By Colby Lewis, Houston trial lawyer · Last updated November 2026
Quick answer: It is hard to sue a home builder in Texas because of the Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA), Texas Property Code Chapter 27. Before a homeowner can file suit, the RCLA requires written notice, expert evidence, and up to three builder inspections, and it limits what the homeowner can recover. That means paying a lawyer and a qualified expert up front. Homebuilder lobby groups supported the law in 1989, and the Texas Association of Builders made its 2023 amendments a top legislative priority.
Key takeaways
- Every construction defect claim on a Texas home goes through the RCLA. You cannot waive it by contract. [1]
- Before suing, you must give the builder 60 days’ written notice with your evidence, allow up to three inspections in 35 days, and wait up to 60 days for an offer. [5][6]
- If you reject an offer the law treats as reasonable, your recovery is capped at that offer. [6]
- Attorney’s fees are recoverable but not guaranteed. A jury, judge or arbitrator decides the amount at the end, and it can be less than you paid. [6][19]
- Some cases can be taken on contingency. Even then, getting to the RCLA demand takes attorney time and an inspection by a qualified expert, paid up front.
- You have limited time to bring your claim, depending on the circumstances. [3]
My name is Colby Lewis. I’ve been a lawyer in Texas for about twenty years, and I want to tell you something nobody told you when you signed the papers on your house.
You saved for years. You emptied the accounts for the down payment. You bought the biggest thing you will ever buy in your life. And then the slab cracks, or the windows leak every time it rains, or there’s mold growing behind the drywall in your kid’s room.
So you call a lawyer, and you figure it works like it does on the billboards, right? No fee unless we win. And the lawyer tells you it’s hourly. And you need to hire an engineer. And you need to do both before the builder has to do anything at all.
That’s not the lawyer being greedy. That’s the law, and it works exactly the way it was built to work. You ought to know who stacked this deck before you sit down at the table.
What is the Texas Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA)?
The RCLA is the Texas statute that governs every claim for a construction defect in a home. It sets the steps a homeowner must take before suing a builder or contractor and limits the damages a homeowner can recover. It is found in Chapter 27 of the Texas Property Code. [1][6]
You can’t sign your way around it. Any waiver in your contract is void. [1] Texas law still says a builder promises good workmanship and a home fit to live in. [2] The RCLA controls what you can actually collect when the builder breaks that promise. It used to be that homeowners brought these cases under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, where the recoveries were a lot bigger. [7] The builders didn’t like that.
What do you have to do before you can sue a builder in Texas?
Before filing suit, a Texas homeowner must complete four steps under the RCLA: [5][6]
- Send the builder written notice by certified mail at least 60 days before suing, describing the defects.
- Include your evidence: expert reports, photos, video. You show your cards first.
- Let the builder inspect your home, up to three times, during the 35 days after the notice.
- Wait while the builder takes up to 60 days to make a written offer to repair or pay.
And here’s the part that gets people. If the builder makes an offer the law calls “reasonable,” and you say no, your case is capped at what they offered. Capped. Doesn’t matter what a jury thinks your house is worth. [6]
The builder also gets defenses written right into the statute. Normal wear. Settlement “within tolerances.” Anything they can blame on how you maintained the place. You have to prove the defect caused the damage. And if a court decides your case was groundless and brought in bad faith, you pay the builder’s lawyers. [1] For the step-by-step version, see our guide on how to sue your home builder or contractor in Texas.
What can you recover under the RCLA?
A homeowner who wins an RCLA case can recover only listed economic damages: the reasonable cost of repair, damaged belongings, engineering and consulting fees, temporary housing during repairs, lost market value for structural failures, and reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees. [6] You can’t recover for the stress, time, anxiety or anything else.
That’s the list. There’s nothing on that list for the two years your family lived in a house with mold in the walls. Nothing. We break the categories down in what damages you can recover in a Texas construction defect case.
Can you recover attorney’s fees if you win?
Yes, but recovery is not guaranteed. The RCLA allows “reasonable and necessary” attorney’s fees, and the jury, judge or arbitrator decides that amount at the end of the case. The award can be less than what the homeowner actually paid, and fees stop accruing if the homeowner rejects a reasonable offer. [6]
Here’s what that means in real life. In Texas you pay your own lawyer unless a statute or a contract says the other side has to. [19] So who decides what’s reasonable and necessary? Not you. Not me. Somebody else, at the very end, after you have already paid.
