Construction defects are a community hazard. Legally, Texas law defines this as poor workmanship in a project’s design. It can cause structural failure, damage to property or person and financial harm to several parties.
Standard of care
The state holds the construction industry to a legal standard of care. This applies to all parties under the project’s design umbrella. Whether architect, electrician, carpenter or laborer, everyone has to abide by strict accordance of guidelines and safety measures to ensure projects meet construction industry and governing body qualifications. When parties do not, mistakenly or otherwise, the contractors and their teams are legally responsible for any disastrous outcome.
Breach of contract
When these matters come before a court, plaintiffs need to prove that builders delivered a product other than contractually promised. In Texas, you have four years to file a breach of contract claim. The period starts on the contract’s execution date. An exception is if you discover the defect several years into living in the dwelling. In this case, the law allows the construction defect time limit to start upon discovery.
A claim may meet the criteria for a statute of repose. The repose imposes a filing period of six years even if the defect isn’t discovered right away.
Negligence of builder
Construction defects are not always obvious. They may not reveal themselves for some time.
A solid example is poor quality materials gradually deteriorating. Before you can file a claim, a construction expert may need to testify that the structure integrity ultimately failed due to original design choices. The court has to see that the builder did not meet the standard of care, resulting in economic or personal damage.
Despite the most transparent and conscientious behavior from builders, construction defects can happen. It could be difficult to track what your contractors are doing. If things go wrong, keep in mind that you have legal recourse.
