During a storm, a railing owned by the co-owners’ association Limoncello broke off and fell to the street from metres above. The co-owners’ association asked us to appoint a technical adviser and legal counsel. The railings were found to be insufficiently anchored and showed excessive misalignment under stress. We decided to start court proceedings.

In addition to the detached railings, there were other defects in the building: water infiltration in the basement and commercial premises, subsidence in the garden and poor fire safety due to inadequate compartmentalisation. Our colleagues at Gerantis Chipka documented this together with the co-owners’ association and submitted their findings to the Court of First Instance. The court appointed an expert to inspect the common parts of the building.

In October 2023, the company Buildwise tested whether the railings complied with standard NBN B03-004 regarding parapets of buildings. They performed three tests: a static, soft and hard impact test.

During the static impact test, Buildwise investigated whether the parapet deformed too much under load. In other words, did the parapet protect the residents sufficiently? During the dynamic tests, the parapet was subjected to a number of shocks. Because even after an impact, a balustrade must continue to guarantee safety.

Buildwise compiled the results of these tests in a report, which the court-appointed expert used to prepare his opinion for the judge. Court proceedings are ongoing.