The wall of the auditorium in Mount Vernon High School in Virginia collapsed due to a construction defect on Monday since the wall was not property attached to the building. This is the initial conclusion after the district’s and the state’s engineer studied the collapse, which did not injure anyone as it happened after school at 4:30 p.m.  According to a Board of Education member, there was a construction defect in the initial construction of the building since it does not appear that the wall was tied into the steel structure.  The State’s Education Department confirmed that its representative who gave the school permission to reopen also concluded that the wall was never property attached to the building.  According to the Education Department, the wall was missing metal tabs that would bind the masonry to adjacent walls and 60-foot-high by 100-foot-wide wall completely pulled away from the rest of the building.

In what may be the first case of a sexually explicit construction defect case, the owner of a historic Kansas City hotel is alleging that graphic markings left by a contractor on unfinished sheetrock walls have “bled through” vinyl wall covering, causing significant damage to the hotel’s reputation. A law suit filed earlier this week by The Hotel Philis says the contractor is liable for the graffiti, which allegedly includes caricatures of male genitalia and drawing of a nude female and has resulted in a number of consumer complaints. According to the law suit, following completion of the project, the markings have bled through the VWC in various locations and rooms throughout the hotel causing the alleged construction defect. During the construction, the law suit says, works marked up the unfinished sheetrock with measurements, room numbers, and location of utilities and some allegedly used the surfaces for their personal comments. According to the suit, the contractor applied the VWC to the walls without any attempt to remove or pre-treat the permanent markers stains, in contrary to manufacturer’s recommendations.

The AAA four-diamond award winner for its rooms reopened in 2001 after $28 million renovation.  The Hotel Phillips was originally opened in 1931.

As a contractor, you may ask yourself “after how long can i be sued by an owner,” or “when my construction liabilities end?” It is commonly belived that the contractor has warranty for construction defects for one year. This is true, but it is not a statute.  It is rather a custom in the industry, and as such, is law.  However, as every contractor knows, most construction defects appear after on year, so the question becomes “now what?” or “what is the actual statue of limitation for construction defect?”

The legal deadline is mentioned in California Code of Civil Procedure section 337.  Actions for default of written contracts must be filed in court within four years of the default, and within two years if the contract was oral. A suit for injury to real property must be brought within  three years of when the owner discovers the defects.  Also, an action alleging fraud by the contractor must be filed in court within three years of the discovery of the fraud. The code specifically states that suit concerning the design and construction of structures must be filed within four years after substantial completion for patent deficiencies.

The court of Appeal has recently ruled against a homeowner who waited 11 years to sue its contractor, stating that 11 years is simply too long to wait and the statute of limitations are set to protect contractors from perpetual exposure to liability for their work.

According to Perini Building Co, MGM Mirage Design Group failed to pay $490 million for its works on a high-rise condo at the troubled CityCenter, the nation’s largest ever privately funded development project. According to Perini, MGM is trying to wriggle out of paying through bogus claims of construction defects. Perini says the 66-acre CityCenter site on the Las Vegas strip was plagued by delays and cost over runs because of design changes that arrived as many as 520 days late.  Perini says MGM falsely claimed that Perini is responsible for construction-related defects in an attempt to get out of the contract.

Perini’s law suit in Clark County court was filed just two days after MGM Security closed construction at the site and escorted Perini workers off the site.  They even changed the locks, the law suit says.  The construction law suit claims money damages along with attorney fees.