Star Telegram: Builder sues foundation firm
Fort Worth home builder D.R. Horton is suing a foundation company that the builder claims is responsible for âserious structural problems and structural failuresâ in seven homes in the Heritage subdivision of north Fort Worth...The suit asserts that D.R. Horton has had to repair the homes, all of which have foundations designed by Coffee. The suit includes an affidavit by an engineer with the opinion that the foundations needed more stiffening beams in the design.
Builder sues foundation firm
By ANDREA JARES
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Fort Worth home builder D.R. Horton is suing a foundation company that the builder claims is responsible for âserious structural problems and structural failuresâ in seven homes in the Heritage subdivision of north Fort Worth.
The target of the lawsuit is Jerry Coffee, an engineer with Nortex Foundation Design of Plano. Coffee and his lawyer, C.D. Peebles of Southlake, both said they had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
David Kleiman, a Dallas lawyer who represents the home builder, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
The suit asserts that D.R. Horton has had to repair the homes, all of which have foundations designed by Coffee. The suit includes an affidavit by an engineer with the opinion that the foundations needed more stiffening beams in the design.
Kleiman filed the suit Monday in Tarrant County District Court.
The state agency that licenses engineers has undertaken two enforcement actions against Coffee during his long career as an engineer, said C.W. Clark, director of compliance and enforcement for the Texas Board of Professional Engineers.
In August 1997, the board gave him an informal reprimand for an issue involving the seal on building plans. On October 2004, the board put him on two yearsâ probation and fined him $1,850 for using an incorrect soils evaluation when designing a foundation.
Heritage is a Hillwood-developed subdivision off Interstate 35W, near Alliance Airport.
Andrea Jares, 817-548-5522
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