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Unmatched Local Knowledge | 100+ Years of Combined Experience | 24/7 Availability
Construction defect disputes arise when construction work, design work, materials, or project supervision fails to meet the standards required by a contract, code, or manufacturer. Commercial projects add another layer of complexity because a single property can involve a developer, a property owner, a general contractor, multiple subcontractors, design professionals, suppliers, lenders, and insurers, each of which is subject to one or more contractual relationships relative to the project.
Residential disputes raise different issues because Texas law imposes a pre-suit process for many homeowner claims and because habitability concerns can drive urgency. A Dallas construction defect attorney can help evaluate the defect conditions, identify the responsible portions of the construction chain, and preserve the record necessary to pursue recovery or enforce repair obligations.
Roquemore Skierski PLLC represents real estate investors, developers, property owners, general contractors, construction companies, and homeowners in construction defect disputes. The firm handles matters involving both patent defects, which are apparent on reasonable inspection, and latent, or unseen, defects which later become known through events such as water intrusion, foundation movement, or other system failure(s).
Construction defects often show up as performance failures and repeat damage rather than a single broken component. Our Dallas construction defect lawyers can assist clients with defect allegations and claims involving:
Construction defects can affect completed projects in ways ranging from poor aesthetics to catastrophic collapse. When a defect, failure, or collapse occurs, contractors, designers, and owners may have potential liability, depending upon how each one carried out its responsibilities during the construction process.
Liability generally lies with the parties responsible for design, construction, or materials, including general contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, and developers. The specific responsible party often depends on whether the issue stems from poor workmanship (contractor), faulty design (architect), or defective materials (manufacturer).
While this may be straightforward to determine in a residential project, commercial liability is complicated by contractual risk-shifting.
Indemnity provisions, insurance requirements, and additional contract language often control who must defend whom and how disputes will be resolved. A complex defect case may rely on allocating liability across multiple parties who may all be responsible for design decisions, substitutions, and workmanship. An experienced Dallas construction defect lawyer will review tender obligations, additional insured requirements, and warranty provisions to determine the right resolution strategy.
A defect often is different from the manifestation of the defect, although generally both must be corrected. The manifestation is the apparent condition of the structure, a component, or the materials that is caused by the construction defect, and which provides evidence of a deeper problem. For example, although a stucco crack may appear to be the defect, it is just the manifestation of the defect.
The underlying defect might be inadequate structural support, improper materials, improper subsurface preparation or inadequate expansion joints. Similarly, movement of the supporting structure, the foundation, or the underlying earth may be manifestations of underlying defects such as inadequate foundation reinforcement, soil compaction, or shear wall attachment. It is essential to identify both the manifestation of the defect and the defect itself, because correcting the symptoms will not correct the problem.
In a broad sense, a construction defect is any element of a structure that fails to perform as intended or conform to the contract requirements.
There are many types of construction defects, including:
Every construction project is built based upon drawings and specifications that tell the contractor what to build and the quality of materials to use. Construction project drawings include plans prepared by the architect, surveyor, and consulting engineers (site plans, structural plans, mechanical plans and electrical plans) as well as more detailed drawings prepared by the contractor, subcontractor, or supplier (shop drawings) that are submitted to and approved by the project design professional.
The specifications – typically supplied by the project design professional with the plans – provide even more detail not evident from the drawings that identify the materials to be used, the performance requirements for aspects of the project and the methods of application to be employed. Any material deviation from the plans or specifications is a defect, no matter how well the work was performed, even if the structure and all its systems perform properly.
A construction defect exists where the structure or any of its systems do not work as intended. This includes the failure to meet performance criteria (such as specifications requiring windows to have a minimal resistance to wind-driven rain or concrete to have a specified strength), the sudden failure of a part of a project (such as a cracked concrete deck, foundation failure, or catastrophic collapse), or any aspect of a project that simply does not work as it should (such as roof leaks, foundation leaks, plumbing leaks, or excessive settlement).
All construction must comply with construction and safety standards imposed by law. Failure to comply constitutes a defect in the design or the construction work, or both, even if the structure or systems function as expected. For example, aluminum wiring may work but violate the electrical code. Inadequate space on a landing for building egress may “work” (in the sense that people can leave the building) but still violate the fire code. A Dallas construction defect attorney can use code compliance issues to identify liability in a dispute.
Premature deterioration of a project element may be the result of a construction defect. An example would be a roof intended to last twenty years which starts materially deteriorating after five. However, a condition may or may not be a construction defect, depending on when it occurs in the life of a building, system, or component. For example, a crack in a stucco wall completed six months earlier would most likely be a manifestation of a construction defect. But if the same crack appeared ten years after the wall was completed, it is far less likely to be a defect, but rather the result of normal wear and tear and/or poor maintenance.
Construction contracts often contain express warranties creating contractual liability when the warranty is breached. The project record and the contract language usually control the warranty scope, the notice required to invoke warranty rights, and the available remedies.
Texas law may also impose implied warranties. An implied warranty is a promise imposed by law rather than stated in the contract. Residential construction disputes raise these issues more frequently because Texas law recognizes implied warranties that apply to home construction and repair work.
Two implied warranties commonly arise in residential construction defect cases:
The implied warranty of good workmanship provides that construction, repair, or modification work is performed in a good and workmanlike manner. “Good and workmanlike” means the work meets the quality expected of a person with the knowledge, training, or experience necessary to perform that trade when judged by someone capable of evaluating that work.
The implied warranty of habitability provides that the builder’s performance results in a home that is safe, sanitary, and fit for human habitation at the time of sale. Unlike the implied warranty of good workmanship, the implied warranty of habitability generally cannot be waived by contract and is treated as inherent in a new-home residential construction project.
Commercial Real Estate Lawyer
When a defect surfaces on a commercial project or in a home, time matters. Water intrusion, structural movement, and building system failures often worsen, and early repair efforts can make it harder to document the original conditions and identify responsibility across the construction chain. Roquemore Skierski PLLC helps investors, developers, property owners, contractors, and homeowners protect the asset, reduce disruption, and pursue a resolution that supports the property’s long-term use and value.
Contact Roquemore Skierski PLLC at 972-325-6591 to speak with a Dallas construction defect attorney.
While our business litigation attorneys are based in Downtown Dallas, we proudly serve clients in and around Addison, Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Coppell, DeSoto, Farmers Branch, Flower Mound, Forney, Garland, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Highland Park, Irving, Oak Cliff, Richardson, Rockwall, Rowlett, Royse City, University Park, and the surrounding area. Whether your company is facing a contract dispute, partnership conflict, or other commercial challenge, we deliver strategic counsel and strong representation across the DFW Metroplex.