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Defective Products News
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Tuesday, 01 May 2007 |
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Action 9: Persistence Pays Off For Charlotte Homeowner
Five months ago Action 9 talked to Tricia and Brian Faust about the melted siding on their $230,000 home. It started near a false chimney a year and a half after they moved in. There was more melted siding near the front entrance. Owens Corning told Action 9 it was "reflective distortion" caused by intense sunlight bouncing off a window onto the siding. But after Action 9 made contact with the company, it worked out a generous settlement with the Fausts. Not only did Faust get the company's best siding, but she also convinced them to wrap the house in a vapor barrier, which installers failed to do before. When they asked her to pay a portion of the cost of this top-of-the-line siding. |
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Saturday, 20 January 2007 |
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This Old House Photos |
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Warranty? What 50-Year Warranty? |
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Sunday, 30 July 2006 |
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Material Crimes: construction defects and the lawsuits they are spawning
"What really sold me on it was the 50-year warranty," she explained. "Plus, it looked great, the color went all the way through and it was fireproof." ..."For the average homeowner, the cost of litigation exceeds the price of replacing a bad roof," said Birka-White. "So, many people just throw up their hands and give up." Birka-White has been prosecuting building-material defect cases for over 20 years. He said that the lack of government oversight and standards for construction materials puts homeowners in a bind and makes lawsuits more prevalent. "The bottom line is that there's no government entity to which they have to answer in order to sell these products," |
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Edmonton's fire chief concerned homes burn too quickly. |
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Sunday, 21 May 2006 |
Homebuilders reject Edmonton fire chief's claims
Alberta homebuilders are rejecting claims that they're building homes that burn too quickly. Earlier this week, Edmonton's fire chief went before a city committee to ask politicians to support his demand for changes to national building code rules that govern what materials can be used in the construction of new homes. |
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Wednesday, 01 March 2006 |
A Lack of Damages Does Not Bar a Lawsuit over Cladding
In 1999, several homeowners of Newtown Chase in Newtown, Conn., complained to developer Toll Bros. Inc. that it had used an EIFS synthetic stucco cladding manufactured by Dryvit Systems, rather than cement stucco. After the homeowners threatened to sue for misrepresentation, Toll agreed to remove the EIFS and reclad the homes in cement stucco. Toll then sued Dryvit for the costs of recladding, claiming its EIFS product was designed defectively. A federal district court dismissed the case, ruling that Toll’s actions were caused by threats of homeowner lawsuits over Toll’s own misrepresentations and not any damage caused by the EIFS product. |
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Saturday, 14 January 2006 |
Top Builder Defect Data for Construction Industry Revealed
Quality Built, a provider in risk management and quality assurance services, has released its 2005 quality assurance data, a survey of quality assurance data tabulated for the new construction industry. The leading construction defects identified by Quality Built show that a builder's risk losses—which largely result from failure to follow building code requirements or follow installation instructions—are preventable..."A quality assurance program will consistently result in improvements with a host of issues that impact a builder's bottom line, including customer service, water intrusion issues and EIFS-related issues."... The new 2005 data reportedly shows that the Quality Built system saves builders and their insurers many times over the contract value in direct risk savings and improved housing quality. |
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UK University Reports New Home Defects Increase 53% |
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Friday, 30 December 2005 |
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University research paper highlights worrying trend, reports Inspector Home, the UK's leading independent new home inspection service. Inspector Home, the UK's leading independent new home inspection service, and Academics at the School of the Built and Natural Environment at Glasgow Caledonian University have today released the first ever research paper on snagging defects, highlighting the decreasing standards of new build housing in the UK. |
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Louisiana Needs Building Codes Laws |
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Tuesday, 06 December 2005 |
Lousiana Mulls Building Codes in Katrina's Wake
by Adam Hochberg
Weekend Edition - Sunday, November 20, 2005 · Insurance companies are threatening to stop offering homeowner's insurance in Louisiana unless the state imposes building codes. Now the state legislature is preparing to accept standards that could protect buildings in natural disasters. Listen to the NPR Report
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Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
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Saturday, 09 July 2005 |
Electrical Panels In Some Homes Pose Fire Hazzard
MADISON, Wis. - One in 10 Madison homes may have an electrical panel that's a fire hazard, reported News 3's Teri Barr. The problem is a particular type of circuit breaker made by Federal Pacific. |
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Defective Building Materials and Mold |
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Monday, 20 June 2005 |
Building defects spoil homeowners' dreams
Over the past decade, the combined effects of new building techniques, trouble-prone materials and shoddy construction have made modern homes vulnerable to moisture damage. Simply put, rot and mold are eating away at the structural components inside a small but growing number of today's homes and condos.... Nationally, construction defect losses run into the billions. Ron Kozlowski, a principal in the consulting and actuarial firm Towers Perrin in San Francisco, said the construction defect losses and loss reserves from 20 insurance companies he has studied stands at about $10 billion since 1995...The quality problems are national. In a survey of U.S. home inspectors in 2003, Criterium Engineering, a Portland, Maine, engineering and inspection firm, found that 15 percent of new homes contain at least two significant construction defects. The survey blamed a lack of skilled labor as well as new materials. |
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Warranty? What 25-Year-Warranty?
Warranty Scams that fool the public 25 years, 50, 100 or even a “Lifetime Warranty,” what’s the difference?
PROFITABLE DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS
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