Handling construction defects as a frustrated homeowner

When you hire a construction team to work on your home, one of the risks is that a construction defect may occur. Defects can happen for a few reasons. The first may be because the team is not skilled and makes mistakes with the project’s design or with general workmanship. Another could be using cheap materials. A third could be using defective materials.

There are three categories of construction defects. These include:

• Material defects
• Workmanship defects
• Design defects

Any of these could be frustrating to deal with and costly to fix.

Handling design defects

If you’re having something built on your property, keep a close eye on the construction. A well-organized construction team will not omit a part of a design that you want. If big changes to the structure of a room or project need to happen, you should always be contacted. You can complete a change order to have design defects corrected in some cases.

Taking care of material defects

Material defects happen any time the actual materials being used to build a structure are compromised in some way. For example, wood with damage to it or issues with mold on drywall that was already installed could be problematic and expensive to remedy.

Addressing workmanship defects

Workmanship defects are also a big issue. If the team doesn’t complete the work correctly or in accordance with the construction documents, then a workmanship defect has occurred.

In any of these cases, it may be possible to resolve the issues and to get the property repaired as needed. Sometimes, design defects can be easily corrected with change orders. Other times, structures may need to be rebuilt. With material defects, some materials may be easy to replace. Others may require costlier repairs. If workmanship defects are present, firing the team and holding them accountable for errors could be possible. Suing for compensation to repair damage or mistakes could also be possible.

It’s reasonable to be upset about issues that have hurt your home’s value or impacted the outcome of construction. You may be able to hold the contractor liable so that you can have repairs performed and get the final product you paid for.