They can give you all of it. They can give you half. They can give you less than half. They can give you none.
So it’s not guaranteed. It’s not automatic. And it comes last. You put the money up first. If you have no money, you have no case. And if you have no case, the builder wins. Not because he built you a good house. Because you ran out of money before he did.
Will a lawyer take a construction defect case on contingency in Texas?
Sometimes. Some Texas construction defect cases can be taken on a contingency fee when the damage is large and the defect is clear. Even then, the homeowner usually has to pay up front for the intial attorney time and the qualified expert inspection needed to prepare the RCLA demand. Smaller cases are usually handled hourly.
I’m going to be frank with you, because other people won’t be. There’s a cover charge. Before anybody can send the RCLA demand, somebody has to build it. That means attorney time, and it means an inspection by a qualified expert, an engineer or a building scientist who can say what’s wrong and why. The statute wants that evidence in the builder’s hands with the notice. [5]
And for the smaller cases, the math doesn’t work on contingency at all. If it costs $120,000 to fix your foundation and the lawyer takes a percent, you can’t fix your foundation. You will get less than what it costs to fix it.
Now who is the person least able to write a check to a lawyer and an engineer? The person who just spent everything they had buying the house. And who’s on the other side? A builder with lawyers on retainer, an insurance company, and a statute it helped write. Oh and they have a near unlimited bank to keep them in the fight.
That’s the top taking advantage of the bottom. And the bottom doesn’t find out until the day they need help. It’s one reason construction disputes are unlike any other legal fight.
How long do you have to sue a home builder in Texas?
Texas generally gives a homeowner a set amount of time after substantial completion to bring a construction defect claim, depending on the circumstances. [3] Under a 2023 law, a builder that provides a qualifying written warranty can shorten the period from ten years to six. [15] Every year they find a new way to limit your ability to recover.
So find your closing date and your warranty booklet. In almost all cases, the clock started when the house was finished, not when you found the crack. More on timing in how long a construction defect lawsuit takes in Houston.
Who wrote the RCLA, and why?
The RCLA was enacted in 1989 with heavy support from homebuilder lobby groups, and a Houston Law Review study concluded it was “specifically intended to limit the liability of residential builders and contractors.” It was rewritten in 2003 and 2023 through bills backed by the homebuilding industry. [7][9][15]
I’m not telling you anybody got bribed. I’m telling you who was in the room. All of this is public record.
1989: Senate Bill 1012
The same Houston Law Review study found that “numerous homebuilder lobby groups heavily supported it.” The author’s conclusion: the law “tilts the playing field in favor of homebuilders.” [7]
2003: House Bill 730
House Bill 730 rewrote the RCLA’s damages rules and created the Texas Residential Construction Commission, a state agency homeowners had to go through before they could sue. [8] The Texas Observer reported the bill was drafted largely with input from the general counsel of Perry Homes. Then the governor put that same lawyer on the commission. [9] The owner of Perry Homes, Bob Perry, was the biggest individual political donor in Texas. About $28 million to Texas candidates and committees after 2000. [11] The homebuilding industry as a whole gave more than $8.9 million from 2001 on. [9]
That agency was so bad the state’s own Sunset review said it “was never meant to be a true regulatory agency with a clear mission of protecting the public.” [13] The Legislature let it die in 2009. [14] That same year NPR reported this: “Out of 181 legislators, there are only six who don’t take money from the Texas Association of Builders.” [12] Six.
2023: House Bills 2022 and 2024
More inspections for the builder. More time for the builder. New defenses for the builder. A shorter deadline for you. [5] The Dallas Builders Association called them “the top legislative priorities for the Texas Association of Builders this past session.” [15] The association’s PAC had backed more than 174 candidates the year before and reported that “not one lost their general election.” [16]
The builders will tell you these laws get homes fixed faster and keep lawyers out of it. [17] And look, sometimes a builder does make a fair offer, and when that happens you take it. But ask yourself one question. In 1989, in 2003, in 2023, who was in the room when the rules got written? The builders were. Their lawyers were. Their PAC was. Were you?
Builders have been held to account for bad work for about 4,000 years. We wrote about that in construction as a hallmark of civilization. Texas is going the other direction, right as a national surge in shoddy homebuilding is hitting this state.
