Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: is it home builder responsibility?

It depends greatly on the cause of the problem, but generally, yes the builder is responsible. You do, however, face a potential problem in that there are two statutes of limitations (time limits on when you can file suit against the builder). The first statute of limitation is 10 years - its an absolute time frame in that no lawsuit can be brought more than 10 years after the home is completed. You have no problem here. The second statute of limitations is one year from the date of discovery of the defect. It sounds like you may have actually discovered the defect more than one year ago, but there are a lot of factors that can potentially extend that one year, so please contact a construction defect attorney if you wish to file suit. Statutes of limitation are absolute, so you need to act quickly or you may lose the right to file suit.

Aside from the statute of limitation, you need to discover (a) what is the actual problem, and (b) what is the cause of the problem. If you are overloading the circuit on a regular basis, and that is causing the circuit breaker to fail prematurely, its not the builder's fault. Alternatively, if the circuit is not properly wired, it could be the builder's fault. I would suggest contacting a qualified electrician to diagnose the problem first. If it is a defect in the wiring, or in the products used in construction (you may also have a bad breaker box), then contact the builder and insist that they fix it. Given the timing, you may want to contact an attorney immediately before going through all of this, just so you can be prepared to file suit if necessary to avoid missing the statute of limitations. The builder, presented with something from a qualified electrician indicating that it is their fault, should be willing to correct the problem. If not, that's the point where you and your attorney decide if the problem warrants actually filing a lawsuit for construction defect.

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