What is structural defect liability?
Also called: defect liability period, DLP, 5 year builder warranty, Section 14(3) RERA
Section 14(3) of the RERA Act makes the builder fix, free of charge and within 30 days, any structural defect or defect in workmanship, quality or services that the buyer reports within five years of possession.
The five years run from the date the builder handed over possession, not from the OC or the conveyance deed. The cover is wider than the word "structural" suggests. It extends to defects in workmanship, quality or provision of services and to the builder's other obligations under the agreement for sale. Seepage through external walls, cracked flooring, faulty concealed plumbing, lifts that keep failing and a leaking terrace have all been argued under it.
If the builder doesn't fix the defect within 30 days, the Act entitles the buyer to compensation. In practice that means a complaint to the authority for an order to rectify, and to the adjudicating officer for compensation. Build a written record: an email with dated photos carries far more weight than a voice note to the site engineer.
The pushback is predictable. Some builders say the defect came from your interior work, and sometimes it did, when a contractor broke the waterproofing layer in a bathroom. Others call a single owner's problem a common-area matter for the association. Keep your fit-out drawings and contractor bills, and photograph the flat at handover before any work starts.
Defects in common areas, like a basement that floods every monsoon, are best raised by the association or society, which can file a complaint in its own name.
Eighteen months after moving into a Hebbal apartment in Bengaluru, a buyer notices damp patches spreading along the bedroom's external wall. She emails the builder with photos and her handover date. The builder has 30 days to fix it at its own cost, and if it doesn't, she can complain to K-RERA.
Reporting defects only by phone, or leaving them until the fifth year. Put each defect in writing as soon as you find it.
Questions people ask about structural defect liability
Does the five-year cover pass to a resale buyer?
Yes. Section 2(d) treats someone who later acquires the allotment through sale or transfer as an allottee, and the period still counts from the original handover.
Are hairline cracks in plaster covered?
Builders often argue that minor shrinkage cracks aren't defects. If they keep widening or let in water, report them in writing as a workmanship defect.