Are you a Long Term Care Facility owner in Texas? Long-term care facilities need to address issues that have arisen with poor construction. There are five systems that come into play when having a successful construction defect claim.

TRANSCRIPT

Long-term care facilities are built with the patient in mind. A long-term care facility, like a retirement community, is built with a specific population in mind, and there are specific requirements for long term care that need to be met, and there are guidelines that have to be met.

Because there’s been so many long-term facilities built in Texas over the past eight to nine years, along with the increased construction, of course, has come an increase in problems with the construction. We see more and more long-term care facilities having problems with shoddy construction.

So, the general law in Texas is that a long-term care facility has 10 years from the date of Substantial Completion to recover against the responsible parties for shoddy construction and problems in the construction.

Texas law also dictates that an owner has four years from the date of discovery that they knew or should have known the damages manifested themselves. So, the statute of limitations for breach of contract is four years in Texas. And, so, if you’re a long-term care facility, you need to not rest on your rights and assert them in a timely manner.  So, four years from the date you knew or should have known there’s a problem may be a limiting factor.

There are five systems in long-term care facilities that we typically see that are at issue. The systems include the HVAC system. We typically have come across HVAC systems that aren’t balanced correctly, that cool when they should heat, that heat when they should cool, and that doesn’t make for a comfortable living space for the occupants.

Another issue we see with long-term care facilities is building envelope issues with windows.  Windows, unless installed correctly, can leak water into the living space but also can be a leakage source of air out of the building. We’ve seen windows installed backwards and upside down in long-term care facilities, and this is another one of the systems to keep an eye out for that may be at issue.

The roof system also, from time to time, can be a problem in a long-term care facility when it’s not installed correctly. There are very specific guidelines under the energy code with regard to how roof systems need to be installed. We see those at issue from time to time.

And, then, grading and drainage around the building a lot of people don’t think of.  A lot of owners don’t think of the grading and drainage system as being part of the building system, but it is because it’s designed by a civil engineer to pull water away from the building to ensure the longer life of the building.

Sometimes we’ll see a grading and drainage plan that’s incorrect when it’s not done properly by a civil engineer. But more often, what we see is a grading and drainage system that was designed correctly but wasn’t followed by the general contractor.

Problems arise for the owner when they notice construction issues, but they simply don’t have a budget to pursue the shoddy workmanship and the poor installation of building materials.

The solution that we offer is a no-cost review for any building up to 10 years old that exhibits problems with any of these systems. We’re a law firm focused on representing only owners, not general contractors or architects or design professionals.

Here’s what our process is. We will, at no cost, review the contract documents for any long-term care facility. We’ll send experts out to take a look around and evaluate the different systems that I’ve detailed here – the roof system, the window system, the building envelope, the HVAC system. And we will give an oral report on the responsible parties to the owner. This way, the owner can really elect to do what they need to do, whether to pursue recovery for the shoddy construction or to make a different decision. But it’s up to each individual owner what they want to do.

Call us to learn what your rights are with regard to your contract documents and what you can do to recover for poor construction.

Speak with a Gravely Construction Lawyer to Learn your Options.