Blog

Archive for the ‘Texas Home Builders’ Category

Texas Building Codes Gutted – Again

The bedlamites in Austin have been at it again. As of September 1, 2019,
in all municipalities in Texas, the minimal building codes will be dealt a severe blow. The morons whom some folks have voted into the legislature, in their infinite ignorance, have deemed that Texas municipal building inspectors can no longer choose to adopt any building codes that are more stringent than the national model codes. As if the current codes are not lenient enough the builders can now skirt the building officials who want to eliminate the use of questionably safe, durable, or outright dangerous building products and procedures.

This is yet another move on the part of the powerful Texas homebuilders lobby to gut the codes, thumb their noses at regulation, and proceed to make a profit to the detriment of the home buying public. Previously the same regime that has been in power in the state for decades negated the code requirements for fire-suppression sprinkler systems in all houses.

If you voted for these imbeciles, please take a moment prior to the next election to actually think about who you are supporting. Regardless who you voted for please consider contacting your senators and representatives to complain about the passage of House Bill 2439 during the last session of lunacy.

Immigration Reform and the Leadership Gap

Apr 18, 17 • News, Texas Home Builders

Home builders need to step up to the plate and lead the way to real immigration reform.

https://www.probuilder.com/immigration-reform-and-leadership-gap

Yet Another Texas Builder Ripoff

Apr 4, 17 • News, Texas Home Builders

Bella Vita Custom Homes Bites the Dust Leaving a Trail of Damaged Homeowners

http://kxan.com/investigative-story/shattered-dream-homes/

Another Texas Ripoff Builder

Feb 27, 17 • News, Texas Home Builders

I’ve been preaching about Texas builders for decades. It’s nice when the media occasionally chime in on the same frequency. People don’t believe anything if they don’t read it in the newspaper or see it on TV.

Luxury Homebuilder Ripoff

Boomtown is Falling Down

Jul 6, 16 • Texas Home Builders

Here’s a great article from Professional Remodeler magazine regarding the “quality” of today’s new homes.

Boomtown Falling Down

 

New Home Inventory Faces Challenges

Oct 26, 15 • Texas Home Builders

New hurdles for home builders to jump.

Why the Big Lies Like Builder Warranties Work So Well

Oct 12, 15 • News, Texas Home Builders

This legal article explains why unscrupulous Texas builders can lie and lie and lie and still get home buyers to buy their houses.

Repeating for Effect

How To Avoid Being (Completely) Screwed When Buying A New Home in Texas

How To Avoid Being (Completely) Screwed When Buying A New Home in Texas

 

When purchasing a new home from a Texas home builder, you are entering a veritable mine field from which you will not escape totally unscathed, all prudent preparations on your part notwithstanding. Regardless how intelligent, street smart, savvy, or tough-minded you envision yourself to be, you are outgunned from the start. Your opponents are corporate production builders who spend more money on lobbying the Texas legislature than nearly any other group. The laws regarding home building are written to protect them – not you. Unconvinced? Let’s take a closer look.

 

Binding Arbitration

When a conflict arises from your learning that your builder is shoddily constructing your new home (which is inevitable), you have little viable recourse. All builders’ contracts contain a clause that limits your legal action against them to binding arbitration. This is an expensive process that is heavily weighted in the builders’ favor. The arbitrators are always from the American Arbitration Association. This group is in close affiliation with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). From their site:  “As the provider of choice for dispute resolution services, the AAA through its National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee (NCDRC), has worked closely with the industry to develop the Construction Industry Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures and other project specific approaches to prevent and manage conflict.” These rules are written by the builders and for the builders.

 

Building Codes

The building codes adopted by the various municipalities in the state of Texas are based upon those authored by the International Code Council (ICC). While, at first blush, appearing to be an independent code-authoring organization, further investigation reveals undue influence from the NAHB. Just one glaring example is that, from its inception in 2000, the ICC’s International Residential Code stated its purpose in 101.3 as “The purpose of this code is to provide minimum requirements to safeguard life or limb, health and public welfare.”

 

Now let’s watch the changes that occurred in 101.3 during subsequent versions.

The 2003 version states, “The purpose of this code is to provide minimum requirements to safeguard the public safety, health and general welfare, through affordability, structural strength, means of egress facilities, stability, sanitation, light and ventilation, energy conservation and safety to life and property from fire and other hazards attributed to the built environment.” This is an improvement. The 2006 version states exactly the same. All is well so far.

 

The 2009 version introduces a fly into the ointment: “R101.3 Intent. The purpose of this code is to establish minimum requirements to safeguard the public safety, health and general welfare through affordability, structural strength, means of egress facilities, stability, sanitation, light and ventilation, energy conservation and safety to life and property from fire and other hazards attributed to the built environment and to provide safety to fire fighters and emergency responders during emergency operations.” Now, the minimal building code, which is the worse way one can legally build a house, hinges upon affordability and not safety. And, the picture gets even more bleak.

 

Municipal Building Inspectors

When a municipality in Texas adopts a building code it becomes and has the force of law. The municipal building inspectors are tasked with the job of enforcing this code, or are they?

 

In IRC 104.1, we find, “The building official is hereby authorized and directed to enforce the provisions of this code . . .” So far, it sounds like the onus is on the building official to enforce the building code. But wait.

 

The rest of that citation goes like this, “. . . The building official shall have the authority to render interpretations of this code and to adopt policies and procedures in order to clarify the application of its provisions. Such interpretations, policies and procedures shall be in conformance with the intent and purpose of this code. Such policies and procedures shall not have the effect of waiving requirements specifically provided for in this code.”

