Construction & New Home Warranty

The three NHWA warranties

Under La. R.S. 9:3144(A), every builder of a new home in Louisiana warrants the home — to the original buyer and every successor in title (R.S. 9:3148) — for three layered periods:

• One year from the warranty commencement date: free of defects in workmanship and materials, including departures from building standards.
• Two years: plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling, and ventilating systems (not the appliances or fixtures themselves) free of defects.
• Five years: free of major structural defects — actual physical damage to load-bearing parts (foundation, beams, girders, lintels, columns, walls and partitions, floor systems, roof framing) that makes the home unsafe, unsanitary, or unlivable.

The "warranty commencement date" is whichever happened first — legal title transfer or first occupancy (R.S. 9:3143(7)). These warranties are mandatory and cannot be waived by the owner or reduced by the builder for owner-occupied single- or multi-family dwellings (R.S. 9:3144(C)).

The notice that makes or breaks a claim

Section 3145(A) requires the owner — before doing repairs or filing suit — to give the builder written notice by registered or certified mail within one year after knowledge of the defect, listing all defects and giving the builder a reasonable opportunity to comply. Phone calls, texts, emails, and even regular first-class mail generally do not satisfy this statute. This is the most common reason otherwise good claims fail.

Section 3145(B) also requires the builder to give the buyer written notice of the NHWA at closing (or when the construction contract is signed if there's no closing). Buyers should keep that notice — its presence or absence can matter later.

The 30-day peremption

Section 3146 is harsh: any action to enforce a warranty must be brought within a peremptive period of thirty days after the expiration of the appropriate warranty period. Peremption is not prescription — it cannot be interrupted or suspended. Miss it and the claim is gone.

What's not covered

Section 3144(B) carves out a long list of exclusions. Among them:

• Fences, landscaping, driveways, walkways, and other off-site improvements
• Damage from negligence or improper maintenance by anyone other than the builder
• Damage from owner-initiated changes, alterations, or additions after move-in
• Dampness or condensation from inadequate ventilation or drainage the owner failed to maintain
• Normal wear and tear
• Storm, hurricane, flood, mudslide, earthquake, lightning, wind-driven water
• Soil movement covered by other insurance — and, where the owner provided the lot, soil conditions if the builder obtained a written waiver
• Insect damage
• Mold and mold damage
• Damage when the home is used primarily for a non-residential purpose
• Bodily injury and damage to personal property
• Consequential damages and relocation expenses

The remedies the NHWA actually provides

Under R.S. 9:3149, an affected owner has a cause of action against the builder for actual damages, attorney fees, and court costs. Damages for any single defect cannot exceed the reasonable cost of repair or replacement; damages for all defects combined cannot exceed the home's original purchase price. The parties may agree to arbitrate.

The NHWA is exclusive

Section 3150 forecloses redhibition and other warranty theories between the builder and the owner. The NHWA is the road in and the road out. Claims against non-builder parties (a flip seller, a real estate agent, an inspector, a non-builder contractor doing later work) may follow different rules.

Warranty insurance and builders who disappear

The builder may insure all or part of these warranty obligations through an authorized insurer (R.S. 9:3147), and warranty + insurance benefits automatically transfer to subsequent owners at no charge (R.S. 9:3148). When a builder goes out of business, the warranty insurer often remains a viable target.

What we do

We've handled NHWA work from single-home defect claims to multi-plaintiff actions against major Louisiana homebuilders. We move quickly to lock in the certified-mail notice, document the defects, retain qualified engineers and inspectors, and prepare every case as if it's going to trial — because the strongest settlements come from the cases that are most ready for one. Consultation fees apply for construction matters.