Legal obligations in case of hidden defects in a home

Questioner

Dear reader(s), My girlfriend and I bought a house on 1 June 2012. During the renovation it came to light that the meter cupboard did not comply with Dutch legislation. The meter cupboard is of German manufacture. This was brought up with the selling party. They indicated that they were not aware of this and that the installation had functioned satisfactorily for all those years. According to them, this means that there can be no question of a hidden defect. Is this correct? Replacing the meter cupboard will cost us +/- 1000 euros. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Lawyer

To avoid confusion, let's clarify the definitions. A meter cupboard is the space in which the distribution box for electricity is installed, and possibly gas and water meters. The meter cupboard no longer has to meet requirements. So I assume you mean the distribution box. Because the distribution box is not hidden but visible, it will be difficult to state that it is a hidden defect. You could possibly state that the house does not meet the requirement that it can be lived in now that the distribution box is not good. But because it is an existing installation, that installation must meet the requirements at the time the house was built and therefore not the current requirements. So you will first have to find out when the distribution box was installed and whether the distribution box met the requirements at that time. If the installation did not meet the requirements that were set at that time and the seller knew that or could have known that, then you have a chance to hold the seller accountable. I would also advise you to request multiple quotes for replacing the fuse box, because I know from other cases that replacement was already possible for an amount between €500 and €750.