New Appellate Ruling Increases Residential Builders’ Exposure to Defect Liability in Illinois

Illinois law on the implied warranty of habitability (IWH) is continuously changing, and residential builders should take notice of a new opinion issued by the Appellate Court, First District, on October 26 in a construction defect dispute. Although the procedural history is convoluted (the opinion consolidated three separate appeals), the underlying fact pattern is fairly typical: a condominium association discovered latent defects causing water infiltration and sued both the developer-vendor and its general contractor-builder (GC) for breach of the IWH. In turn, the developer sued the GC for breach of contract and indemnity, and the GC sued the subcontractors that performed the allegedly defective work for contract and warranty breaches.      Read the article……………..