If the City of Dallas has a backlog, should developers be able to hire their own inspector to review building permits? David Lehde, Dallas Builders Association director of government affairs, says he supports the city’s Development Services Department in its efforts to expedite permits, but new state legislation allowing developers to take matters into their own hands when necessary is a good thing.
And while House Bill 14 is important legislation, that isn’t the only new law that Lehde is watching. He told daltxrealestate.com he expects House Bill 14, House Bill 2022, House Bill 2024, and House Bill 3492 will have a positive impact on home construction and affordability.
“I don’t know that they’ll necessarily change the way we do business,” Lehde said. “The things we’re looking at are items that really bring efficiency and make things more effective.”
Texas House Bill 2022
The official description of House Bill 2022 says it “seeks to provide necessary clarifications and limits on a contractor’s liability to address litigiousness and to encourage builders to make reasonable offers of repair to address defective conditions, in addition to removing outdated references and updating statutory language to reflect case law changes and actual practice.”
Simply put, Lehde said it “Improves the process by which builders can make an offer to repair construction defects.”
Texas House Bill 2024
House Bill 2024 shortens the statute of repose from 10 years to six years for a claimant to take legal action against builders and contractors who construct or repair improvements to real property.
The builder or contractor must provide a written warranty that includes a one-year warranty for workmanship and materials, a two-year warranty for plumbing, electrical, heating, and air-conditioning delivery systems, and a six-year warranty for major structural components, according to the National Law Review.
“It acts as an incentive for builders to offer a written warranty by reducing the statute of repose, only for those who are offering the warranty,” Lehde said.
Texas House Bill 3492
House Bill 3492 was crucial to the Dallas Builders Association, Lehde said, noting that it was authored by GOP Rep. Lynn Stucky and carried in the Senate by Sen. Drew Springer.
The new legislation ensures that cities and counties base the amount of their development inspection fees on the actual cost to perform the inspections and reviews.
“Basically it is codifying what the state constitution says already,” Lehde said. “It prohibits a municipality or a county from considering the cost of constructing or improving public infrastructure for a subdivision or a lot of the related property when determining the amount of the fee for that service.”
Dallas Builders on Texas House Bill 14
House Bill 14 was discussed in depth at an Aug. 30 joint meeting of the Dallas City Council’s Government Performance and Financial Management Committee and Ad Hoc Committee on Legislative Affairs.
It allows builders whose permits aren’t getting moved through the process in a timely manner to hire their own third-party reviewers. Any opportunity to reduce delays should be viewed as a good thing, Lehde explained.
“Delays in the development process not only increase the cost to the construction of a home and what Dallas families can afford, but they can also negatively impact the local economy,” he said. “The streamlining in the review process helps address this and offers relief in cities where there is a backlog. This helps in the effort to address housing affordability.”
