Orange County Voices : COMMENTARY ON LAW : Measure Would Hurt Homeowners, Benefit Negligent Builders : Construction defects are serious problems that require substantive solutions, not quick legislative fixes.

To most people, construction defects are about as close to their lives as quasars and black holes. They read about them, but that’s about it.

However, if you are unlucky enough to have purchased a home that suffers from construction defects--and thousands of Southern California residents have done so--then it’s certainly not an abstract concept.

Construction defects can wreck homes, financial security and lives. And in our society, when something has that drastic of an effect on someone, it’s comforting to know we have the ability to seek compensation through our courts.

Unfortunately, when it comes to construction defects, there are people who would like to change that. Their objective is to make it exceedingly difficult for homeowners to use the judicial system to right the wrongs perpetrated by builders who, for whatever reasons, ignore the standards of craftsmanship that the building industry holds forth as its mantle.

Construction defects are pernicious because they are usually hidden from view. More times than I care to remember, I’ve crawled in an attic space or inspected a basement or looked behind drywall, only to find life-threatening construction defects quietly lurking. Without the owner knowing, they can destroy a home’s foundation, compromise its safety, or allow the elements to intrude.

Sometimes the intrusion is significant and destructive. In one case that was recently settled in Dana Point, the owners of so-called luxury condominiums had so much water seep into their homes through inadequately installed windows, doors and desk systems that mushrooms grew on the ceilings and walls.

In another case a few years ago, a major Orange County builder settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over a community of several hundred condominiums in Lake Forest that were built so shabbily that virtually all of the critical fire-stopping in the party walls was missing, and breaches in the fire walls in the attics, often times chopped with hammers or mallets, were so pervasive that a fire could have raged through that project like a firestorm on a dry Kansas prairie.

If all builders built homes with the same care and attention to detail as their industry associations purport to be the case, there would be few if any construction defect lawsuits. Or, at least there would be considerably fewer such cases in our courts if builders like those mentioned would accept responsibility for correcting the problems as readily as they were in charging outrageous prices for homes and developments that produced the enormous profits they had no qualms about pocketing.

Some builders are not prepared to accept responsibility for their lack of craftsmanship. They are now trying to resolve the construction defect situation by making it more difficult for afflicted homeowners to sue for redress. That’s why we have attorneys who focus on construction defects and resulting lawsuits.

Specifically, there is a measure (S565) introduced in the Legislature by Sen. Charles M. Calderon (D-Whittier) that would create procedural delays for homeowner associations attempting to use the courts to secure compensation for construction defects.

The delays would result from such proposed legal roadblocks as granting the builder the right to conduct destructive testing on a homeowner’s property, and allowing the builder to insist on hiring an expert at the expense of the homeowner to investigate the construction problems. Even worse, the bill has a provision allowing builders to include in the homeowner association governing documents a waiver of the association’s right to seek judicial redress.

But let’s not throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Let’s not succumb to the building industry’s attack on the legal system, which is nothing more than a blatant attempt to limit a homeowner’s rightful access to the judicial system. Instead, the Legislature should be attacking the cause. Here are some recommended legislative actions that could help solve the problems:

* Put teeth into the requirement that builders adhere to the Uniform Building Code, which establishes the minimum standards for home-building. This can be accomplished by making it a crime for a builder to willfully disregard any aspect of the UBC that imperils the safety of a home’s occupants.

* Revoke the contractor’s license of a builder who repeatedly violates the UBC rules and regulations. The building industry, and its many good builders, will benefit from putting those violators out of business.

* Require builders and developers to fully disclose to prospective buyers any previous construction defect problems for which the builder or developer has been sued successfully. The best protection against construction defects is a market populated by well-informed buyers.

* Require architects and structural engineers to stand behind their work by inspecting and certifying that it is done properly and adheres to all industry standards.

* Where there are homeowner associations, such as in condominium projects, require builders to videotape important construction phases and furnish those tapes to the associations.

* Builders should also provide associations with a list of all subcontractors (companies and individuals) who were involved in the construction process, as well as their certificates of insurance.

* Require builders to provide a 10-year warranty backed by an insurance policy or bond approved by the state.

These and similar laws will not hurt the good, conscientious builders. But they will put the marginal and downright bad builders on notice that they better clean up their act or else. By doing so, our long tradition of judicial redress remains unfettered, and we will all be able to sleep better at night knowing our walls are secure and our ceilings won’t leak.