A construction defect attorney handles disputes over flaws in how a building was designed or built, from water intrusion and cracked foundations to soil movement and failing roofs. VK Law represents both sides of these disputes across California: homeowners and property owners pursuing claims, and the developers, contractors, and subcontractors defending them. This page explains what counts as a defect, the process California requires for newer homes, and the deadlines that decide whether a claim survives.
- A construction defect can be a design error, bad materials, poor workmanship, or a soil problem, and it may not show up for years.
- For new homes sold on or after January 1, 2003, California’s Right to Repair Act sets building standards and requires written notice to the builder, with a chance to repair, before most lawsuits.
- Deadlines are strict: generally four years for defects you can see, ten years for hidden ones, and much shorter periods for some components.
- VK Law represents both property owners and builders, in residential and commercial disputes.
- To talk with VK Law about a construction defect, call 877-780-4727.
What Counts as a Construction Defect
A construction defect is a flaw in the design, materials, or workmanship of a building, or in the land it sits on, that causes damage or keeps part of the property from performing the way it should. Common examples include water leaks around windows, roofs, and decks; foundation cracking or settling; soil movement; stucco and siding failures; plumbing and electrical problems; and heating and cooling systems that never work right.
California law separates defects into two groups, and the difference controls your deadline:
- Patent defects are ones “apparent by reasonable inspection”: you can see them or find them by looking.
- Latent defects are hidden (a bad waterproofing membrane, an undersized structural member) and often surface years after construction.
California’s Right to Repair Act
For newly built homes sold on or after January 1, 2003, most defect claims are governed by the Right to Repair Act (Civil Code sections 895–945.5). The Act sets specific building standards (water intrusion, structural components, soil, electrical, plumbing, and more), and a home that violates them can support a claim even before the defect causes damage. The standards are detailed in Civil Code section 896.
The Act also sets a mandatory process. Before filing most lawsuits, the homeowner must send the builder written notice describing each claimed violation in reasonable detail, by certified mail, overnight delivery, or personal delivery, under Civil Code section 910. The builder then has the opportunity to inspect and offer to repair. Skipping the process can stall or sink a claim, and mishandling it on the builder side can forfeit the right to repair, so both sides need to take the procedure seriously.
Some components carry their own short deadlines under the Act: as little as one to five years from close of escrow for items like irrigation, decks and wood posts, paint, and certain plumbing and electrical systems.
Deadlines for Construction Defect Claims
Outside the component-specific periods, California’s outer limits run from substantial completion of the project:
- Patent (visible) defects: generally four years, under Code of Civil Procedure section 337.1.
- Latent (hidden) defects: no more than ten years, even if the defect was impossible to discover sooner, under Code of Civil Procedure section 337.15.
These are outside limits, not targets. Evidence (project files, subcontractor records, expert access to the property) degrades quickly, and shorter periods may apply to the specific problem you have. If you suspect a defect, the practical deadline is much earlier than the legal one.
Commercial and Multi-Unit Projects
The Right to Repair Act covers new individual dwelling units. Commercial buildings, and many mixed-use and older residential projects, are litigated instead under contract, warranty, and negligence principles: the terms of the construction contract and the conduct of each party matter enormously. These cases commonly involve several parties at once: the owner, the developer, the general contractor, subcontractors, architects, engineers, and product manufacturers, each with its own insurer.
A Construction Defect Attorney for Both Sides
VK Law litigates residential and commercial construction defect matters for plaintiffs and defendants: homeowners and property owners on one side, developers, general contractors, and subcontractors on the other. Working both sides of these cases is an advantage: we know how the opposing case is built. Many matters resolve in negotiation or mediation; when a reasonable settlement is not on the table, we try the case. Construction defect work is part of our broader California real estate practice and our California civil litigation practice.
What You Can Recover
For claims under the Right to Repair Act, Civil Code section 944 spells out the recoverable damages: the reasonable value of repairing the violation, the cost of repairing damage caused by the defect or by repair efforts, relocation and storage expenses while repairs are done, lost business income if the home housed a licensed business, reasonable investigation costs for each established violation, and other costs a contract or statute allows. Outside the Act (commercial projects and older homes), recovery is framed by the contract, warranty, and negligence theories in play.
How a Defect Case Actually Proceeds
These cases are won by investigation, not adjectives. The typical arc: document the defects and the harm; bring in the right consultants (waterproofing, structural, geotechnical, cost-of-repair) to establish what failed and what fixing it costs; run the statutory notice-and-repair process where it applies; then negotiate against the insurance picture. Builders and contractors typically tender claims to their liability carriers and pass them down the subcontract chain through indemnity provisions, which means settlement is usually a multi-party, multi-policy negotiation. Cases that do not settle in mediation get tried on the expert record built at the start.
For Builders and Contractors: The Defense Side
On the defense side, the early moves matter just as much: enforcing the claimant’s compliance with the pre-litigation process, exercising the right to inspect and offer repair, tendering the claim to carriers promptly, pulling subcontractors and their indemnity obligations into the case, and testing every claim against the statutes of limitation and repose. A defect claim handled well in its first ninety days is routinely worth a fraction of one ignored.
How We Help
We evaluate the property and the project records, identify which standards and deadlines apply, handle the Right to Repair Act process correctly from either side, work with construction experts where the case calls for them, and pursue or defend the claim through settlement or trial. If you are buying or selling property with known defects in play, our real estate purchase and sale team coordinates on disclosure questions.
To talk with VK Law about a construction defect, call 877-780-4727. The consultation is free.
Reviewed by Alan Khalfin, Managing Partner (California). Last reviewed: July 8, 2026.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
A flaw in a building’s design, materials, or workmanship, or a soil problem, that causes damage or keeps the property from performing as it should. Water intrusion, foundation movement, and failing roofs, stucco, plumbing, and electrical systems are among the most common examples.
Generally four years from substantial completion for defects apparent on reasonable inspection, and up to ten years for hidden defects. Some components carry much shorter periods under the Right to Repair Act, so the safe move is to have the specific problem evaluated promptly.
California’s framework, in Civil Code sections 895–945.5, for defect claims involving new homes sold on or after January 1, 2003. It sets building standards and requires the homeowner to give the builder written notice and a chance to repair before most lawsuits.
The Act gives builders the opportunity to inspect and offer a repair after proper notice. Whether an offer must be accepted, and what happens if the process breaks down, depends on how each step was handled, which is where a lawyer matters most on either side.
No. It covers new residential units sold on or after January 1, 2003. Commercial projects, and many older or mixed-use buildings, are handled under contract, warranty, and negligence law instead.
Both. We represent homeowners and property owners bringing claims, and developers, general contractors, and subcontractors defending them, in residential and commercial matters across California.
Under the Right to Repair Act: the reasonable cost of repairing the violation and any damage it caused, relocation and storage during repairs, lost business income for a licensed home business, investigation costs, and other amounts a contract or statute allows. Outside the Act, the contract and negligence theories frame recovery.
Often some of it, indirectly. Builders and contractors carry liability policies that frequently respond to property damage caused by defective work, and defect settlements are usually funded by those carriers across several parties. A homeowner’s own policy, by contrast, typically excludes defective construction itself: coverage questions are policy-specific and worth reviewing early.
