The eventful adventure that Raquel Pérez innocently began not only in the distant year 2022 This earned him a long stay in his father’s house.but even temporary isolation from her two furry children: a pair of friendly cats. “For safety reasons, they could not come with me to the apartment until we almost finished the renovation. There is a risk of hurting themselves or jumping out of the window,” says the young psychologist.
Without a doubt, Perez never imagined getting plastic surgery (even if it did). peeling In depth) to his newly acquired apartment will mean a lot of drama. “What took the longest was the flooring and the kitchen. I think several things affected it,” he says. “The problem that I did not expect at all was a financial problem. It turns out that with the war in Ukraine, prices have not stopped rising and many people have told me that. So, the carpenter is late because he does not have the materials, and if the carpenter does not come, the builder cannot come, and so on.”
Added to this is the accumulation of obstacles, according to her opinion Depending on the job, professionals need assistants “Since they cannot hire people constantly, they play with workers who work with one today, tomorrow with another. This prolongs everything, of course.”
There is a shortage of professionals
Raquel’s case is no exception. According to Report on the construction sector For the Construction Workers Foundation 2023, more than half of companies confirm that their projects have been delayed due to difficulty finding employees with appropriate training. The unions in which this shortage of professionals is most clearly evident are the construction, plumbing, and electrical unions. 70% of job offers remain open for more than a month. Added to this is the problem of innovation in the sector: only 20% of active workers have accredited and up-to-date training, a factor that directly affects the quality of the reforms carried out in Spain.
One element of lack of renewal, the psychologist from Huesca knows well, since her father works in construction. “My father always comments that first officers are old,” Perez says. “He is 63 years old, he is one of the youngest people. The last people to have this level of training were 58 or 59,” he says. “Since it is not paid well nowadays, no one wants to get into construction. It is a difficult and complicated job.” He concludes: “In construction, you have to know a lot of things, because the majority now do not do new construction work but renovations, and this means knowledge of plumbing, electricity and construction.”
Nacho Fernandez, Technical Development Manager at Lemon Spain, knows well what it is like to deal with the domino row that is the world of repair. A condition where, if one piece falls, the other pieces follow, preventing anything from moving forward.. “Often there is a delay in our planning because the client tells us that the work is not completed, that they cannot find a builder, that they cannot find a contact or skilled worker to do the work so that they can continue,” declares the manager. He continues: “This creates problems for us in planning. Even the ‘turnkey’ renovation companies are in the same situation: the client suffers, the professional suffers. There is a decrease in the specified workforce.”
Although Fernandez emphasizes that from their sector – the glass curtain sector – they are a bit like a “Gaul village”, since they encourage internships and productivity so that installers can earn more and feel that the work is paying off, this does not prevent delays due to problems associated with them. “The first is quality: If a company has to meet deadlines, they outsource everything that happens in front of them, whether they know it or not. This reduces quality and customer satisfaction.”
To the last manager Lomon Remember that they must also be taken into account Expenses: Maintenance of scaffolds, aligners, ancillary resources… Everything is expanding. “In addition, when one job is late, the next job is also late. If you had budgeted for the next job at a previous price and the prices of aluminum, glass or steel increased, you arrive at prices that no longer exist. But since you are the one who is late, you cannot say to the client: ‘I will come in a month and it will cost you 20% more.’ He will ask you not to go,” concludes Fernandez.
Poor coordination
Marketing expert Henar Plaza also experienced first-hand the plight of the accumulated delays in the renovation of her apartment in the Brunetti municipality in Madrid. “The company responsible for the work has been absent on several occasions,” he says. “In some cases, they provided advance notice that they would not be attending and in others without providing any type of communication. As a result, every day since starting work has not been ready for work.” Another point is smooth communication with professionals, which, as in the Plaza, is not always lucky enough to happen.
For this Madrid native who works in the advertising sector, the problem began during the debris removal phase, when working times varied greatly. Debris removal is a relatively quick stage; However, according to Plaza, the construction phase is progressing much more slowly. “At that moment implementation problems usually arise related to the structure of the house itself, which can affect the planned pace of work,” he says. This is a complexity that was added, in his case, to poor coordination in delivery dates to various suppliers “and its integration with the work plan and implementation by the relevant specialists.”
As if that wasn’t enough, as with Raquel Perez, Plaza had an extra that made completing the work even more urgent. If in the case of the psychiatrist from Huesca we were talking about two cats orphaned by the chaotic correctional facility, in the case of Plaza things got worse with the arrival of a child into the world. “Our goal was to finish the work before the baby arrived,” says Plaza. “However, the expected deadline was not met: the baby has already been born and is one month old, the renovation is still ongoing, and we are still temporarily staying at a relative’s house.”
Arm yourself with patience
There is no doubt that the reform situation in Spain is on a bumpy road. Lack of labor, delays, material overload, lack of communication… The list is long, feeding into each other, preventing, with each new step, from drowning out the inferno of rickety floors, tools scattered everywhere, and half-built walls.
Faced with this situation, for Raquel Perez, there are some warnings to take into consideration before embarking on your home beautification adventures. “My first warning would be: You have money and another house to live in,” the psychologist admits between nervous laughs. “The more you donate, the faster they’ll come and the more they’ll do. And if you can afford not to live in the apartment while it’s being renovated, the better. Although I imagine that’s a lot to ask for.”
However, beyond the lyricism, what really matters to Peres is arming himself with perseverance and patience Surround yourself with people who accompany you and support you in difficult times“Because there will be some, and you can pay for them with whoever is next to you,” he says. “It is also true, to have a higher budget so as not to spend too much time on something that generates stress. A stress that you can only imagine when you are in it,” concludes the young woman from Huesca, who, fortunately, already sees the light at the end of the ruins in her renovation process, so much so that her cats can finally be with her at home.
And the solution?
But, in terms of solutions, how can we address the improvement of the situation? For a manager LomonNacho Fernandez, the key is to get to the base. “Vocational training schools, institutes and places where people are thinking about their future. Change the segment related to the installation business or this sector,” he strongly suggests. “If you let people think about their future in the old sense of a worker in Spain, it is difficult to convince them. There are workers who have not thought about this as a future, but they come because I don’t want to study, or ‘I end up working’, or ‘Sooner or later I will have to earn a living’.”
“You have to look for people who really want to do it,” says the director, for whom this is also important. Develop a development plan for professionals in this sector. Just as the doctor knows that he will study his entire life, the same concept must be created in areas such as facilities: “New tools, materials, building models… This spirit is almost non-existent,” Fernández concludes.
A decision that fits well with what Henar Plaza considers should be a priority in the sector: “appropriate planning that allows for optimal allocation of equipment and resources”, while making realistic estimates. Two elements that can only be done if the entire infrastructure is well oiled, starting from training and ending with repair that, contrary to the usual tale, stops tending to infinity.
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