roofing question

[dolcean]

I built a new house three years ago through a builder in a very standard new construction format. The house is now three years old. The problem is that the roof has already sustain three separate incident of wind damage already. The builder/roofer fixed the first as under warranty but refuses to fix the others. I contracted with another roofer to have the repairs done for $750.00. I have had two independent roofers look at the roof and both have said the roof was incorrectly stapled. I would like to sue to attempt to recover the $750 but do I sue the builder, the roofer, or both. The state is Illinois.

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information,not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

You sue both -- join them as defendants. Depending on the contractual agreement between them, you will either collect from one or both.

https://law.freeadvice.com/resources/smallclaimscourts.htm

 

[JETX]

Sorry, but I disagree with Lawrat.

Since your claim is only as to the installation (labor) performed and not related to the materials, you have no claim against the manufacturer. Only sue the installer (contractor) who did the labor.

However, the manufacturer could be of help to you. Contact them and ask if they have a 'recommended' installation procedure for that product line and try to get a copy (shouldn't be hard since they are also written on the packaging). If it says anything about 'no staples' you pretty much got your installer once your expert testifies that they were stapled on.

 

[lawrat]

Halket, you are right. I misunderstood his story! Good save. : - )

 

[HomeGuru]

Not so fast. There could be a claim against the building material company if the manufacturers installation specs were faulty or if they were followed to the T but the building material was defective therefore causing the problem.

I have testified in many construction defect litigation cases that were mostly due to faulty builder/contractor installation but there were a few that were also due to defective building materials.

 

[JETX]

HomeGuru:

I agree that there could be a number of possible scenarios that could warrant including the manufacturer; however, based on the original post, it seems that the only complaint made was faulty installation.

Also, I feel that unless there is fair assumption that the installation instructions were faulty, the cost of trying to prove them as such are excessive given this forums nature. The original post was only complaining about $750.00 in repairs AND posted in the Small Claims forum. Even if the entire roof needed replacing, it would probably be in the low- to mid-thousands, hardly enough to justify an expensive all-inclusive lawsuit.

Now if someone were pursuing a class-action with much larger stakes, I would certainly pursue ALL available Defendants and a more expensive claim. (Oh, and lets not forget that the possibility that the manufacturer's assembly line could have failed or shut-down... or that HIS suppliers might have provided defective or 'off-spec' materials.... and so on... far too many possible occurences to cover here).

[Edited by Halket on 03-14-2001 at 09:57 AM]

 

[HomeGuru]

Very good Steve.