some builders do and some do not so it is always advisable to double check on that as it makes a huge difference when gaining quotes.

Rosemary

Mark604

Yes. IVA included in the presupuestos.
Of course I'm sure builders often don't include it, but being foreigners we made it clear we abide by the rules and want no surprises.

Rosemary

The builder (neighbour and friend) who renovated my roof did not include the IVA in the quote but he did in the final bill as he always stays legal too. Some builders use this way of working to make the work appear cheaper than other quotes whereas he had been told that he had already got the job so nothing to gain by not including it initially so it seems that this is his method of quoting.

Rosemary