The Texas Residential Building Commission Act (TRCCA) has attached itself to the Alamo as a memorable episode in Texas history. Like the Alamo defenders, the TRCCA defenders went down swaying. But the result was more or less the same: a commendable effort that fell a bit short.
TRCCA was basically a good idea: Provide every new home and home improvement project over $10,000 with a detailed legal warranty against defects: what’s covered, what’s not covered, and for how long. Get an opinion from an independent third party if the property owner and the contractor cannot agree on a defective claim. Then identify what a contractor has to do with any true defects.
The essential element of this outline was the TRCCA Performance Standards: 47 pages developed by expert professionals with the help of the Texas A&M Department of Building Sciences. These standards removed the more subjective opinion from the equation, leaving less room for dispute. I like that. And the courts do it too, freeing up files for more important work.
The rap on TRCCA was that the grievance process took too long (5 months) and did not resolve enough disputes (only 12%). Worse still, the TRCCA did not give anyone the authority to enforce decisions that go against Texas builders (or Texas homeowners).
Like the defenders of the Alamo, the Commission is gone. They are not accepting new complaints, they are not doing inspections, and they are not registering builders and remodelers.
But even with the demise of the TRCCA, Texas still has plenty of construction defect laws on the books. The Texas Residential Construction Liability Act of 1989 gives builders the right to inspect and repair after a defect claim. There is a great incentive for builders to make a reasonable settlement offer. If the dispute ends in court, Texas may include attorneys’ fees and the cost of temporary resettlement if the owner has to move during repairs.
I believe the legacy of TRCCA will be its performance standards. These standards will no longer be the law in Texas after August 31, 2010. But they are still the best authority on residential construction defects. Texas is the only state that has made a conscious effort to develop residential performance standards. Expect to see these standards recycled the next time legislators in Austin review ways to protect Texas homeowners.
With the TRCCA gone, Texas builders and remodelers need to make some changes to their contracts. Title 16 notices and disclosures are out of date. These include registration (§ 420.001), registration number (§ 420.002), arbitration (§ 420.003), and dispute resolution (§ 426). But the notice of right to repair in Texas Property Code § 27.007 must now appear on residential contracts because the exemption in Texas Property Code § 27.007(c) no longer applies. And of course, the TRCCA legal guarantee is now optional.