Also known as: builder vendor · builder-vendors · builder/vendor
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An entity that constructs and sells new residential dwellings as part of its business. The entity impliedly warrants that the homes are built in a reasonably workmanlike manner and are fit for human habitation.
Briarwood Capital built and sold a new condominium to Lopez. Lopez later sold the unit to the Nguyens. The Nguyens discovered sewage backups from defective original plumbing. In a jurisdiction allowing subsequent purchasers to enforce the implied warranty, the Nguyens may proceed against Briarwood despite lacking privity.
Vanguard Capital built and sold a new unit to Harper. Harper resold it to the Lopezes. The Lopezes found sewage backups from original construction flaws. In a jurisdiction limiting the implied warranty to parties in privity with the builder-vendor, the Lopezes cannot recover from Vanguard.
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Courts are split. Some jurisdictions allow subsequent purchasers to enforce the warranty against the original builder-vendor when defects trace to original construction and affect habitability. Others require privity and limit enforcement to the first buyer.
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The plaintiff must prove the home was not constructed in a reasonably workmanlike manner and is unsuitable for human habitation. The defects must be latent and traceable to the original construction by the builder-vendor.
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The warranty attaches when the sale is commercial rather than casual or personal. It requires that the dwelling was built for purposes of sale by an entity in the business of building such homes.
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Some courts limit the warranty when the home is no longer new because of prior occupancy. Others focus on whether the defects remained latent and affect habitability regardless of the time gap.
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…underlying reasons for the enforcement of strict liability against the manufacturer, seller or lessor of products or the mass builder-vendor of homes do not apply to the ordinary landlord of a multiple family dwelling. "Such a landlord is not engaged in mass production whereby he places his product — the apartment — in a…