FAQ - THE WARRANTIES RUN WITH THE PROPERTY, NOT JUST THE OWNER (FOR ARIZONA) - NEW CONSTRUCTION DEFECT CLAIMS
Such warranties run with the
property such that direct contractual privity is not required to maintain an
action against a builder vendor of a home for a breach of implied warranty of
workmanship and habitability in a claim for a defective, latent conditions
Richards, id. Accord: Donnelly Construction Co. v. Oberg/Hunt/Gilleland, 139
Ariz. 184, 677 P.2d 1292 (1984). Richards held that homeowners, whether or not
they were in privity with the builder were entitled to recover damages for
breach of implied warranty that the home was habitable and constructed in a
workmanlike manner, in that there was no indication that the original owner
substantially changed the structure of the home where the defective workmanship
could not have been determined from reasonable inspection prior to
purchase. The implied warranties were assured for residential
properties in the recent Arizona Supreme Court case The Lofts at Fillmore v.
Reliance Commercial Construction, CV-07-0416-PR, (Ariz. S. Ct., 2009).
Implied workmanship warranties are also owed in commercial construction, but in
all safety they should be expressly stated in the contract and expressly
assigned when sold. As most Arizona claims involve residential properties,
the balance of the information, below, applies mostly to residential property
(any designed for personal habitation, whether single-family or congregate such
as apartments or condos).