How is the RCLA like Texas medical malpractice law?
Both laws use the same design: mandatory pre-suit notice, early expert evidence, limits on damages, and a hard outer deadline. The 2003 legislative session that rewrote the RCLA also capped medical malpractice damages. [4][18]
- Notice. Malpractice: 60 days’ written notice before suit. [4] RCLA: 60 days’ written notice before suit. [5]
- Experts. Malpractice: an expert report within 120 days of the answer or the case is dismissed. [4] RCLA: expert evidence goes to the builder with the notice, before there is a lawsuit. [5]
- Damages. Malpractice: pain and suffering capped at $250,000 per provider. [4] RCLA: a list of economic losses and nothing else. [6]
- Deadline. Malpractice: a 10-year outer limit. [4] RCLA claims: reduced limits. [3]
Same play. Make it expensive to get in the door. Limit what’s on the other side of the door. And then watch how few people walk through it.
A corporation doesn’t have a heart. It doesn’t have a conscience. All it has is money, and the only thing that changes how it builds houses is having to pay for the bad ones. This law makes sure it rarely has to.
What should you do if your new Texas home has construction defects?
- Put every complaint to the builder in writing. Every one. Keep copies.
- Take pictures and video, with dates.
- Don’t make permanent repairs until the builder has had its chance to inspect, unless you have to stop the damage from getting worse. Call a lawyer first. Otherwise you may forfeit you ability to recover.
- Find your closing date and your warranty booklet. Your deadline might be six years, not ten.
- Check your homeowner’s policy. Some resulting damage may be covered, and insurers deny those claims too. See what to do if your insurance claim is denied or underpaid.
- Talk to a construction lawyer about preparing an RCLA notice. The notice sets up everything that comes after it.
If you live in a condo or townhome community, the rules are different again. See our page for Houston condo and HOA construction defect claims. And if the builder’s paperwork is confusing, our construction terms glossary will help.
When you call us, we’ll tell you the truth about your case. What it’s going to cost to get to the demand. Whether it’s a case we can take on contingency or whether it’s hourly. And whether the numbers make sense before you spend a dollar on an expert. You’ve been surprised enough.
Call The Law Offices of Colby Lewis at (866) 265-2948 or contact us at our contact form below.
For referring attorneys
If a client or a neighbor calls you about a defective new home, the RCLA notice is where these cases are won or lost, and the repose clock is already running. We work RCLA and construction defect matters across Texas and are glad to talk through one before you send anything to the builder. Call (866) 265-2948.
Frequently asked questions
What is the RCLA in Texas?
The RCLA is the Residential Construction Liability Act, Chapter 27 of the Texas Property Code. It governs every construction defect claim on a Texas home, requires notice and an inspection period before a lawsuit, and limits the damages a homeowner can recover.
How much notice do I have to give my builder before suing in Texas?
You must send written notice by certified mail at least 60 days before filing suit. The builder then has 35 days to inspect the home, up to three times, and up to 60 days from the notice to make a written settlement offer.
What happens if I reject my builder’s settlement offer?
If the offer is one the law treats as reasonable and you reject it, your recovery may be capped at the value of that offer, and you can recover only the attorney’s fees you incurred before the rejection.
Can I get my attorney’s fees back in a Texas construction defect case?
Possibly. The RCLA allows reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees, but the amount is decided at the end of the case by a jury, judge or arbitrator. It can be less than what you paid, and you pay your lawyer first either way.
Do construction defect lawyers in Texas work on contingency?
Some cases can be taken on contingency when the damages are large and the defect is clear. Even then, the homeowner usually pays up front for the attorney time and qualified expert inspection needed to prepare the RCLA demand. Smaller cases are usually hourly.
Why do I need an expert before suing my home builder?
The RCLA notice must include evidence of the nature and cause of the defect. In practice that means an inspection and report from a qualified expert, before the builder is required to respond.
Who supported the RCLA when it passed?
A Houston Law Review study of the 1989 legislative history found that numerous homebuilder lobby groups heavily supported the Act. The 2023 amendments were described by the Dallas Builders Association as the Texas Association of Builders’ top legislative priorities.
Related reading
- How to Sue Your Home Builder or Contractor in Texas (2026)
- What Damages Can I Recover in a Texas Construction Defect Case?
