Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Re: House Foundation Warranty

The issue raised by your question is before the California Supreme Court right now, and a decision is due soon, I would think. Here's a bit of legal history:

In Pollard v. Saxe & Yolles Development Co. (1974) 12 Cal.3d 374, the California Supreme Court held for the first time that there is an implied warranty of fitness, quality, etc. in every contract for the construction of a home.

Then, in Hicks v. Superior Court (2004), originally published at 115 Cal.App.4th 77, the Court of Appeal held that the implied warranty can be over-ridden by an express warranty that limites the implied warranty, provided the express warranty was conspicuous in the contract, i.e. bold-faced and not fine print.

The Hicks case was appealed to the Calif. Supreme Court, which accepted the case for review and ordered the Appellate Court decision depublished. So, until the Supreme Court decides the question of whether a builder can limit its liability by providing an express warranty that's more limiting than the common-law implied warranty, we won't know the law on the matter.

The foregoing assumes that your construction contract contained an express warranty that has expired, and that the warranty was conspicuous or was otherwise brought to your attention. If not, you would probably win despite the limitations of the warranty.

Now, as to the ten-year number. That's the statute of limitations for suit based upon concealed defects in construction. It may or may not have some relevance to your prospective suit against your builder. Its effect is to cut off your right to sue after ten years. It does not have the effect of creating a ten-year warranty. Whether you are covered by a warranty or not will depends upon the interplay of the Pollard case, the outcome of the Hicks case, and what's written in your contract (and how it's printed).

Re: House Foundation Warranty

As Bryan Whipple pointed out, there are a number of laws and cases that interplay on your problem. If, however, your foundation is cracking, this is a pretty good indication that somebody was negligent. So, even if there is no "warranty", there is still the right to sue based on negligence (construction defect). Since your problem involves property damage, you have to sue within 3 years of discovering the property damage with an ultimate cut off date of 10 years from the date the house was completed.