Legal Question in Construction Law in Minnesota
Faulty new Roof
My sister's roof of 7 years is buckling.
the contract on the roof says roofer
will guaranty manufacturers
warranty for 40 years. They called
roofer and he said to go to
manufacturer, but manufacturer is
out of business. Now the roofer will
not call them back in response to this
situation. Does the roofer have any
legal obligation to repair this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Faulty new Roof
You may be able to enforce the manufacturer's warranty against the roofer, but that would depend on the language of the warranty, and on what exactly is wrong with the roof (i.e. is the problem relating to the manufacturer?).
Re: Faulty new Roof
In addition to Rob's comment, Minn. Stat. Ch. 327A and certain other statutory provisions state that home improvement contractors may be required to warrant against major construction defects for a period of up to 10 years. The important thing to know immediately, in order to preserve her rights under this statute, is that your sister needs to give WRITTEN NOTICE to the potentially responsible parties, including the roofer, within six months of discovering the problem. Here is a link to the chapter: https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=327A (you may need to copy & paste this into your browser). There are a number of exceptions and qaulifications to the statutory warranties, so this is no guarantee that she will be able to recover under the warranty statute, but without the written notice it is quite likely that her claim (under this statute, anyway) would be precluded.
There may be other claims you can make relating to this issue. However, again there are other deadlines which may apply including a requirement that a lawsuit must be started within two years after discovery of the injury.
Standard disclaimer: The above is given based on limited facts and information presented. Conclusions may differ significantly based on different facts. We do not have an attorney-client relationship.
That said, good luck to you and let me know if I can be of further assistance.
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