Defects in Shared Areas of a New Polish Building — Who Can Claim

You've collected the keys, moved in, and a few months later cracks start appearing in the stairwell, the roof leaks, or the lift keeps breaking down. It quickly becomes clear the problem isn't just yours — it's a defect in the shared parts of the whole building. That raises a question that looks simple but isn't: do you complain on your own, or does the owners' community (the Polish wspólnota mieszkaniowa, roughly equivalent to a residents' management company) have to act? The answer decides who is even entitled to sue the developer.

This guide is general legal information, not legal advice. How the rules apply depends on your contract, the handover documentation and the circumstances — including whether you're a consumer or acting in a business capacity — and we cannot guarantee the outcome or the scope of the developer's liability in your particular case. The matter should be assessed by a qualified Polish lawyer. Twoja Sprawa is an information and coordination platform, not a law firm — we help you organise the documents for that assessment.

Key points

Defects in shared parts (roof, stairwell, façade, shared installations) generally affect all unit owners, not just whoever spotted them first.
Standing to sue the developer depends on whether the owners' community has already come into being and whether the individual owner has acquired their own share in the shared property.
The statutory warranty for property defects runs for 5 years from transfer of ownership (Article 568 § 1 of the Polish Civil Code) — this also covers defects in shared parts.
Assignment of claims (e.g. between successive buyers, or in favour of the community) is sometimes used to tidy up a case, but whether it works depends on the specific contract.
A single owner usually cannot decide alone for the whole building — major repairs to shared parts are normally a decision of the community, taken by resolution.
Handover records (yours and your neighbours') plus a technical expert opinion help show the problem affects the building, not just one unit.

What counts as "shared parts" and why it isn't just one flat's problem

Shared parts (części wspólne) typically include elements that serve all unit owners — foundations, roof, façade, stairwells, corridors, lifts, shared installations (heating, ventilation), and often the surrounding land. Their exact scope is usually set out in the developer's information prospectus and the reservation/development agreement.

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If a defect affects something every resident uses — a cracked façade, a leaking roof, a faulty shared installation — it isn't a private problem for one buyer. As a result, a single owner generally should not unilaterally decide how it gets fixed, or run the case on everyone's behalf without proper authority.

Community standing vs. individual owner — who can sue the developer

This is the key question in these cases — it shapes the whole strategy.

Before the community exists (during the handover of the first units): each buyer has their own contract with the developer and their own right to report defects — including in what will become shared parts — under the Polish Developer Act (ustawa deweloperska) and warranty rules. Reports at this stage tend to be individual, even though they concern the same element of the building.

Once the owners' community (wspólnota mieszkaniowa) exists: it is normally the body that manages the shared property and is the proper party to pursue claims for defects in shared parts, under the Act on Ownership of Premises. The decision to bring a claim is usually taken by resolution of the owners.

An individual owner can still pursue claims relating to defects in their own unit (e.g. cracks in internal walls, a faulty internal installation) regardless of what happens with the shared parts. The line isn't always clean, though — damp inside a flat may in fact stem from a façade defect, which is a shared element.

Tip: if you're the first to notice a defect, report it both to the developer (to preserve your own deadlines) and to the community's management or managing agent — so the matter doesn't sit only in your individual correspondence.

Warranty, guarantee and assignment of claims for shared parts

The same protection mechanisms that apply to defects in your own unit apply to shared-parts defects, though who can rely on them differs:

Statutory warranty for property defects (Article 556 et seq. of the Civil Code) — the developer's liability under statute, regardless of fault. For defects in property, the limitation period is 5 years from transfer of ownership (Article 568 § 1 of the Civil Code).
Guarantee (gwarancja, Article 577 of the Civil Code) — a voluntary commitment by the developer; its scope and duration are set by the guarantee card, not by statute.
The Developer Act procedure (handover, protocol, defect notification) formally applies to the handover of individual units, but defects noted may well cover shared elements too, such as the stairwell.

Claims are also sometimes transferred (assigned) — for instance when a flat is resold to a new owner, or when owners want to consolidate claims in one place, such as with the community. Before assigning a claim it's worth checking: whether the claim can be assigned at all (e.g. it isn't already time-barred), whether the assignment covers the whole claim or only part of it, and whether the developer was properly notified of the assignment. A poorly drafted assignment can weaken a later court claim, so it's worth preparing with a lawyer.

How to document a shared-parts defect

Evidence	Role
Building / shared-parts handover protocol	The primary record of the defect being reported at handover
Reports from several owners	Show the defect affects the building, not one flat
Dated photos and video	Document the scale and progression of the defect over time
Building surveyor's report	Technical assessment of the cause and extent of the defect
Correspondence with the developer and managing agent	Shows attempts to report and the response (or lack of one)
Community resolutions	Formal basis for the community's action in the matter

Step-by-step

Report the defect to the developer in writing — with a description, the date you noticed it, and photos, whether it concerns your unit or a shared part.
Inform the managing agent or the community's board, if the community already exists — it will ultimately decide how claims relating to the building are pursued.
Talk to your neighbours — a joint report strengthens the case that this is a systemic defect, not an isolated one.
Keep your documentation together — handover protocols, the information prospectus, the development agreement and correspondence.
Consider a technical survey, especially for structural, roof or installation defects.
Get legal advice on who has standing to bring the claim — you individually, the community, or whether an assignment is needed.
Watch the warranty deadline (5 years, as a rule) — don't delay reporting out of fear of "damaging the relationship" with the developer.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sue the developer myself over a roof repair, even though I live on the ground floor?

It depends on whether the owners' community already exists. As a rule, matters concerning the shared parts as a whole are handled by the community acting on a resolution, not by an individual owner in their own name.

Does the community even have to be formally set up before it can pursue shared-parts defects?

The community comes into being by operation of law as soon as the first units are separated out, so it formally exists quite early on. Whether it is organisationally active — with a board, passing resolutions — is a separate question.

What if the developer says the defect is "normal wear and tear", not a construction defect?

This is a common technical dispute, usually resolved by a building surveyor's opinion and, in court proceedings, by an expert witness. Bare assertions from either side, without technical documentation, rarely settle it.

Does the 5-year warranty period run the same way for my flat and for the shared parts?

As a rule it runs from transfer of ownership of the property, but when different units are transferred on different dates the calculation can be more complex and needs a review of the documentation.

Need help with this?

If a defect has appeared in a shared part of your building — the roof, façade, installations or stairwell — we can help you organise the handover documentation, the development agreement and the correspondence, so it's easier to work out who has grounds to bring a claim and how. Tell us about your building — let us know whether an owners' community is already active, what handover protocols you have, and whether other owners have reported a similar problem. Submitting the form does not create any contract, and the initial review is free.

Last reviewed: 11 July 2026.