re: Louisiana New Home Warranty Act

Had same issue in my Alvarez home. Shower leaking. Didn’t notice it until year 4. Flooring in adjacent closets were rotted. Had to replace 4-5 boards. Matching took a day but finally went to the place on Perkins. Had a family friend fix it while we had our house listed. Heard Alvarez is bad for this. Forgot who they used.

Just call your builder. Most builders are going to be very responsive as Louisiana is very plaintiff friendly for NHWA claims

Probably ask a lawyer. You don't want to mess something up and have the warranty expire.

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Exactly. Give the developer, or contractor a chance to do the right thing. Don’t assume he is a charlatan.

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You guys give really bad advice. Even if the contractor promises to fix it you still send out the certified notice to have a record of it just in case the contractor bluffs to try and run out the clock.

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The plumber will warranty it if it’s their fault. If it’s a nail or screw in a pex pipe your builder will have to warranty and fix damages caused by the leak

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A nail or screw in PEX is probably the plumber's fault more than half the time because they didn't install a stud guard somewhere that needed one. That should be caught on the sub rough-in inspection but it is a notoriously missed item.



The following should not be considered legal advice in any way shape or form because I did not stay in a Holiday Inn last night and I have done zero research on the matter.

I think the definitions section in the LA code is a little bit ambiguous regrading the definition of "builder" and that is likely on purpose to leave the heavy lifting to the courts but I don't think the act makes sub-contractors directly liable to the consumer. It is likely the GC is liable for all issues covered by the act. It doesn't mean the GC can't recover from the sub just that consumers don't have to chase subs.

Another attorney IIT mentioned consulting an attorney which is generally always solid advice but there is a cost-benefit analysis when doing this. There is always the money side, although there is an attorney's fee provision in the act, and the basic fly-catching idiom regarding using honey vs vinegar should usually influence one's choices. I will reiterate the two-year limitation for plumbing issues because the closer it is to that date the more likely contacting an attorney immediately makes good sense.