Battle shapes up over construction bill

Lisa Snedeker

Monday, March 8, 1999 | 11:16 a.m.

The lines concerning construction defects have been drawn in the Nevada sand.

More than 100 home builders and homeowners turned out at the Sawyer State Office Building Friday to support and protest a proposed Senate bill.

Horror stories were heard on both sides about builders not being allowed into condominium complexes to fix faulty construction and residents who bought homes that became unlivable.

Home builders say Senate Bill 286, sponsored by Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, will help get defective homes fixed.

But homeowners say they fear that if the bill becomes law as it is written, it will limit their rights to have faulty construction repaired.

Both groups say they want housing defects fixed in a timely manner.

Now it's time for negotiation.

Senate Commerce and Labor Committee Chairman Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, allowed both sides equal time Friday. He scheduled a workshop on the controversial bill at 7:30 a.m. Friday in the Legislative Building's Room 2135 in Carson City.

Schneider's bill would amend Chapter 40, otherwise known as the construction defect law that was adopted in 1995, which requires the homeowner and the home builder to engage in mediation before a lawsuit can be filed.

For example, the bill would shorten the time a claim can be brought against a builder to four years.

Schneider says changes in the law are needed to limit the number of lawsuits being filed by attorneys over minor home defects that are driving up insurance costs and the overall cost of building homes in Nevada.

Attorney Jim Wadhams, a lobbyist for the Southern Nevada home builders who support the bill, said Nevada needs to get rid of bad builders and let good builders take care of their customers.