Property Defects in 2026: What to Do When Something Goes Wrong

What actually is a defect?

When we say “defect”, everyone imagines that something is not in order. But what does it look like from a legal point of view?

A defect is simply the fact that a property does not have its usual or agreed characteristics. What matters first and foremost is always what was agreed. If the contract states that the property has certain characteristics (for example copper electrical wiring or completed insulation) and that is not true, it is a defect. If it was not agreed, it is not a defect.

Many people think that if they state defects in the contract on the basis that they have already been reflected in the purchase price, then they are not defects. That is not true. They are still defects, it is just that compensation for them has been settled in advance with the other party. So the rights arising from the defects have lapsed.

If nothing specific is agreed in the contract, the property must be fit to serve its purpose according to its type (a flat for living, a warehouse for storage), and it is assumed that its condition will correspond to its age. So even if it is possible to live in a devastated flat that is 5 years old, the condition certainly does not correspond to its age, and the flat is therefore defective. > Want to know more? We have a webinar recording for you.

How defects are categorised

Defects, like many other things in law, are categorised according to various criteria. The main ones are:

Legal and factual defects

The difference lies in whether the defect affects the property itself as an object, or whether its legal status is not in order.

Factual defects: a leaking roof, faulty electrical wiring, cracks in the walls. They can be discovered by inspecting the property or through a professional inspection.

Legal defects: a lease relationship attached to the property, an easement, or a lien. Many of these can be found in the Land Register, but some defects may be undiscoverable (for example an unregistered easement).

Apparent and hidden defects

From our point of view, this is the most important distinction. The question is whether you would discover the defect during an ordinary inspection, without invasive intervention or professional examination. Be careful, though, the expert knowledge of the person carrying out the inspection is also taken into account. What may be an apparent defect for an electrician (a missing residual current device) will usually be a hidden defect for a layperson.

Apparent defects: a hole in the wall, broken tiling, damp on the ceiling. These should be addressed directly in the purchase contract, because the buyer knew about them or should have known about them.

Hidden defects: poorly built masonry behind a suspended ceiling, defects in the wiring inside the wall, an unsuitable roof structure. These are typically claimed only after some time, once the defects manifest themselves.

Material and immaterial defects

The difference is whether the defect constitutes a material or an immaterial breach of contract. In other words: had you known about the defect, would you have entered into the contract at all (material), or would you have entered into it with some compensation (immaterial)?

Material defects: defects in the structure of the house, in the statics, the existence of a lease relationship (when you want to live in the flat yourself after purchase). With these defects you may also demand to withdraw from the contract.

How to claim defects

Without exaggeration, the moment you claim a defect is crucial. It can either lay the foundations for a successful resolution or wreck the entire process.

Most people know that property defects can be claimed up to 5 years back from the purchase. That is true, but it is an objective and maximum time limit. If you discover a defect later, you can try to resolve it by agreement, but you will not litigate, because realistically you have no chance of success.

Alongside this, however, there is also a subjective time limit, without undue delay from the time you learned of the defect. What does that mean? If you discover a defect, you do not wait, you act.

The “without undue delay” period is not fixed. It is generally recommended to claim defects no later than within a matter of weeks of discovery. If you do not have all the information about the defect but only a suspicion, we recommend claiming it anyway. State that the precise specification of the defects will follow after consultation with an expert or specialist.

When you find damp patches on the ceiling, you do not wait half a year to discover the cause (poor waterproofing, a hole in the roof). You report what you see, stating that you have invited an expert to assess it.

You can claim defects progressively as you determine their extent. And always in writing, so that you have evidence. Even in today’s age of email, we recommend that, alongside the email, you also send a registered letter or a data message to the data box. There, no one can argue that the message was caught by a spam filter.

The only exception: when the seller knew or must have known about the defect and concealed it. But that is often very difficult, sometimes even impossible, to prove.

What you can claim as compensation

You have discovered a defect, you want to claim it, and you logically ask: what can you demand as compensation? You have four claims in total:

1. Removal of the defect by supplying a new item without the defect or by supplying the missing item (with property this is only realistic where the item can be supplemented, such as broken tiling)
2. Repair of the item
3. A discount on the purchase price
4. Withdrawal from the contract (only for material defects)

You choose which claim to pursue. If, however, you do not choose soon enough after notifying the defect, the right of choice passes to the seller. The law allows progressive claims. If you do not want to lose the right of choice but do not yet know the extent of the defect, state this straight away in your claim, noting that you will choose the specific claim once you have all the information.

Removal of the defect

If you want a repair and the seller does not arrange it, you can carry it out at the seller’s expense. However, you must give the seller the opportunity to arrange the repair (with some exceptions), and if you carry it out yourself, you can only claim costs reasonably incurred. If, as part of the repair, you have something upgraded, those costs are on you.

