The End of the TRCC may be at Hand

[Chuck Evans]

The Texas Senate approved a bill to give the TRCC (Texas Residential Construction Commission) 5 months to shut itself down. The TRCC was created in 2003 after lobbying by some big builders. It was supposedly created under the auspice that it was to aid consumers with complaints against builders, however the agency was roundly criticized for protecting builders and making it more difficult for aggrieved consumers to get satisfaction.

The Texas House passed legislation to radically reform the agency but the bill was allowed to expire without a vote in the Senate. That means the agency will be phased out unless lawmakers give it a two-year extension.

"I think that at this point and time we should throw in the towel and wind down the agency," Hegar said.

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten.../0524trcc.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6437815.html

[Chuck Evans]

The commission will stop taking in new business (i.e., buyer complaint inspection requests) after August 31, 2009 and will shut down on August 31, 2010.

If you are doing 12 month warranty inspections, be careful what you tell your clients regarding how to get disputes handled.



*********** TRCC Press Release ************

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTS SUNSET PROVISIONS

(AUSTIN) —At its June 11, 2009 meeting, the Texas Residential Construction Commission announced a general timeline and action plan related to the implementation of the State’s sunset provisions.

Under provisions of Texas Government Code 325.017, the commission will not be accepting new inspection requests after August 31, 2009. In other action taken, the commission approved the following:

All new homes and projects completed by August 31, 2009 must be registered;

All new builder registrations and timely renewal registration applications will be accepted through August 31, 2009

All new builder registrations and timely renewal registration applications will be prorated, please see prorated chart here;

Inspection requests will be accepted through August 31, 2009;

Inspection requests will be scheduled for inspection as soon as possible following commission rules, policies and procedures; and

Ombudsmen will actively process complaints and post-inspection actions through August 31, 2010.

Commission Chairman Paulo Flores of Dallas, said, “The commission felt it necessary to implement a timeline regarding the state’s sunset provisions. August 31, 2009 will be the last day that the commission will receive new business, to ensure we have enough time to properly assess and complete the casework.”

The Web site will be updated as more information becomes available. For more information about any commission-related issues, go to www.TexasRCC.org.

[Chuck Evans]

TRCC was scheduled for final shutdown on August 31, 2010.

Did anyone notice?

I see no news commentary or announcements, but the website is gone (it might have been gone for a while for all I know). So it seems that the agency has come to its ignominious end...

I still see a lot of inspector websites who list themselves as TRCC inspectors. Time to update those sites.

[Nolan Kienitz]

CE,

I don't recall specifically who I was talking with earlier this summer, but he mentioned there was some back-room conversations going on to float another version of the TRCC through the next TX Legislature.

But then there are always a ton of things put on the platters of all the legislators and very few ever make it through the morass to even be considered viable.

Albeit, there were some well-connected builders and others supposedly doing the schmoozing.

Again ... it is likely "all talk".


Cheers,

Nolan Kienitz
www.NolansInspections.com
D/FW

[Jim Hime]

Originally Posted by cevans

TRCC was scheduled for final shutdown on August 31, 2010.

Did anyone notice?

I see no news commentary or announcements, but the website is gone (it might have been gone for a while for all I know). So it seems that the agency has come to its ignominious end...

I still see a lot of inspector websites who list themselves as TRCC inspectors. Time to update those sites.

They officially locked the doors Aug. 31st. All records and property were transferred to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Any requests for information under the Texas Open Records Act should be sent to: open.records@cpa.state.tx.us. (See more details on the Public Information Act.)

Homes built under the warranty and building standards are still to be treated
as if TRCC was still here for purposes of the building standards TRCC adopted. (Enforcement is with the homeowners attorney now and not TRCC).

TRCC inspectors for builders was a flub in the 1st place as it did not require code certification. No builder I know ever used a TRECKIE/TRCC inspector. They had their own dog for that.

The TRCC Dispute Resolution Inspectors (which required full code certification) will still be in demand by attorneys (for the 10-year warranty)
as the attorney will certainly use the TRCC warranty and building performance standards against the builder. Why? That was the only legal standard used to build them so naturally the attorney will need a TRCC Dispute Resolution inspector to be his expert witness. Work for the Dispute Resolution Inspectors didn't end Aug. 31, 2010 from a legal use standpoint.

The builder inspectors are dead in the water but the dispute guys may live on
for another 9 years (unless TRCC is reincarnated).

Before the shutdown I obtained the latest copy of TRCC registered builders and Dispute Resolution Inspectors. (lots of builders, remodelers; few dispute inspectors based on what they really needed to have)

I still see builders and remodelers advertising their TRCC numbers. That worries me as the public may not know TRCC is "gone".

However, the Dispute Resolution Inspectors are still valuable for purposes of litigation and warranty with builders. In short, if you were a Dispute guy then don't change your website for another 9 years. The builder warranty inspections I do still encompasses the TRCC building performance standards.
No problem. Builders are generally fixing once they are reminded that the TRCC standards still apply to that home.

[Janet Ahmad]

What is the latest talk within the industry since the 2009 demise of the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC)? Still the illogical reality is, that to catch a fish or drive a car one must be licensed; yet without any qualifications anyone can become a builder in Texas.

Janet Ahmad, National President
Home Owners for Better Building
http://www.hobb.org

[Jim Hime]

[QUOTE=Janet Ahmad;700712][FONT=Arial] yet without any qualifications anyone can become a builder in Texas.


And almost an inspector..............