Personal Injury Law

Lawsuits Fly Over Chinese Drywall

By Jane Akre

The lawsuits are beginning to fly concerning the construction of Florida homes made with drywall from China.

Lennar Corporation, a Miami-based homebuilder since 1954, is suing manufacturers, suppliers, and installers who helped build homes with the sulfur-smelling wallboard, according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

The paper reports that the Sarasota class-action is led by plaintiff Kristin Culliton, a Lakewood Ranch resident who lived in a Taylor Morrison-built home, another builder which also reportedly used the drywall from China. 

Another class-action has been filed by homeowners in North Fort Myers, Florida.  

Residents say the gasses emitted from their walls are harming their health and corroding pipes and wiring, and they must evacuate. 

But one supplier of wallboard from China, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd, a Chinese subsidiary of German-based Knauf, says the board is safe and the company is being made a scapegoat.

Lennar filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court suing Knauf and Taishan for shipping the drywall to Florida over a two year period beginning in 2006.

Lennar says in the lawsuit that Knauf, "either knew or should have known that this drywall was defective and not appropriate for use in homes," according to Lennar's general counsel, Mark Sustana.

In all, Lennar is charging eight drywall suppliers and a dozen subcontractors who installed the defective wallboard.  The suit seeks damages to the builder's reputation as well as costs associated with the problem.

Drywall is a building material used to make interior walls and ceilings. It is primarily gypsum wrapped in paper, but the core can also have added fiber, plasticizers, foaming agents, potash, and various other ingredients to decrease mildew and increase fire resistance.

According to The Gypsum Association, wallboard is made according to the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) standard that requires marking of wallboard.

ASTM standard C1264 states that under a purchasing agreement, samples of gypsum panel should be taken at the place of manufacture or at the destination. 

"Inspection of the gypsum panel products shall be agreed upon between the purchaser and the producer of supplier as part of the purchase agreement," an Abstract of the rule states.

The extent of the problem is unknown but at least 80 homes in Southwest Florida have been identified, according to the heraldtribune.com.

Enough Chinese drywall shipments to build 36,000 homes landed in Florida ports, the paper reports, half of what was imported from that country nationwide.  #

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on February 03, 2009 (boomark / email).