Spring 2010 Issue
CONSTRUCTION DEFECTS: SB 800 AND
ALTERNATIVE NON-ADVERSARIAL PROCEDURES
Certain homebuilders have, in lieu of electing to follow the procedural mandates of SB 800, the "fix-it legislation" codified in Sections 895, et seq. of the Civil Code, elected to attempt to enforce their own alternative non-adversarial procedures. These efforts have met with mixed success at the trial court level, depending largely, on a particular court's perspective and the specific contractual provisions at issue.
The authority for such alternative non-adversarial procedures rests in Civil Code Section 914, which provides, in part"
"A builder may attempt to commence nonadversarial contractual provisions other than the nonadversarial procedures and remedies set forth in this chapter, but may not, in addition to its own nonadversarial contractual provisions, require adherence to the nonadversarial procedures and remedies set forth in this chapter, regardless of whether the builder's own alternative nonadversarial procedures are successful in resolving the dispute or ultimately deemed enforceable. [Civil Code Section 914(a), Emphasis Added].
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