We have all heard the complaints, cries and laments – \u201c I just moved into my dream house but am now realizing that there substantial problems with the construction and the developer\/builder is not adequately responding to my concerns\u201d, \u201c My home improvement contractor has taken my deposit and started work but has left it unfinished and is not responding to my calls\u201d, \u201c A few years ago, I bought my current home from the original owner and just learned that the foundation is impaired and needs to be replaced- whose is responsible to address it ? , \u201c Is there any way I can recover the costs of remedying these problems including my attorneys\u2019 fees ?\u201d, and \u201c Aren\u2019t there laws that protect people against these sorts of things?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there are laws that offer some protection to those in these predicaments, but they are imperfect and incomplete. Here we look at the rights of those affected and what they can do about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The assessment of your rights in these situations almost always begins, and sometimes ends, with your contract and what it provides and the status of the builder\/developer.\u00a0 And as Susan Leach DeBlasio wrote on these pages on March 17, 2026, in\u00a0\u201cDoes Your Construction Contract Adequately Manage Your Risk?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>it’s best to consider these issues\u00a0before\u00a0<\/strong>your contract is executed.\u00a0 Regardless of what form your particular contract provides, whether it be a standard real estate purchase and sale agreement with a developer\/ builder, or a form presented to you by the builder, make sure it has the essential terms of scope of the work- exactly what the contractor is going to do, time for completion, price and how its paid such as through milestones\/inspections, warranties and their scope and duration,\u00a0 remedies for default including recovery of attorneys\u2019\u00a0 fees costs and expenses that would otherwise not be covered , forum for resolution whether it be arbitration or the courts,\u00a0 and insurance and\/or performance bonds as warranted and available.\u00a0 And you should conduct financial and reputational diligence on the developer\/ contractor by seeking recommendations and checking the available public data bases such as court filings and the State of Rhode Island Contractors Registration Board for residential and home improvement contractors where you can confirm license status and history of complaints.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rights afforded to you by your contract including any warranty provided to your builder\/developer can generally be asserted by filing a lawsuit for a period of up to ten years from the time a breach occurs, although you are well advised to promptly raise any act, occurrence or omission that constitutes a breach when you become aware of it in order to have it promptly addressed, preserve evidence, and to ensure that you do not waive your rights by inaction or failure to timely invoke them as required by your contract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to your contract, there are more protections afforded to certain owners that can be asserted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, while what is known as the merger by deed doctrine typically bars contract claims by buyer against a seller following delivery of the deed to the improved property by seller to buyer, the courts have recognized exceptions to the merger by deed doctrine such that for sales of new homes from a developer\/contractor to a buyer and sales of used homes by a non- builder seller, the law implies and establishes an implied warranty of reasonable workmanship and habitability from the seller to the buyer that survive the delivery of the deed. Although these implied warranties exist, they are limited to such classes of buyers and require only: (1) that construction has been done in a workmanlike manner: and (2) that the home is reasonably fit for human habitation. Critically, these standards only require reasonableness not perfection by the builder\/ seller and the builder\/seller retains all defenses available to it including that the defects were not attributable to it, that the defects are the product of ordinary wear and tear and that the current or prior owner made substantial changes to the original construction that were the cause of the defect. A homeowner buying a new home from a developer\/builder, or a homeowner buying from a non-builder seller has 10 years from the time of sale within which to discover any latent defects in construction and must file any lawsuit relating to such defects within 3 years of discovering such latent defects or within 3 years of the date when the homeowner should have discovered the defect through the exercise of due diligence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the contract and implied warranty claims, in appropriate circumstances a homeowner may sue professionals retained by it such as builders , engineers and architects for their failure to fulfill their professional duty in the design, planning or supervision of construction of improvements to real property and for personal and property injuries suffered by the owner as a consequence of such failures. Such claims are characterized by the law as sounding in tort, rather than, contract, and any lawsuit brought on account of such claims must be brought within 3 years of the owner learning of the deficiency or within 3 years of the date when the owner should have discovered the deficiency through the exercise of due diligence. Regardless of when discovered, any such tort claim must, by what is known as the statute of repose, be brought no later than 10 years after substantial completion of the subject improvements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, merely having and asserting rights and claims such as by filing a lawsuit against the builder\/ developer, seller or design professional does not get you immediate relief. You need a court or other designated forum to enforce those rights in a judgment that either decrees performance to address the deficiencies or award damages for the cost of corrections as the facts permit. Because such a process can take time and money, you would be well advised to consult your counsel about the avenues available for procuring early relief such as by what are known as prejudgment remedies which we discussed in these pages on January 20, 2026 in \u201c $$$$ Money, Money, Money- How Do I Get Paid On Rhode Island Construction Matters ?\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And insurance, whether yours as owner of the property or the builder\/ contractor\/ design professional, might not offer the protection and redress that you think.\u00a0 Both your homeowner\u2019s policy of insurance and the builder\/developer\u2019s typical comprehensive general liability and builder\u2019s risk are usually limited to occurrences\/ accidents and do not cover in process construction deficiencies unless those acts or omissions cause personal injury or certain specific property damage.\u00a0 The only real form of insurance that obligates a third-party insurer to address and remedy construction deficiencies is what is known as a performance bond which is rarely obtained in residential construction because of the cost, underwriting limits, and other factors.\u00a0 To the extent, however, that the facts give rise to a tort claim against a design professional or engineer, such parties usually maintain errors and omissions policies of insurance that may provide coverage for construction deficiencies traceable to any design or engineering errors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n As referenced above, Rhode Island has established the Contractors\u2019 Registration Board which is a statutory board comprised of appointed construction industry representatives and members of the public that is tasked with the registration, issuance of licenses, and the disciplining of contractors performing structural and other construction activities in the state including residential construction, roofing and underground utilities. An owner of a residence who has a complaint about the performance of a contractor may file a complaint with the Board.\u00a0 \u00a0The Board\u2019s power to addressing construction deficiencies is however limited.\u00a0 While the Board has the power to fine a contractor, to revoke or suspend a contractor\u2019s license, and to seek injunctive relief to enjoin a contractor from violating the provisions of the law, it has almost no enforceable power to direct completion of construction or repair and remedy of deficiencies absent the consent and agreement of the contractor.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0And the Board does not have the power to award money damages in favor of an owner against a contractor.\u00a0 But the filing of a complaint by an owner against a contractor may prompt the contractor to try and resolve the complaint by agreeing to voluntarily remedy the deficiencies.\u00a0 While not perfect and complete, it is among the range of options available to an owner that should be considered in the appropriate situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We have all heard the complaints, cries and laments – \u201c I just moved into my dream house but am now realizing that there substantial problems with the construction and the developer\/builder is not adequately responding to my concerns\u201d, \u201c My home…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":4274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,184],"tags":[186,180],"class_list":["post-4288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-construction","category-construction-contract","tag-construction-contracts","tag-construction-law"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4288"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4296,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288\/revisions\/4296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apslaw.com\/construction-industry-advisor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Additional Sources of Rights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Do I Get My Builder\/Seller to Pay for The Deficiencies- Is Insurance the Answer?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What About the Contractors’ Registration Board- Doesn’t it Adress and Remedy These Situations?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n