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dpb dpb is offline
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Default Four Years Structural Liability

John Wheeler wrote:
I have a home that was built with a costly structural defect. One of
the load bearing stud walls was built without adequate concrete
footing.

I contacted the home builder, who told me to contact a structural
engineer. The engineer informed me that the home builder was liable
for structural defects for four years after the home's construction.
Can anyone point me to an online reference with this information or
anything helpful.


No can do other than to look for the applicable Code sections of your
State. Needless to say, as others have pointed out, getting
professional help in doing this is far more likely to result in a
successful conclusion both in time and likelihood of the proper outcome.

It is, of course, also true that one could start w/ the engineer who
told you this "fact" as to his source.

Following that, others have already mentioned the local building
regulation code enforcement folks (if, of course, you're in a place
where there is such an animal--where we were in TN code enforcement
consisted of leaving a bottle of Wild Turkey or other appropriate flavor
in the most obvious nook).

I'd only add that I would think your likelihood of success in pursuing
this is directly related to the integrity of the builder himself and
whether it was a simple mistake or a deliberate act. The strength of
the case could also be related to whether the building in question was
done under permits and w/ fully engineered and stamped plans or was
simply built from layout view plans as opposed to blueprints.

Far too much unknown and variables for usenet to be of any real use...

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