Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Re: builder didn't put insulation materials for living quarters

What you have here is a blatant breach of contract. Unfortunately, it occurred 11 years ago. There are statutes of limitation that will likely prevent you from having any kind of action against him. There are some exceptions to the various statutes of limitation, but it's unlikely that you'd fall into these categories. A more thorough analysis is required.

Nevertheless, you may wish to submit a complaint to the Contractors State License Board. Even if your personal cause of action has expired against the contractor, it doesn't necessarily mean that the CSLB won't take action against him. And, I've seen times where the CSLB, as a condition of maintaining a license, insists that the contractor make restitution, even if the complaining person has no cause of action against the contractor.

One other thing occurs to me, though. How did the contractor get past the insulation inspection with the county and/or city? That's pretty hard to miss.

Re: builder didn't put insulation materials for living quarters

The applicable law seems to be Code of Civil Procedure section 337.15, which is a 10-year statute of repose for so-called latent (hidden) defects in construction. It differs from a statute of limitation in that time begins running upon completion of the work (etc.) rather than upon discovery of the defect.