What to ask your lawyer before you sign, part of a six-part series on the new-build purchase contract in Spain.
Why the Memoria de Calidades is not an annex
The Memoria de Calidades sets out the concrete materials used: floors, sanitary ware, windows, mechanical systems, façades. It is not a marketing document but the basis for any later defect claim.
What the Memoria should actually contain
- Brand or quality level of the key elements, with a clear reference to a specific series.
- Rules on colours, formats and sample selection deadlines.
- Systems such as air conditioning, underfloor heating, alarm, water treatment and electrical level.
- Outdoor works: pool size, pool cover, barbecue area, cistern capacity, garden scope.
How you protect yourself against substitutions
Developers frequently reserve the right to substitute materials with equivalent ones. Without a fixed reference series, that term is elastic. A useful clause allows substitutions only with your express written consent.
The questions that belong on the table
- Is the Memoria de Calidades a binding part of the contract and how is it physically linked to it?
- Is there a variation clause and what does equivalent mean in practice?
- How are buyer-driven changes (upgrades, special requests) documented and priced?
- What happens if sample selection is delayed and who carries that risk?
What not to be dazzled by
A polished brochure is not a specification commitment. What counts is the contractual list of materials. Anything not there can be missing at handover without giving you a legal defect claim.
Written by Valentin Quiroga, lawyer specialising in real estate law on Mallorca. This article does not replace individual legal advice.
Details decide the substance.
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