Construction Defect Notice To Owners Of New Residential, Single-Family Dwellings

Should you discover a defect in the construction of your home, prior to pursuing legal action or responding to a construction defect solicitation, you must first contact your home builder. Under SB 800 (Burton, 2002), homebuilders are given the opportunity to repair your home prior to a legal action being filed. Construction defects could be problems such as water intrusion into the home or cracks in the foundation.

These Pre-Litigation Procedures for Construction Defects only apply to new residential homes purchased after January 1, 2003. These laws provide the homebuilder with a right to attempt a repair of the defect prior to litigation, inspections and exchanges of documentation under certain circumstances, and mediation at various points, all according to various time frames. These laws also provide that if the homebuilder fails to follow any of the procedures, the homeowner is entitled to proceed with the filing of an action. The laws regarding Pre-Litigation Procedures for Construction Defects can be found in California Civil Code Sections 910-938.