Decatur’s Artisan Residents Sue Developer Over Construction Defects
Decatur Metro | January 24, 2011 | 11:08 am
Wow.
Kyle sends in this article from Fulton County’s Daily Report detailing a lawsuit that residents at Decatur’s downtown Artisan condo have filed against the property’s developer, general contractors, four sub-contractors and vendors over a number of “alleged construction defects.”
What sort of defects?
The association claims the building is plagued with leaking, cracking stucco; failed waterproofing barriers; problems with the rooftop swimming pool and a system meant to pipe out water leaking into its liner; poorly installed and constructed windows; and several other problems.
The article goes on to detail some of the biggest complaints from residents and has quotes from attorneys on both sides of the issue. In closing, the plaintiffs’ lawyer notes that the Artisan “is a great community and these are correctable problems. It’s just a matter of who’s going to pay for it”
At least it isn’t the Decatur Renaissance. That beige pile of faux stucco crap is destined to be a slowly crumbling drag on the end of of the city.
Oh yesssss let’s have mooore of this kind of development in Decatur!
Just give the developers anything they want and stand back and watch capitalism at work!
Yeah, because a bad developer and an incompetent contractor are proof that capitalism does not work.
Where were the government paid building inspectors when these buildings were built?
The City of Decatur has one of, if not the most, competent inspection department in Georgia. Inspections are for code compliance, not quality of construction, & not design. The only criteria they can legally enforce is design & construction code compliance. Having worked with this department since the current head of inspections was hired, I know their competence first hand. I also know he will suggest better methods, but these are only his opinions & not enforceable. It is unfair to expect code enforcement to be the remedy for poor construction practices. I would be very shocked if any code deficiencies arise from this lawsuit. The remedy is to hire a good, knowledgeable general contractor for a project, who has subcontractors adhering to the same standards. That is very difficult on a project of the type the Artisan was. Low price gets low quality. You get what you pay for. Unfortunately, the eventual individual condo owners did not have that opportunity. or control over the quality of construction. It’s buyer beware, unfortunately. The government does not & can not provide the over site you are speaking of. You don’t really want them to, either.
I guess you prefer the Soviet collectivist housing blocks, comrade?
Way to go David with the knee jerk stereotypes!
Hi David,
What are you aware of that was given to the developer that caused this this specifc issue?
As an attorney who has handled these types of matters on both sides, I can tell you that they are common in every new development. It is somewhat the fault of both sides, and often has little to do with the quality of construction.
On one hand, developers underfund the community association reserves between completion of construction and the sale of the final units in the community. This problem is exacerbated by the current market and the time between completion and sale. Developers set the assessments too low and thus fail to prepare an homeowners for the reality that the assessments must reflect that large maintenance items will periodically arise.
On the other hand, property managers for homeowners associations know the probability of having to impose special assessments to pay for routine maintenance and choose not to increase assessments, but rather to seek funds from the developer to fix future maintenance issues. They do so by finding an “expert” who finds fault in every little detail and they demand high dollars for complete replacement, rather than the reasonable price to fix any problems that aren’t made up. A good expert finds the damages that the bad construction has caused, thus allowing an insurance company to foot the bill.
In the end, the lawsuit pays for some underfunding of the association as well as some upgrades to the community, and the developer’s insurance takes a bit of a hit.
What?
A reasoned, informative, balanced response to a potentially flaming topic on DM?
Where’s the fun in that?
C’mon, let ’em fight it out.
I’ll restart: Developers are greedy capitalists! Preservationist are NIMBY busybodies….
Now GO!
I’m aware of one conversion development in Midtown where unit owners were assessed a substantial amount to basically rebuild a parking deck that had faulty design, even after they won a large lawsuit against the developer and architect.
Just get Mike Holmes in there and he’ll fix the place right up.
+ Sabrina Soto
No I like real building codes that force the developers to use quality construction that are then rigidly enforced.
It seems to me that crony capitalism and soviet style collectivism often lead to the same outcome.
Did you read the article? Do you know & understand the building code? The building code, in all its forms, addresses structural integrity & life safety of the inhabitants, including adjacent properties & persons. That is all inspectors are required to approve or disapprove. None of these items mentioned fall into those categories. Todd, above, has given the most logical response of anyone here. There is probably a little truth in both sides position. But one things is for sure, it is very doubtful a code violation is involved. Capitalism is cronyism, by nature. Do you prefer another system of government control over all aspects of your life & business?
It seems to me that getting rid of faux stucco as an acceptable exterior cladding for buildings would go a long way towards addressing the problems that these and a lot of other folks have had. This material is very dependent on the skill with which it is installed as we can see since at least two of the condo developments in downtown Decatur are in need of repair very early in the buildings life cycle.
In residential construction it has been banned, essentially by the insurance companies writing general contractor’s liability policies. Only a subcontractor with specific coverage for synthetic stucco can install it. Only a very foolish general contractor would hire an uninsured subcontractor to install the product. This has caused the cost to rise therefore you seldom see it any more on new houses. Building codes have banned it in some areas in residential otherwise the code requires in to be installed by a “certified & trained” installer & meet specific installation requirements. Insurance is the most effect method to restrict poor construction practices & materials. The Artisan is multifamily which differs from the residential code in a number of areas. Contractor’s liability insurance can differs as well, depending on the carrier. Decatur & the entire of Georgia is bound to the International Building Code for 1 & 2 Family Dwellings. This is not one.
How, then, might this affect potential buyers and sellers of this property?
Same as any condo, town home or new speculatively built home you would buy. Who knows what the contractor did right or wrong….until it breaks. Safest & most expensive is to do the research, check references & pay a good architect to design, then hire a reputable general contractor to build for you & you sleep at night. Doesn’t hurt a bit to retain the architect to supervise the construction, keeps corners from being cut. Ask yourself, is cheap now worth the expense to later be dealing with a very expense fix? Legal recourse is not always your friend. Actually, the current economy makes for the cheapest you will ever get this done right.
What real building code do you like?
Wasn’t this building constructed during the Bush Administration?
that was brilliant!