Money may flow in faulty Kitec plumbing suit

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...ettlement.html

Canadians may be eligible for part of the $128-million US settlement against Kitec



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Faulty pipes cause headaches for homeowners


Frank Cappellino, a LaSalle, Ont., homeowner shows where a pipe burst, flooding his basement last fall. (Karen Brady/CBC) Canadians who installed plumbing that eventually leaked will learn Thursday if they will be financially compensated for doing so.
Two weeks ago, a proposed $128-million US settlement was reached in class action suits filed in Canada and the United States against IPEX USA LLC involving its Kitec system plumbing products.
A Canadian judge in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday approved the agreement and said the settlement was fair, reasonable and in the best interest of the class.
On Thursday, it goes before a Quebec justice. If it gets the nod there, clearing its final hurdle, some money will start to flow within the next few months.
The North American class action suit came about because of allegedly faulty pipes which cause leaks for homeowners.
Nicolas Rosati of Windsor was one of the initial plaintiffs. Other area residents have told the CBC their leaky pipe stories. And still others with the faulty brand of pipe are concerned about what might happen.
"If I decided that I wanted to sell my house tomorrow, how am I going to do that with defective plumbing or possible defective plumbing in the house?" LaSalle's Mark Hicks said. "The value of my house is not going to be the same as it would be if I had copper [pipe] in the house."
Walt Zarzecki also has the potentially leaky pipes.
"I have to worry about coming home; that there [may be] water in the basement," he said. "Right now, I don't have have any signs of any leaks or discolouration in the lines but they're saying if you don't have, you will have."
Kitec was installed in nearly 300,000 North American homes. So far, lawyers for the plaintiffs say 250 total claims have already been filed and 3,300 more are interested.
The Kitec plumbing system consists of blue and orange flexible piping and brass fittings, used to carry cold and hot water through a home. Kitec products were also used in radiant heating systems.
The pipes were made from polyethylene and a thin inner layer of aluminum, and plumbers considered them to be an excellent product because they were cheaper than copper and their flexible nature made the product easy to install.
The class action lawsuits in Canada and the U.S. allege that the product was negligently manufactured, which caused the pipes to disintegrate prematurely.
Canadians have until 2020 to file claims.
IPEX, the company that manufactures Kitec, has not admitted fault in the matter, and had no comment.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

http://lubbockonline.com/business/20...-kitec-damages

Local homeowners file separate suit over Kitec damages


A group of South Plains homeowners has filed a separate lawsuit in Lubbock County District Court against the manufacturer and wholesale distributor of a defective plumbing pipe system recalled in 2005.


Posted: January 31, 2012 - 7:21pm | Updated: February 1, 2012 - 1:52am




Local homeowners file separate suit over Kitec damages
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
A group of South Plains homeowners has filed a separate lawsuit in Lubbock County District Court against the manufacturer and wholesale distributor of a defective plumbing pipe system recalled in 2005.
The suit, filed Jan. 24 and assigned to 99th District Judge William C. Sowder, seeks unspecified damages from IPEX USA, the U.S. division of the Canadian manufacturer of the Kitec plumbing system, and Fort Worth-based Morrison Supply Co., a nationwide plumbing supply wholesaler.
Neither company responded to telephone messages seeking comment for this story.
The 30 homeowners include 26 from Lubbock and one each from Levelland, Plainview, Ralls and Sundown.
All of them had chosen to be excluded by the end of September last year from a class-action suit in U.S. and Canadian courts so they could file a separate suit. IPEX agreed to settle the class-action case in November for $125 million.
The reason the local homeowners excluded themselves, said Fernando M. Bustos, the local case’s lead attorney, was they felt they could receive compensation more in line with what they spent to replace the failed plumbing and pay for water damage to their property.
The class-action case envisions a two-tiered payment plan. The initial payment to property owners would be a flat fee to cover plumbing repairs with an adjustment if the repairs required removing drywall or cutting into concrete. A second payment would be made in January 2020 — if repair claims don’t exhaust the fund — to cover unpaid plumbing repairs or property damage losses insurance hadn’t covered.
The local suit alleges the two companies should have been aware they were putting a defective product on the market because the chemical process involving the Kitec fittings is a well-known effect of brass coming in contact with water on a long-term basis.
Brass is an alloy made of zinc and copper; water passing through the fittings causes the zinc to leach out. This weakens the fitting and creates a powder buildup with the potential to cause pipes to leak or burst.
The Kitec system, initially marketed as a construction alternative to copper pipe in the U.S. in the early 1990s, combined pipe made of a thin sheet of aluminum sandwiched between two sheets of plastic with brass fittings for connections to faucets and other hardware.
While it’s not known exactly how many homes locally were built with Kitec plumbing, local home inspectors estimated in interviews with The Avalanche-Journal it was used here between 2003 and 2007.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

