1.27.2010

New Warranty Bill Doesn’t Offer Solutions

The AIA WA testified yesterday, Jan. 26, in Senate Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee. The testimony was regarding Senate Bill 6701. This bill is another in a line of attempts to create warranties on single family homes.

The bill was introduced by Senator Kline with the intention of mirroring the “Condominium Act” and protecting home owners from shoddy construction. However, this bill misses the mark. The goals of the “Condominium Act” were to prevent and solve problems in construction without costly lawsuits. SB 6701 does not have any prevention clauses and encourages litigation as the answer.

Further, as AIA/WA testified on similar legislation last year, provisions of this bill make projects uninsurable for architects. Since architects are covered by Errors and Omissions insurance, if this bill passes architects would not be able to gain coverage for these residential projects or have to work without insurance.

The AIA/WA encourages a different approach like the amendment that Senator Haugen added last year. An approach like Senator Haugen’s provides legitimate redress to consumers and models itself after the Condominium Act by decreasing the need for litigation.

You can see the AIA WA testimony on the bill below.

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