John Wheeler wrote:
That advice was not helpful. I am looking for an online resource I can
consult without talking to a lawyer first, as I'd like to give the
home builder adequate opportunity to fix the problem without going
through legal channels--but I also want to have all my bases covered.

Anyone with helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. If you know
of this 4-year structural defect liability (I haven't been able to
Google for it), please let me know.

Thanks.

Such liability laws vary widely, if they exist at all, from locale to locale.
How about asking the engineer who gave you this info about *his*
source of informatiion?