http://www.pbcanada.info/http://www.pbcanada.info/



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PB Canada Website

.

Home Page | Important Dates | Notice & Documents | Claim Form


Welcome

The purpose of this website is to provide Notice of Certification and Settlement Approval with respect to Polybutylene Plumbing and Heating Systems Installed in Canadian Homes between 1975 and 1988.
THIS NOTICE MAY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.
Pour voir le page d'accueil en français, cliquez sur le lien ci-dessus "Translate"

Who should read this notice?

All persons and entities who own or who previously owned and improvements to real property or structures in Canada in which there is or was during the time of such ownership, polybutylene plumbing with acetal insert fittings and/or a polybutylene heating system with acetal insert fittings.
Class proceedings lawsuits have been initiated in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec ("the Actions"). These lawsuits relate, in part, to the alleged unsuitability of pipes made from polybutylene and pipe fittings made from acetal resin for use in potable plumbing systems installed in homes throughout Canada between approximately 1977-1998.
Settlement Approval

On June 14, 2010, a Settlement Agreement was reached between the Defendant, Hoechst Celanese Corporation ("Celanese"), and the Plantiffs in the Ontario action. On September 10, 2010, the Ontario Court certified class proceedings against Celanese solely for purposes of settlement and approved the settlement. Copies of the Complete Settlement Agreement and the long form Notice with further information are available here.
Opting Out or Filing a Claim

The DEADLINE for filing a claim under the Settlement is May 11, 2012. If you DO NOT wish to participate in the Settlement, you may OPT OUT by sending Written Notice on or before March 23, 2012 to:

PB Canada Settlement
P.O. Box 869006
Plano, Texas 75086-9066

An Opt Out form is available here.
Additional Information

If you would like further information about the terms of the Settlement Agreement, contact class counsel at:

Siskinds LLP
680 Waterloo Street
London, ON N6A 3V8
Tel: (519) 672-2121
Fax: (519) 672-6065
http://www.classaction.ca

Home Page | Important Dates | Notice & Documents | Claim Form | Logout

[Norm Zhang]

Is is safe to say all plastic piping that carries pressurized hot water will fail sooner or later?

Better put this on my report from now on

Originally Posted by rcooke

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...ettlement.html

Canadians may be eligible for part of the $128-million US settlement against Kitec



