On Wednesday August 30, 2023, Jennifer Horn testified before the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives House Housing and Community Development Committee at Philadelphia’s City Hall. Her testimony focused on a package of four pending House Bills: HB 691, HB 692, HB 693 and HB 694. Jennifer spoke as an advocate for homeowners who often face issues resulting from shoddy construction of their homes, or from construction on neighboring plots.
House Bill 691, also referred to as the “Residential Construction Lemon Law”, will amend the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, in exemptions, applicability and penalties, providing for residential construction defect remedies. Jennifer’s testimony urged the Committee members to strike Section 904(c) which states “This section shall not apply to a defect that is cosmetic or covered by a warranty.” As written, Section 904(c) would eliminate these homes from protection because “a warranty” could include implied common law warranties. She also asked the Committee to amend the Bill to include the builder’s reimbursement of the homeowner family’s attorney’s fees.
House Bill 693, known as “Adjacent Neighbor’s Bill of Rights” will provide property owners with rights involving damage to their home as a direct result of construction to the neighboring property. Many times, construction to existing properties causes significant damage and even collapse of adjacent properties. Jennifer’s testimony asks Committee members to modify the definition of “developer” to “An entity undertaking the creation, or renovation of real property in this Commonwealth.” The inclusion of the word renovation is important because potential problems arising from the construction should not be limited to those in which the construction is on vacant land. In addition, the bill should require contractors to carry insurance and name adjacent property owners as additional insured.
House Bill 694, will amend the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act to require mandatory continuing education for residential building inspectors. Jennifer suggested that the Committee use the process for architectural continuing education as a model for this Bill. She also would like to see a requirement for a minimum of fifteen (15) live and in person credit hours.
Jennifer’s closing comments recommended that if a developer, builder or renovator is NOT themselves also a licensed architect or engineer AND has excluded construction observation services in its contract with the project’s design professionals, then the developer builder should be required to obtain separate third party architectural or engineering oversight of construction procedures that (1) may cause damage to any adjoining properties; and/or (2) may cause damage – including water penetration – to the renovation or construction itself.
Jennifer’s testimony highlighted the importance of these bills in protecting homeowners and ensuring that they have legal recourse when they face hardships due to poor construction of their home, or neighboring homes. Please watch the video of the Jennifer’s testimony which begins at 11:58 and ends at 22:36. PA House Housing and Community Development Hearing Aug 30 23
Jennifer and the rest of the Horn Williamson Construction Defect Team have fought for hundreds of families to ensure their rights are protected. To learn more about our team, please visit Horn Williamson Construction Defect Team.