Architecture expert witness, Michael S. Poles, GC, CM, RCI, DABFET, ACFE exerpt from his own publication on what constitutes construction defects.
Since the "Building Boom" of the 1980's and the advent of the ten year cycle ( California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 337.15 ) for "LATENT DEFECTS" ( A latent defect is one that a property owner does not know about and would not be expected to discover through the exercise of reasonable care. ) construction defects claims and subsequent litigation has exploded into horrific proportions.
According to many articles that have appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune, the La Jolla Light and the Los Angeles Times, "the proliferation of construction defects litigation has devastated the California Economy by drying up the availability of affordable attached housing, depressed the job market and driven multi-residential builders and their insurance carriers out of the State of California, or out of existence all together".
In addition, individual home owners that have been involved by their Homeowners Association bringing forward construction defect litigation have reportedly lost equity in their property. Many have reportedly "walked-away" from their mortgages and lenders have shied away from providing loans to prospective buyers of "Common Interest Developments" in California.
Recently California lawyers have been preparing to spread out of California by seeking licensing in the States of Nevada and Arizona. Nevada, in particular, has been enjoying a building boom for approximately the last ten years. With the proliferation of new Las Vegas Casinos, new Housing, Schools and allied support businesses and industry ... it looks like Nevada is next!
Imagine for a moment that we actually live in a "perfect world". A world in which everybody assumes full responsibility for all of their actions and omissions. A world where construction professionals and tradesmen, alike, do everything that they do within strict accordance with all requirements of all applicable Building Codes, Building Code Standards, adopted Standards promulgated by professional, manufacturers' and trade associations. Further imagine a world where everyone never makes a mistake and builds with absolute perfection!
Theoretically, when it comes to defects in construction, that is exactly the type of world that many plaintiff lawyers want us to believe we live in .. "a perfect world". Anything less than "absolute perfection" is considered, by many plaintiff lawyers to be "DEFECTIVE". They draw an image of incompetent and corrupt contractors and developers that can do nothing right, but can only provide the consumer with highly defective and unsafe buildings.
Think about it! Construction Defects! What are they, really?? Are they blemishes? Are they something that's less than perfect? Just what is a defect?
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