- $59,318 Young Child Falls In Open Elevator Shaft
Premises Liability - $2,000,000 Confidential
Car Accident - $650,000 Defective Chair Causes Severe Neck Injury
Product Liability - $401,213 Client Discovers Uneven Floors At Their Newly Built Home
Construction Defect - $375,000 Young Client Bit On Her Lip By Neighbor’s Dog.
Dog Bite
Housing Foundations in Charleston
A strong, properly constructed building foundation is necessary to provide structure, stability, and anchorage to a home. An improperly constructed foundation can cause serious structural problems, devalue your home, and pose a health and safety risk to occupants.
Housing foundations in Charleston are commonly built using various forms of concrete or with wood. Many lower-priced Charleston homes are built on concrete slabs, while many older homes are built on a “crawlspace” where the home is raised 1.5’ to 4’ off the ground. Due to flood zones, homes in Charleston are also commonly raised by foundation (using beams or piers).
Foundations in Charleston must comply with Chapter 4 of the 2015 South Carolina Residential Code (SCRC). The SCRC regulates the construction of foundations, dictating many requirements including the loads all foundations must be capable of carrying, surface drainage requirements, soil testing, guidelines for materials, and waterproofing requirements.
If you have been the victim of faulty foundations in your home, call Allen Law today at (843) 882-5005 for a free consultation.
As a smaller client-focused firm, we treat clients as real people — not file numbers”
- Julian Allen
Improperly Constructed Foundations
Learning that your home has an unstable or improperly constructed foundation can be a frightening time. You may be concerned about your safety, the cost of repairs, the effect on your home’s value, or frustrated that the construction work you paid for was not performed properly.
Often, structurally deficient foundations become clear after some time, whether due to shifting ground movements, the ongoing weight of the home causing foundation damage or movement, or environmental factors such as extreme weather or earthquakes. Structural deficiencies may be noticeable at the foundation level, for example, where piers or beams are rotting or concrete is cracking, or may manifest above ground level as exterior or interior cracks, doors not closing or swinging open, or uneven floors.
Liability for Unstable Foundations
A number of parties may be liable to pay compensation for an unstable foundation due to a construction defect. The defect may be the fault of an architect who drew up poor foundation designs, the contractors or subcontractors performing the work negligently, or the person who inspected the soil providing an inaccurate analysis.
In some cases, an independent investigation may be necessary to determine where exactly fault lies, and therefore who is responsible. More than one party can be held responsible. Notably, where construction workers are liable, South Carolina provides these workers an automatic “right to cure” the defects before you can pursue legal action. Homeowners must provide a written notice of claim to the builder 90 days before commencing any legal action advising of the issue, and the builder has 30 days to either deny the claim, offer to fix it, or to provide a settlement.
If the right to cure does not result in a satisfactory outcome, or if an architect or soil inspector was liable for the unstable foundation, a construction defect attorney can help guide you through the legal process of gaining compensation. You may choose to enter mediations or negotiations with the at-fault party, or may wish to commence legal action and take the case to trial.
Allen Law Can Help You Gain Compensation
If you have noticed your home’s foundation is unstable, or any other construction defect in your Charleston home, the experienced construction law attorneys at Allen Law can help you get the remedy you deserve.
Our Charleston construction law lawyers have a thorough understanding of the construction process as well as applicable local, state, and federal laws. We passionately represent our clients to help them obtain a favorable outcome, whether by liaising with the at-fault party to have them remedy the issue, aggressively representing you in negotiations or mediations, or fighting passionately for your right to compensation in court.
Call us today at (843) 882-5005 for a free consultation.