Legal Question in Construction Law in Florida

Construction Defect

We recently compted a complete home restoration project. We were concerned about several issues so we had an inspection completed which resulted in identifying 19 code violations, all which have been validated by the building inspector. The severity requires us to move from the house to complete the repairs. We have also identified numerous material that have been substitued with inferior products. Since the GC claims he completed the contract do we have a course of action in the courts. The GC has also insinuated if we seek legal action we'll ''never see a dime'' because hes protected.


Asked on 1/06/09, 10:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Hunter Chamberlin Chamberlin Butler & Crowe, P.A.

Re: Construction Defect

If the contractor performed work that did not comply with applicable building codes, that would be a breach of your contract. Exactly what damages you can recover depends on the terms of your contract (assuming you have a written contract). Generally speaking, you should be able to recover the costs of repair and may be able to recover the costs associated with not having the house available during the repair.

Getting the judgment is only half the battle. Once you get the judgment, you have to collect it from the contractor. There are a number of factors that affect where you can get assets, including whether your contract was with the contractor individually or his corporation. If the contractor disposed of assets improperly (which his "never see a dime" comment makes me think he might have), you can chase those assets.

If have considerable experience in the construction industry. Let us know if we can help.

Read more
Answered on 1/06/09, 2:23 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Construction Law questions and answers in Florida