 

That still sounds like the building official must enforce the spirit, if not the letter, of the code. However, on January 19, 2005, Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas (yes, the same bozo that would have you elect his sorry self for governor) rendered a rather specious opinion on the matter that concluded with this, “Local Government Code section 214.212(c)(1), which permits a municipality to adopt local amendments to the International Residential Code, does not limit the municipality to adopting only local amendments that are equivalent to or more stringent than the standards of the International Residential Code.” In other words the municipal inspectors can do as they please. The building code be damned.

 

Remember that the building officials work for the corporations that are the municipalities. It is their job to protect that corporations and not you. They are also stuck between the developers wanting to build in their jurisdictions and the politicians they work for. So who will be on your side?

 

Step 1

Hire an attorney before you sign any paperwork with any builder. Not just any attorney will do. Your run-of-the-mill, paper-shuffling bar-passer will not suffice. You need an attorney who is experienced in dealing with builders and their contracts. If you need a referral, contact me.

 

Strike the binding arbitration clause. Add to the contract that your builder shall repair everything that your third-party inspector finds to be in conflict with the letter and spirit of the adopted building codes. You should also insist that the builder supply you with a complete set of the construction documents (blueprints). Do not fall for his story about them being copyrighted. While they are indeed copyrighted, the copyright only prevents you from selling the plans or using the plans to build a house, it does not prohibit your possessing a set of plans to the house you have bought. As the owner of the home your possession of the plans would fall under the doctrine of fair use.

 

Step 2

Hire a competent home inspector. The minimum requirements for this inspector are, (1) Significant prior home construction experience, (2) International Code Council certification as an R-5 Combination Residential Inspector, (3) Licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission or the Texas Board of Professional Engineers.

 

Step 3

Grow a set of cojones. Take charge of the project from the outset, stay on top of every phase of construction, and do not succumb to the builder’s bullshit and outright lies. Take no prisoners. Make no mistake. This is an adversarial relationship you are entering into with your builder. He is not your friend.

 

If you follow the three steps above you will not end up with a perfect house. You will also not be on the receiving end of quality construction. These are unattainable goals in the current Texas home building milieu. You will, however, be in charge of an otherwise uncontrollable process that will result in a substandard house replete with defects.

 

 

 

 

Labor Shortages Plague Home Builders and Home Quality

Mar 24, 14 • Texas Home Builders

Housing is Rebounding Faster than Labor

Ten Things You Don’t Know About Your Texas Homebuilder

Aug 2, 13 • Texas Home Builders

1. Your builder is unlicensed. Homebuilding is an unregulated industry in Texas, and always has been. Considering how complex the homebuilding process is, how serious the consequences are if it is done incorrectly, and how much of the consumers’ money is at stake, you might expect Texas homebuilders to have to answer to scrupulous regulatory authority. But, Texas homebuilders are not regulated by the state.

2. In order for your Texas homebuilder to build the large houses with all the amenities the home buying public is demanding, corners must not only be cut, but mangled. Low-quality and substandard construction techniques have always plagued the production Texas homebuilding industry, but the recent collapse of the homebuilding market, combined with the ever-increasing costs associated with construction have greatly exacerbated the problem. Now that the Texas real estate market has begun to rebound, labor and material shortages are even further decreasing the quality of new homes.

3. Your Texas builder will build your house on land that is, in the words of the United States Geological Survey, “not suitable for urban development”. The burgeoning North Texas population and consequent urban sprawl means that all of the best land for building houses has already been taken. The highly expansive nature of the North Central Texas soils makes them useful for some agricultural applications and practically useless for the building of homes.

4. The municipal Texas inspectors will not protect you from your builder’s substandard work. City inspectors in Texas are tasked with enforcing the minimal building codes adopted by their cities. They are basically tax collectors in disguise, collecting their permit fees while performing often less than thorough inspections. Your Texas builder often dictates what the municipal building inspection department enforces. Through political pressure on high the builders and developers mold the enforcement of the adopted building codes to suit their bottom line. The result is what is referred to as selective code enforcement. This is where the building official arbitrarily decides which portions of the adopted building code to enforce and which portions to let the builders slide on.

5. Your new Texas home third-party warranty (that’s right, your builder farms these warranties out to others) is not worth the paper it is written on. Texas builders really hard-sell their 10-year warranties, as if they have considerable value. Read the fine print. Did you know that your structural warranty will only actually cover anything if the distress causes the house to become uninhabitable? One of the most popular warranty companies lists over 70 exclusions.

6. Your Texas builder is not selling you a custom home (99% of the time). True custom homes are designed by architects and constructed on property already owned by the person having the home built. All the rest are off-the-shelf production houses that bear little, if any resemblance to their custom cousins.

7. Your Texas builder’s “Builder of the Year” award is a farce. There are too many organizations to count that award these bogus titles. Most are either Texas builder organizations or subsidiary companies formed just for the purpose of distributing phony awards to their members. Much like the “(Your City) Magazine” top-10 lists, the awards are voted on by the members who paid to advertise in that issue.

8. Your Texas builder does not hire skilled craftsmen to build your new home. Most construction crews working for production builders are hired on a low-bidder basis. Many are crews headed by one quasi-knowledgeable tradesman and populated by laborers picked daily from the local taqueria parking lot or labor pool gathering place.

9. Your Texas builder does not know the building code. Along with all of the other negative aspects of being unregulated, your builder is not required to be certified in the adopted building codes. He relies upon his unskilled subcontractors to know how to perform the work at hand.

10. Your Texas builder will often attempt to convince a buyer that his own independent third-party inspector will be inspecting your new house in an attempt to prevent you from hiring your own Texas inspector. Say what? How independent can the builder’s inspector be if the builder is paying him?