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| Law governs home builders
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| New legislation regulates industry, provides protection for consumers
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Home builders are going to be held to higher standards.
A new law signed by Gov. Rick Perry last week paves the way
for the New Home Construction Commission, a nine member panel created to provide oversight
of the Texas home building industry while protecting consumer interests.
"We've been working on this legislation for the past year and a half. It's
finally come to fruition, and will go into effect Jan. 1, 2004," said Waxahachie home
builder Gaylord Hanes, who served on the task force that helped draft the legislation.
"Right now, do you know what it takes to be a home builder in the
state of Texas?" Hanes asked rhetorically.
"A pickup truck and
a sign."
"That's it," he said. "There are no certifications. No
licensing. Nothing."
While most municipalities have regulated
building codes that require builders to meet certain standards, those rules don't necessarily
apply to anyone constructing homes in unincorporated areas of the county.
"That's not to say Texas doesn't have a lot of good home builders," he said. "The
vast majority of people in this industry are dedicated professionals who care about quality
and care about their customers." Leaning back in his office chair, Hanes reached up and
scratched the gray hair on his head.
"I don't have any hard
figures to back this up, but I bet I'm pretty close in saying that more than 75 percent of
all the complaints filed against home builders in the state of Texas are against 5 percent
of the builders."
"This new law is not only going to provide
protection for the consumer, but help my industry weed out the people who don't care about
the quality of their work or their profession," he said.
In all
his years of building homes, Hanes said he has never seen a "perfect home."
"When you consider that each home has approximately 1 million components, each
component has a dimension, and those components are assembled together by about 100 human
beings, it's impossible not to have some type of flaw somewhere in the house," he said.
But the quality builders have few flaws of lesser consequence, and
when they are brought to their attention they rectify the problem quickly.
"Unfortunately, there are some in our industry that just don't care and right
now there's not a lot of protection out there for the consumers," Hanes added.
The nine member panel, which will be appointed by the governor, will include four
home builders, three from the general public, one engineer and one architect.
Their jobs will cover six basic areas of responsibility:
1). Register all home builders in the state of Texas;
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2). Oversee the state sponsored inspection process and prepare and
adopt building standards to be implemented statewide;
3). Set criteria for inspections;
4). Oversee three task force groups: mold, arbitration and rain water;
5). Provide a certification process for arbitrators;
6). Provide for filing of arbitration awards.
"The first two important things this commission will do is get every builder registered with
the commission and adopt statewide building standards," Hanes said.
"I would personally like to see them adopt the international building codes, which is already
being used by most municipalities," he said, adding it is important for the home building
industry to have everyone use the same set of codes.
In terms of
protecting consumers, Hanes said when the new law takes effect, consumers will be able to ask,
and see, a copy of their contractor.s registration with the state.
"If they don't have one, or can't produce a copy, they shouldn't be building homes," he added.
Additionally, within 15 days of signing a contract, the home builder
is required to file a permit for new construction with the state. A copy of that permit is sent
both to the contractor and the consumer.
If there is a problem with
construction, the consumer contacts the builder and tries to work out an equitable solution.
If the builder refuses, the consumer can file a complaint with the
commission, which will send out an inspector to examine the building. The inspector will make a
recommendation to resolve the dispute. If all parties agree and the recommendation is followed,
the dispute is settled.
If not, the matter is appealed to an arbitration
panel which must issue a ruling within 30 days.
If the builder refuses
to comply with the ruling, the commission can impose sanctions against the builder, including
fines and revoking their registration to build homes in the state of Texas.
Additionally, the state joins forces with the consumer in possible litigation against
that builder.
"Again, we're not talking about the minor flaws,"
Hanes said. "We're talking about major problems such as structural defects, or just plain failure
to complete the work that was paid for."
During the past year and a half,
Hanes said the task force talked to home builders throughout the state seeking their input.
"By and large, this had the support for the vast majority of home
builders in the state," he said. "The vast majority of us do right by our customers. We also feel
an obligation to protect our industry against those that give it a bad reputation."
"This is a good law," he added. "It's going to do a lot of good things for the Texas
home building industry.
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