If you are struggling with the consequences of construction defects, you need to thoroughly understand your options. In some instances, property owners can take legal action in order to recover from the damage of construction defects.
If the carelessness of a contractor, design professional or subcontractor resulted in significant damage, you need to stand up for your rights. Filing a construction defect claim can help provide compensation, but you have to approach the process of filing a claim correctly. For example, make sure you provide comprehensive details regarding the nature of the damage in your notice of claim.
Details to include in your notice of claim
The Florida Senate states that in order to take action over construction defects, property owners have to describe the defects in reasonable detail in a notice of claim. When filling out your claim, include the losses and damage brought on by the defect(s). In order to allow the responding party to identify the defect, you have to provide the location of every defect.
Serving a notice of claim to a contractor
Before you can file an action over a construction defect, you have to notify the contractor no more than 60 days (or 120 days in the case of associations with over 20 parcels). Claimants need to serve a notice of claim no more than 15 days after finding construction defects, but failure to serve a notice in 15 days does not prevent you from filing an action.
If you want to hold a careless contractor accountable, make sure you understand your legal rights and obligations in order to move forward with the case.