Construction Defects in New Subdivisions

The Construc­tion Defect Center is launching a program that will help homeowners in newer subdivisions in the Western states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington—identify defects in construction or construction products.

Operated by America’s Watchdog, a private consumer group, the Defect Center helps buyers whose houses have not been built properly, investigating their leaking roofs and windows, and defects in roof shingles, stucco installation, wood siding, plumbing systems, and appliances.

The Center says it has seen serious flaws in construction in subdivisions built in the Western states since 2009. But it has found that homeowners are tight-lipped when it comes to discussing housing problems with one another, so common defects often go unchecked.

“We have seen instance after instance where a newer subdivision might have defective plumbing pipes, defective windows, defective roofs, defective siding or stucco, and the homeowners in the subdivision never talk about these common issues. As a result it is the homeowner, not the home builder, that gets stuck with the repair bill,” the Center said in a statement. “These repair bills could easily be over ten thousand dollars per home, especially if we are talking about re-piping a home, replacing all of the windows, re-siding, or re-roofing a home.”

When a homeowner identifies a defect,  the Center will find the most suitable local construction defect law firm to inspect the issue and see how prominent the problem is with other homes in the area. “Our bottom line is we don’t want homeowners in these single family home subdivisions stuck with the repair bill for repairs that should not be their problem,” the Center says.