- How Long Does a Construction Defect Lawsuit Take in Houston?
- What Is Construction Law?
- Podcast: The Blueprint to Protecting Yourself From Construction Defects
Sources
[1] Dorsaneo & Chandler’s Texas Claims and Defenses § 40.02[2] (Matthew Bender 2026) (Residential Construction Liability Act; Tex. Prop. Code §§ 27.002–27.009).
[2] Dorsaneo & Chandler’s Texas Claims and Defenses § 40.02[1][a] (implied warranties of good workmanship and habitability; Centex Homes v. Buecher, 95 S.W.3d 266, 269 (Tex. 2002)).
[3] Dorsaneo & Chandler’s Texas Claims and Defenses § 40.02[1][c] (statute of repose of 6 to 10 years; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.009).
[4] Dorsaneo & Chandler’s Texas Claims and Defenses § 52.01 (Medical Liability Act: 60-day pre-suit notice, expert report within 120 days, $250,000 noneconomic cap, 10-year repose; Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 74.051, 74.251, 74.301, 74.351).
[5] Texas House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, Bill Analysis, C.S.H.B. 2022, 88th Leg., R.S. (2023). https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/analysis/html/HB02022H.htm
[6] Texas Property Code, Chapter 27 (Texas Constitution and Statutes, official site). https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.27.htm
[7] The Scope of the Residential Construction Liability Act in Texas, 36 Hous. L. Rev. 277, 278–79, 300 (1999). https://houstonlawreview.org/api/v1/articles/4297-the-scope-of-the-residential-construction-liability-act-in-texas.pdf
[8] Texas House Committee on Regulated Industries, Bill Analysis, C.S.H.B. 730, 78th Leg., R.S. (2003). https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/78R/analysis/html/HB00730H.htm
[9] Dave Mann, Capitol Offense: The Agency that Bob Perry Built, The Texas Observer. https://www.texasobserver.org/1869-capitol-offense-the-agency-that-bob-perry-built
[10] Patricia Kilday Hart, Home Buyer Beware, Texas Monthly (Aug. 2005). https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/home-buyer-beware/
[11] Matt Stiles, Prolific Donor Has Given $66 Million Since 2000, The Texas Tribune (Oct. 29, 2010). https://www.texastribune.org/2010/10/29/prolific-donor-has-given-66-million-since-2000/
[12] Wade Goodwyn, Critics: Texas Agency Favors Builders Over Buyers, NPR (Mar. 29, 2009). https://www.npr.org/2009/03/29/102367683/critics-texas-agency-favors-builders-over-buyers
[13] Jim Vertuno (Associated Press), Sunset Report Says Texas Homebuilder Agency Should Go, Insurance Journal (Aug. 21, 2008). https://amp.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2008/08/21/92967.htm
[14] Dave Lieber, Once Upon a Time, Texas ‘Regulated’ Homebuilders. Corruption Ruined Everything, The Dallas Morning News (Aug. 4, 2022). https://dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2022/08/04/once-upon-a-time-texas-regulated-homebuilders-corruption-ruined-everything
[15] Dallas Builders Association, Governor Signs Builder Priority Bills Into Law (June 13, 2023). https://dallasbuilders.org/governor-signs-builder-priority-bills-into-law/
[16] Jason Carothers, 2022 Was a Successful Year for HOMEPAC, Texas Builder (Texas Association of Builders) (Spring 2023). https://www.mydigitalpublication.com/article/2022+Was+a+Successful+Year+for+HOMEPAC/4530569/785160/article.html
[17] Dave Lieber, Once Again, Builders, Contractors and Remodelers Fight to Get More Power, The Dallas Morning News (May 12, 2023). https://dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2023/05/12/once-again-builders-contractors-and-remodelers-fight-to-get-more-power
[18] Texas Medical Malpractice Reform Legislation Signed Into Law, Insurance Journal (June 13, 2003). https://amp.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2003/06/13/29831.htm
[19] Dorsaneo & Chandler’s Texas Claims and Defenses § 1.02 (Matthew Bender 2026) (attorney’s fees recoverable only if authorized by statute or contract; Rohrmoos Venture v. UTSW DVA Healthcare, LLP, 578 S.W.3d 469, 487 (Tex. 2019)).
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts and deadlines. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
