PRESS ROOM

Compliance with California's SB800 now even stronger as Master Manuals partners with David MacLellan

June 15, 2006 (SAN DIEGO, CA) Master Manuals has teamed up with recognized building expert David MacLellan (Building Standards Institute)
to provide California homebuilders with the most comprehensive, homeowner-friendly documentation yet.

Master Manuals, in an exclusive partnership with MacLellan Wolfson Associates, incorporates the performance guidelines from the popular reference book California Building Performance Guidelines for Residential Construction into its Master Homeowner Maintenance Manual. With the optional addition of these guidelines, our homeowner manuals are now even stronger and help define the division of responsibilities of the homeowner and builder.

"With David MacLellan's blessing, we have taken the strongest and most relevant content from his book and provide the option for builders to add it to our own expert-vetted content. The end result is a document that greatly benefits both homebuilder and homeowner," said Master Manuals CEO Steve Fabry. "The homeowner gets a practical blueprint on how to best maintain their home. The homebuilder gets documented proof of compliance with California's SB800 and a means of reducing exposure to Construction Defect Litigation.

According to Fabry, the MacLellan book is a valued addition to the existing solution. The Performance Guidelines, which many considered industry standards, are highlighted by its own tabbed section in the Master Manual Homeowner Manual for quick and easy reference.

"Historically, the definition of quality in homebuilding has largely been a matter of subjective opinion," MacLellan writes. "One person's 'minimum quality standards' may be another person's overbuilding. Should disputes arise regarding issues of construction quality and workmanship, both homeowners and builders are often frustrated by the absence of a written, unbiased reference to deal with these issues."

The tenets of SB800 obligates a homeowner to follow all reasonable maintenance obligations and schedules communicated in writing by the builder and product manufacturers, as well as commonly accepted maintenance practices. A failure by a homeowner to follow these obligations, schedules, and practices may subject the homeowner to the affirmative defenses.

"Our manuals have always offered homebuilders protection from frivolous lawsuits," Fabry said. Now with the addition of the California Building Performance Guidelines to our solution suite, homebuilders can reduce their risks even further.