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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 satisfy the standards set by the contract, applicable codes, or manufacturer requirements. A McKinney construction defect lawyer often becomes involved after multiple project participants take different positions on scope, responsibility, and repair, particularly on commercial properties where a developer, a property owner, a general contractor, subcontractors, design professionals, suppliers, lenders, and insurers all operate under separate contracts and separate 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 patent defects, which should be discovered through reasonable inspection, and latent defects, which emerge later through water intrusion, movement, or system failure.
Construction defects often present as repeat performance issues and ongoing damage rather than a single isolated break. A McKinney construction defect lawyer can assist with defect allegations and defect claims involving:
Construction defects can affect completed projects in ways ranging from cosmetic problems to catastrophic collapse with tragic human toll. When a defect, failure, or collapse occurs, contractors, designers, and owners may each face exposure, depending on how each participant carried out responsibilities during the construction process. Liability commonly falls on the parties responsible for design, construction, or materials, including general contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, and developers.
Commercial projects frequently require additional analysis because contractual risk-shifting can change the practical outcome. Indemnity provisions, insurance requirements, and related contract language often influence who must defend whom and how a dispute proceeds. A complex defect dispute may also require allocating responsibility across multiple parties who contributed through design decisions, substitutions, sequencing, and workmanship, which can affect the repair plan and the settlement posture.
A construction defect is often different from the condition that first appears on the structure, even though both may require attention. The visible condition is the manifestation of the defect, meaning the observable evidence of a deeper problem. A stucco crack, for example, may look like the defect, while the underlying defect involves inadequate structural support, improper materials, improper subsurface preparation, or inadequate expansion joints.
Movement in the supporting structure, foundation, or soil can present the same issue. Correcting only the visible symptoms rarely resolves the underlying defect, and the repair approach typically depends on identifying both the manifestation and the defect itself.
In a broad sense, a construction defect is any element of a structure that fails to perform as intended or fails to conform to the contract requirements. Common categories include the following.
Every construction project is built from drawings and specifications that define what must be built and the quality and performance of the materials and systems used. Project drawings often include plans prepared by architects, surveyors, and consulting engineers, along with shop drawings and related submittals prepared by contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers and approved through the project design process. Specifications usually provide additional detail, including material standards, performance requirements, and application methods. A material departure from plans or specifications constitutes a defect, even when workmanship appears clean and systems seem to function in the short term.
A construction defect also exists when the structure or a system fails to work as intended. That category includes failure to meet performance criteria, sudden failure of a project component, and conditions that should not occur, including roof leaks, foundation leaks, plumbing leaks, and excessive settlement. This category also includes failures tied to performance requirements in the contract documents, such as windows that cannot resist wind-driven rain or concrete that does not achieve specified strength.
All construction must comply with construction and safety standards imposed by law. Noncompliance can constitute a defect in the design, the work, or both, even when a system appears to function. A system may operate in a narrow sense and still violate code requirements that affect safety and required remediation, which can expand repair scope and increase project disruption.
Premature deterioration of a building element can reflect a construction defect. A roof intended to last twenty years that begins deteriorating after five can support a defect theory depending on the materials, installation, exposure conditions, and maintenance record. Timing matters because the same visible condition can indicate a defect early in a component’s life cycle or ordinary wear and tear later.
Construction contracts often include express warranties that create contractual liability when breached. Warranty language commonly controls the warranty scope, the notice required to invoke warranty rights, and the available remedies, which makes warranty analysis a central part of many defect disputes.
Texas law may also impose implied warranties, meaning obligations created by law rather than written into the contract. Some implied warranties can be disclaimed depending on the setting and the contract language, while residential construction disputes raise implied warranty issues more frequently.
Two implied warranties commonly arise in residential construction defect cases:
The implied warranty of good workmanship provides that construction, repair, or modification work will be performed in a good and workmanlike manner. “Good and workmanlike” means the quality of work must be equal to the work performed by someone with the knowledge, training, or experience necessary for the successful practice of the trade when judged by someone capable of evaluating the work.
The implied warranty of habitability provides that the builder’s good and workmanlike performance results in a home that is safe, sanitary, and fit for human habitation at the time of sale of a new house. Unlike the implied warranty of good workmanship, the implied warranty of habitability is treated as inherent in a new-home residential construction project and is not waived by contract.
When a defect surfaces on a commercial project or in a home, time matters because conditions can worsen and repair decisions can narrow options for recovery. Roquemore Skierski PLLC helps investors, developers, property owners, contractors, and homeowners protect the asset, reduce disruption, and pursue the resolution that best supports long-term use and value.
Contact Roquemore Skierski PLLC at 972-325-6591 to speak with a McKinney construction defect lawyer.
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.
