Section 13 Statutory Requirement for Construction Claims

• Library: Consumer Law and Practice 2010

In 2005, the Missouri legislature passed "construction-defect" legislation that permits a contractor to impose a prelitigation right to cure and, in some circumstances, mandatory mediation on a home buyer claiming a construction defect or defects. Sections 436.350-436.365, RSMo Supp. 2010 (construction-defects statutes). When the contractor includes the required notice language in a "conspicuous" form in its contract with a claimant (or in a condominium public offering statement), the claimant cannot sue without jumping through the procedural hoops for notice of defect to the contractor and exhaustion of the contractor's right to cure under the statute. See § 436.356.

The law applies to both the construction of an entire home and to "substantial" residential remodeling jobs. Section 436.350(4)(a). "Contractor" is defined broadly in such a way as to include a home builder, § 436.350(5); "homeowner" includes both the person who contracts with the contractor...