SB800, California’s Right to Repair Act (Civil Code sections 895 to 945.5), sets building standards for new residential construction and a pre-litigation process that gives the builder a chance to inspect and repair a claimed defect before a lawsuit goes forward. It generally applies to homes, including condominiums, sold under purchase agreements signed on or after January 1, 2003.
This is a general overview for owners and property teams, not legal advice. Your counsel decides how the statute applies to a specific claim.
What SB800 covers
The Act sets functional standards for residential construction: the building should keep water out of the envelope, roofs, windows, decks and foundations; the structure and soils should perform; and fire separations, plumbing, sewer and electrical systems should work as intended. A defect claim under SB800 is framed as a failure to meet one of those standards. Homeowners and homeowner associations can both bring claims, and associations typically also follow their own pre-litigation procedure under the Davis-Stirling Act before filing.
The pre-litigation sequence
Before filing suit, the owner gives the builder written notice of the claimed violation. The statute then runs on a short calendar. In outline:
- Acknowledgment. The builder acknowledges the claim within 14 days of receiving notice.
- Inspection. The builder may inspect, and test where needed, within 14 days of acknowledging, with a limited right to a second inspection.
- Offer to repair. The builder makes a written offer to repair within 30 days of the inspection, and may offer to pay cash instead in some cases.
- Owner’s choice. The owner can accept the offer or ask for the names of alternative contractors, and the builder must use one of them if requested.
- Repair. Once accepted, the repair is scheduled promptly and the builder is expected to complete it within 120 days, absent extenuating circumstances.
Missing a deadline has consequences for whichever side misses it, which is why the calendar drives the schedule on an SB800 job, not the other way round.
Time limits
Most claims under the Act must be brought within ten years of substantial completion, and several specific items carry shorter periods. Counsel will confirm which period applies to each item in a claim.
Why the three parties want different documents
- The owner wants the building fixed with as little disruption to residents as possible.
- The expert wants the repair built to the engineer’s protocol, location by location, with nothing improvised in the field.
- Counsel wants a record that shows what was found, what was done and why, and that will stand up if it is examined years later.
A defensible repair satisfies all three at once. That means reading the forensic report and repair protocol line by line before pricing, logging and photographing every opening, keeping defect repairs and owner-elected upgrades on separate lines, and assembling a repair-of-record set at the end.
Where the repair contractor fits
Whether the builder, the association or an insurer engages the contractor, the job is the same: build exactly to the repair protocol, inside the statutory calendar, on a property where people still live. Apex performs construction defect and SB800 repair work on occupied multifamily and HOA property, with engineer sign-off at each location and documentation kept as part of the deliverable.
