All it takes to build homes in Texas is a construction crew and a phone book listing. That's why home buyers deserve protection.

But a builder-initiated protection bill being pushed in Austin comes up short.

House Bill 730, which passed the House and is in a Senate committee, isn't consumer friendly. If it were to become law, consumers could expect a difficult battle to pursue claims against even the most negligent builders.

Let's do regulation the right way. Other states license or bond home builders. That makes sense, yet this bill's registration procedure falls short of licensing and consequently lacks teeth.

And if disgruntled homeowners need to seek redress, let's make sure that they don't have to jump through too many hoops and that the entire arbitration process is open and fair. There must be incentives for home builders to quickly and fairly resolve disputes, and the resolution process must be affordable, provide adequate remedies and not allow home builders too much leeway to stonewall homeowners with dragging builders through frivolous challenges.

Homeowners want their homes repaired quickly. They don't want protracted, expensive and mostly futile legal chess matches.

There are also tweaks to be made on the makeup and authority of the commission. The Legislature must make sure that the commission is a neutral, independent body, and that its authority does not weaken established homeowner legal protections. The bill that emerged from the House better balances the commission members among home builders, public members and other experts than the home builders' original measure. Still, the Senate could improve it more by adding diverse members, including an independent home inspector, to the commission.

We urge the Senate to embody these basic principles in legislation and provide homeowners with a fair, fighting chance.