Inadequate Foundations & Shear Walls

Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/video-explaining-foundation-shear-wall-defects-barry-zalma-esq-cfe and see the full video at https://rumble.com/c/c-262921 and at https://youtu.be/735h6HOFVy4 and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 3800 posts.

A foundation is the base upon which a structure stands. If a foundation is inadequately engineered it will not properly hold a structure up and will pose a hazard to the structure, to adjoining structures, and to occupants of the building.

A foundation is the base upon which a structure stands. If a foundation is inadequately engineered it will not properly hold a structure up and will pose a hazard to the structure, to adjoining structures, and to occupants of the building.

Defective Shear Walls

Shear walls are the vertical walls in a building that are designed to resist lateral forces. Lateral forces can come from extreme winds or from movement in a floor system due to earth movement or earthquake. Absorption of lateral forces is achieved by attaching shear walls to floors using nails.

The Third Circuit found that although the failure to provide sufficient shear strength in a building’s roof should have allowed the plaintiff to recover, counsel did not properly plead the case as a breach of warranty, so the plaintiff was deprived of the right to recover because the failure of its counsel.

The proper measure of damages due to the defective design of a building is the cost to remedy the defect, unless such amount is “grossly and unfairly out of proportion to the good to be attained” by fixing the building.

ZALMA OPINION

Construction defects lawsuits are almost ubiquitous. To deal with such litigation it is necessary for the lawyer or insurance claims person to understand construction and the parts needed to build a structure. This, and the previous videos about construction defects work to provide the information needed as adapted from my books on Construction Defects and Insurance.

© 2021 – Barry Zalma Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to service as an insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally for insurers and policyholders.