Construction Law

Update on Chinese drywall Remediation Trial in New Orleans

U.S. District Court Judge Eldon E. Fallon is expected to issue a detailed ruling shortly, laying out the scope of remediation he thinks is necessary. However, during the trial, two key points were brought to everyone?s attention which presents a problem for the region's largest affected builder, Lennar:

- the damage to insulated electrical wiring, and
- the apparent ineffectiveness of vacuuming alone to remove residual drywall particles

Lennar started remediating homes last year, stating that it knew what needed to be fixed and how they will go about fixing the problem. Initially, Lennar stated that insulated wiring within the walls of the homes were not affected, and therefore, it could snip off the exposed ends of copper wires and could use the rest. However, recent findings conclude that its not that simple.

During the trial, scientists presented several cases in which insulated wiring had been damaged in homes. Lennar appears to have reached the same conclusion sometime last year, as its protocol has changed, and they now remove all affected wiring in homes.

Though the change to the remediation process has been made for the future, but what about the early homes where the remaining wiring was left behind? That is something we will have to keep an eye out for in the future.

If you suspect your home may be built with defective Chinese drywall, contact us here for a free no obligation case review.

Full post as published by Construction Litigation Law Blog on March 10, 2010 (boomark / email).