Related

Related Links

Faulty pipes cause headaches for homeowners


Frank Cappellino, a LaSalle, Ont., homeowner shows where a pipe burst, flooding his basement last fall. (Karen Brady/CBC) Canadians who installed plumbing that eventually leaked will learn Thursday if they will be financially compensated for doing so.
Two weeks ago, a proposed $128-million US settlement was reached in class action suits filed in Canada and the United States against IPEX USA LLC involving its Kitec system plumbing products.
A Canadian judge in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday approved the agreement and said the settlement was fair, reasonable and in the best interest of the class.
On Thursday, it goes before a Quebec justice. If it gets the nod there, clearing its final hurdle, some money will start to flow within the next few months.
The North American class action suit came about because of allegedly faulty pipes which cause leaks for homeowners.
Nicolas Rosati of Windsor was one of the initial plaintiffs. Other area residents have told the CBC their leaky pipe stories. And still others with the faulty brand of pipe are concerned about what might happen.
"If I decided that I wanted to sell my house tomorrow, how am I going to do that with defective plumbing or possible defective plumbing in the house?" LaSalle's Mark Hicks said. "The value of my house is not going to be the same as it would be if I had copper [pipe] in the house."
Walt Zarzecki also has the potentially leaky pipes.
"I have to worry about coming home; that there [may be] water in the basement," he said. "Right now, I don't have have any signs of any leaks or discolouration in the lines but they're saying if you don't have, you will have."
Kitec was installed in nearly 300,000 North American homes. So far, lawyers for the plaintiffs say 250 total claims have already been filed and 3,300 more are interested.
The Kitec plumbing system consists of blue and orange flexible piping and brass fittings, used to carry cold and hot water through a home. Kitec products were also used in radiant heating systems.
The pipes were made from polyethylene and a thin inner layer of aluminum, and plumbers considered them to be an excellent product because they were cheaper than copper and their flexible nature made the product easy to install.
The class action lawsuits in Canada and the U.S. allege that the product was negligently manufactured, which caused the pipes to disintegrate prematurely.
Canadians have until 2020 to file claims.
IPEX, the company that manufactures Kitec, has not admitted fault in the matter, and had no comment.

温哥华验屋师张军 home604.com

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by Norm Zhang

Is is safe to say all plastic piping that carries pressurized hot water will fail sooner or later?

Better put this on my report from now on

温哥华验屋师张军 home604.com

I try to never box myself .
.I think putting this in a report with out the facts could cause you some difficulty .

[David Hi]

I just recently lost the sale of my home due to the home inspector reporting to the potential buyers that I have Kitec piping for my Hot water Baseboard heaters from my boiler, and his report said that the pipes will burst and the system will fail, in a fear mongoring way. It took all the real estate agents in Halifax, NS by suprise because no one had heard of any issues here, nothing about the laewsuit, and there are a lot of homes here with the IPEX Pex-Al-Pex piping for the HWBB. So lost the sale and had a plumber come in and remove all the fittings, and pipe. The result, yes there were minor leaks (more so minute drips that showed no collatteral damage or even a water stain. Once removed the fittings showed absolutely no "zincification" they were all healthy, the pipe had seperation between the Pex and the aluminum, but still very servicable. All in All this is a very major headache, one caused by an overzealous Home Inspector who did absolutely no research except a google search. I talked with numerous plumbers and all told me to do nothing, that ripping it out is like removing a good organ, and no Doctor would do that. But I need it done because we want to sell our home to move back to our hometown. So agents and Home inspectors before freaking out potential buyers maybe have the system really inspected by a certified plumber before making any rash decisions.

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Originally Posted by David Hi

I just recently lost the sale of my home due to the home inspector reporting to the potential buyers that I have Kitec piping for my Hot water Baseboard heaters from my boiler, and his report said that the pipes will burst and the system will fail, in a fear mongoring way. It took all the real estate agents in Halifax, NS by suprise because no one had heard of any issues here, nothing about the laewsuit, and there are a lot of homes here with the IPEX Pex-Al-Pex piping for the HWBB. So lost the sale and had a plumber come in and remove all the fittings, and pipe. The result, yes there were minor leaks (more so minute drips that showed no collatteral damage or even a water stain. Once removed the fittings showed absolutely no "zincification" they were all healthy, the pipe had seperation between the Pex and the aluminum, but still very servicable. All in All this is a very major headache, one caused by an overzealous Home Inspector who did absolutely no research except a google search. I talked with numerous plumbers and all told me to do nothing, that ripping it out is like removing a good organ, and no Doctor would do that. But I need it done because we want to sell our home to move back to our hometown. So agents and Home inspectors before freaking out potential buyers maybe have the system really inspected by a certified plumber before making any rash decisions.

Do I really need to comment on this?

[Chris Walsh]

I'm curious as to why, "after talking to numerous plumbers" you still had the plumbing replaced then ? You could have just left it as it, and put something like "House for Sale !! MINOR leaks...No extra charge" in the sale agreement. The "Fear mongoring," "overzealous," "freaking out" HI should get a medal for bringing this information to your attention.