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Builders Warranty and Standards Hammered
Tuesday, 11 January 2005
Express-News
Building rules are hammered
Jason Gallas, co-owner of Tri-Built Custom Homes and a builder for 21 years, is not impressed with the Texas Residential Construction Commission's work… Gallas notes the standards discuss maximum width for foundation cracks but make no mention of the type of steel that should be used or the strength of the concrete needed for each soil type… On the suggestion of San Antonio home inspector Mark Eberwine, for instance, the commission changed language that would have allowed chimneys to separate from walls by up to 11/2 inches and masonry walls to bow by up to 21/2 inches. But Eberwine said the new 1-inch tolerance still is too much… "This document is more of a pre-emptive strike on complaining homeowners than it is a warranty," Eberwine said.

Building rules are hammered
01/11/2005
Adolfo Pesquera
Express-News Business Writer

Critics of the state agency regulating homebuilders are concerned that standards to be considered for adoption Wednesday will give shoddy builders too much wiggle room to build sloppy and structurally unsound houses.

Under the proposed standards, masonry chimneys can separate from walls by up to one inch, vinyl flooring can have ridges up to a half-inch above a floor and screen frames can have gaps of up to a quarter-inch.

Exterior varnishes would be exempt from "excessive deterioration" if exposed to sunlight. And there would be no limit to the number or length of cracks in stucco as long as they don't exceed an eighth of an inch in width.

Jason Gallas, co-owner of Tri-Built Custom Homes and a builder for 21 years, is not impressed with the Texas Residential Construction Commission's work.

"It's a good thing the TRCC is trying to invoke something," Gallas said. "But there's more emphasis in these standards as to the cosmetics than with the structural.

"They talk about the correct way a shower door should be installed just as much as they talk about the framing of the house."

Gallas notes the standards discuss maximum width for foundation cracks but make no mention of the type of steel that should be used or the strength of the concrete needed for each soil type.

Of the 90-page proposal, the section on foundations runs just over three pages. The section on house components is 56.

"For the first time, homebuyers will know up front what their warranties are and how the home is to perform after it is built," commission Director Stephen Thomas said. "These warranties and standards, once adopted ... will be the minimum required anywhere in Texas, whether the home is within city limits or in a unincorporated area."

Thomas estimated the standards would mean some homebuilders would have to spend more — and that might mean an increased cost to homebuyers.

Including unincorporated areas will be an improvement, Gallas said, because the only house inspections rural homebuyers get are those done at the discretion of the builder or the expense of the buyer.

But Gallas disagrees that the new standards would raise builders' costs: "If this is going to raise cost, they weren't building a quality product and shouldn't be building anyway."

The standards being considered involve a yearlong effort on the part of the commission, which was created in 2003 by the Legislature in part to end the long-held practice of having courts and arbitrators decide building standards.

Monday, the commission released revisions that resulted from public hearings last year.

On the suggestion of San Antonio home inspector Mark Eberwine, for instance, the commission changed language that would have allowed chimneys to separate from walls by up to 11/2 inches and masonry walls to bow by up to 21/2 inches.

But Eberwine said the new 1-inch tolerance still is too much.

High-quality builders don't want to have to compete with shoddy builders who will be able to hide behind the new standards, he said.

Many exclusions and clauses in the proposed standards transfer responsibility of a house's condition to homeowners.

Almost 50 clauses in the chapter dealing with components under the one-year warranty spell out a homeowner's responsibility on everything from landscaping, subflooring and plumbing fixtures to insulation and wall coatings.

Four clauses admonish homeowners not to drag heavy objects across carpet or wood floors.

"This document is more of a pre-emptive strike on complaining homeowners than it is a warranty," Eberwine said.

Jay Robbins, a broker with Prudential Don Johnson Co. Realtors and a real estate agent instructor, said the standards "have too many loopholes, too many ways for the builders to circumvent their responsibility."

Plus, he said, the standards and their grievance resolution process favor builders.

The whole process re-emphasizes, Robbins said, that the buyer's only bargaining power is his refusal to close on the deal until he is satisfied.

"The buyer's leverage goes away after closing," Robbins said. "The incentive for the builder to make corrections prior to closing is far, far greater."

Thomas and Susan Durso, the commission's general counsel, emphasized the standards are not set in stone.

"With any rule, there is always the opportunity for amendment," Durso said, "if you discover that there is a reason to amend them."

Ware Wendell, policy director for the consumer advocate organization Texas Watch, is the only consumer representative at TRCC. But he is not a commissioner. He is an appointee to the commission's Arbitration Task Force.

He believes the commission's work on warranty standards would have benefited from balanced representation.

"Texas homebuilding standards should be set high," Wendell said. "The bar shouldn't be lowered. It isn't fair to Texas homeowners. ... It isn't fair to good builders who have to compete with companies that cut corners."

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