Discount on the purchase price

The most common claim. At first glance it may seem simple, you just want part of your money back. But determining the amount of the discount is not so straightforward.

There is extensive court decision-making practice on this claim. The claim for a discount should take into account all the circumstances of the case. To determine the discount, the starting point is the costs needed to remove the defect, the reduction in the useful value of the property, the need to spend your own time on the matter, but also what the value of the property is with and without the defect and how much it was bought for.

What does that mean? If you do not reach agreement and go to court, it will not be possible without an expert opinion. The criterion of the value of the item with and without defects is particularly tricky. It may happen that you buy a property below its value but with hidden defects. You want compensation in the form of a CZK 100,000 discount (the amount the removal cost you), but you may be unpleasantly surprised. The expert may say: “Even after you paid CZK 100,000 to remove the defects, you are better off than if you had bought at market value, so a discount is not warranted.”

Remember: a discount does not equal the cost of removing the defects. That is only one of countless components. If you have doubts, contact an expert who can help you determine an appropriate discount amount.

Withdrawal from the contract

This claim is used considerably less often than a discount or a repair. Withdrawal cancels the whole transaction, the parties return what they received (the money and the property), and they compensate each other for any appreciation or depreciation.

The pitfall is often precisely that compensation: one party will argue that the alterations carried out depreciated the property, the other that they appreciated it. And another pitfall is time. When you have lived somewhere for 3 years and a defect then appears, you have less appetite to move than after a month.

How it all ends

You have defects, you have claimed them, you have raised a claim, but what now? There are essentially three ways it goes.

The ideal world: the buyer makes a claim, the seller fully agrees, performs, and it is done. Unfortunately, this outcome is rather the exception.

A settlement agreement: even if you do not agree at the outset, you can find a solution acceptable to both parties during negotiations. An agreement is concluded, the seller provides compensation, and the buyer will no longer pursue the defects in question.

Court: if agreement is not reached, the only thing left is court, usually seasoned with mediation.

To correctly determine the amount of a discount, an expert opinion is essentially necessary. In the case of litigation, however, it is also necessary to assess whether there really was a defect at all. So further costs arise and everything is prolonged. That is why courts are keen to order mediation, a neutral third party tries to bring the parties to an agreement. In our experience it has value, it is just a pity that the agreement reached through mediation may come a year or so after the matter began, and is often very similar to what the parties had already negotiated earlier.

If even mediation does not work, the court decides. Be prepared for at least one opinion, sometimes two. A review opinion may also be added. A court dispute over defects takes years, and that is without mentioning an appeal.

What the court assesses:

• The existence of the defect - whether the property is really defective
• The timeliness of the claim - this is linked to assessing whether the defect is hidden
• The claim arising from the defects - what it awards, and in the case of a discount how much (it can never award more than the claimant demands)

Although we enjoy disputes over defects, we genuinely try to steer clients towards agreement. Once you are in court, there are many unknowns and plenty of potential snags.

How does practice see it?

Dealing with property defects is not just about legal work. Experts and property inspectors, with whom we cooperate regularly, play a major role. So we asked them: what do they see most often and where should buyers be careful?

Michal Baumann of Nemoinspekt sums it up clearly: “On practically every property we find some defects. What matters is their extent, severity, and the cost of removing them.”

The most painful, in his view, are new builds. Buyers expect that they will not have to invest in them, but the reality is different. “We often find problems with damp, electrical wiring, a poorly executed roof, or inadequate acoustic insulation. The costs run into the higher hundreds of thousands or into the millions.”

Equally problematic are properties after renovation. “Recently I inspected a flat advertised as fully renovated. In reality, a crumbling core had merely been wrapped in plasterboard, only the sockets had been replaced on the electrics, and the cheapest floating floors had been laid over uneven floors. That is not a renovation, that is camouflage.”

Determining the amount of the discount is not just maths

The company Statikum, with whom we cooperate over the long term, explains it like this: “The amount of the discount does not equal the cost of repair. We assess how the defect limits the use of the property, reduces its value, and affects its market price. Sometimes repairs are cheaper than the drop in value, other times even after an expensive repair you end up with a property worth more than what you paid.”

That is why an expert opinion is key: it provides an objective view and determines a fair discount that will hold up even in court.

What to watch out for when buying

The most common hidden defects according to experts:

• New builds: poor waterproofing (which only shows up after months), defects in the roof structure, poor-quality electrical wiring
• Older flats: damp, damaged plaster, unprofessional building work by previous owners

“Even seemingly minor defects can lead to significant costs. An inspection before purchase can save you considerable money and nerves,” adds Statikum.