Property owners may claim that a contractor or subcontractor is responsible for a latent construction defect. This is a hidden defect that may only be discovered months or even years after the project has been completed.
Determining liability can become complicated specifically because there is this delay. If a homeowner discovers an alleged mistake a year after the job is concluded, the contractor may claim that the defect simply did not exist while they were working on the project. They did everything correctly and up to code.
They may believe that the homeowner caused the issue themselves or that they hired someone else, such as a local handyman, to work on the property. The homeowner, on the other hand, may contend that the defect was there the entire time but simply was not noticed earlier.
Addressing patent defects
The opposite is known as a patent defect, which is something that people will recognize relatively quickly. A homeowner may arrive and find out that the subcontractor who was hired to put in the cabinets installed them in the wrong room or installed the wrong type of cabinets entirely. They can immediately identify the issue, and steps can be taken to rectify it.
Latent defects are not necessarily hidden intentionally, but could simply be things like structural issues, problems with plumbing or electrical lines, or other defects that are hidden in the walls of the home. That is what creates the delay when compared to a patent defect claim, and it can certainly complicate the process.
For construction company owners, contractors, subcontractors and other professionals working in the space, it is very important to understand how defect claims work and what legal steps to take to address them.
