Definition : Legal recourse - Recursory action

An action brought by the defendant in order to have a third party involed to answer for any convictions that may be handed down against him. This is the case for a syndicate of co-owners who, being sued by a co-owner whose improvements made to his private portion have been damaged, brings a legal proceeding against the developer because of a construction defect affecting the common portions of the immovable.

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The law regulates the liability of contractors and building professionals for any problem related to the quality of construction work. In this regard, the legislator has provided for a specific protection regime for divided co-ownership. Section 1081 of the Civil Code of Québec recognizes the legal interest of any syndicate of co-owners to assert the rights of all co-owners to correct defects that appear, in the short or long term. This could occur during the initial construction of the building, or during work carried out several years after its erection. In short, when problems affect the common portions, the syndicate benefits from several legal warranties. Among them is the one against latent defects, design or construction defects. These warranties are worth their weight in gold, because very often, the cost of the work to be carried out in a co-ownership can be substantial.
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