Court-appointed expert (perito judicial) for your home

A perito judicial is an expert witness with specialised technical knowledge who helps a judge understand matters such as the origin of a crack or the repair cost of faulty renovation work. They provide a written dictamen pericial, or expert report, and explain it at trial if called. The Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, Spain's civil procedure law, requires objectivity and a sworn or solemn declaration of truthfulness, whether a party instructs the expert or the court appoints them.

A party-appointed expert is selected and paid by one party, whose report is normally submitted with the claim or defence. A court-appointed expert is appointed at the parties' request, usually through a draw from lists supplied by professional bodies and associations. Both must be objective, and the judge assesses their reports using sana crítica, reasoned evaluation of evidence. In practice, most housing defect claims begin with a party-appointed expert.

When a dispute turns on a technical issue: new-build defects the developer will not repair, hidden defects discovered after purchase, faulty or unfinished renovations, damage undervalued by an insurer, or a property valuation for inheritance or divorce. The informe pericial, or expert report, initially supports negotiation with evidence and, if agreement cannot be reached, serves as evidence before the court.

Yes, and it often avoids proceedings. A well-founded report documenting and valuing defects changes negotiations: the developer, seller, contractor or insurer knows that the evidence will matter if the case reaches court. It is common for the other party to offer repairs or payment after receiving the report with a claim. Commission it before issuing proceedings rather than leaving it until the last moment.

The person instructing a party-appointed expert pays their fees. If you win and the judgment orders the other party to pay costs, expert fees may form part of the costs payable to you, subject to statutory limits. A court-appointed expert usually requests a provisión de fondos, an advance towards fees, from the party who requested the appointment. The final allocation follows the judgment's decision on costs.

Not always for negotiation, but generally yes to bring proceedings, except in low-value claims where the law allows you to act without a lawyer or procurador, the procedural court representative. Even then, legal advice is strongly recommended. Their roles complement each other: the expert establishes technical facts and valuation; the solicitor determines strategy, the appropriate action and deadlines. We regularly work with solicitors and coordinate with yours.

No, and this protects you. An expert who says whatever the client wants loses credibility as soon as the judge identifies exaggeration. Our role is to explain clearly which defects exist, which can be claimed and what repairs cost, including when the findings differ from your expectations. You can then understand whether the claim has a sound basis before issuing proceedings and avoid unnecessary expense and risk.

Yes. We work with legal practices on construction defects, hidden defects, renovations, insurance damage and property valuations. We adapt to the issues required for the claim, procedural deadlines and report format, and are available to ratify the report at trial. Send us the circumstances, available documents and deadline, and we will provide a quote stating the scope and delivery period.