Colorado Construction Litigation Reform Law Signed; Recall Effort Follows
Months of work by the Colorado Association of Home Builders came to a head in late April, when Colorado Governor Bill Owens signed into law one of the country's most comprehensive construction litigation reform packages. 

The new law, C.R.S. 13-20-802, contains favorable caps on damages, including limiting a plaintiff’s recovery to actual damages, capping non-economic damages at $250,000 and implicitly removing the option to sue for punitive damages. The legislation also limits damages in a construction defect action to $250,000 instead of the previous standard, which allowed the tripling of actual damages. Attorneys’ fees are also placed within the $250,000 cap. 

Rob Nanfelt, government affairs director for the builders association, said the reforms have made insurers “very interested” in returning to the market. He is hopeful that surplus insurers will return to Colorado in three to six months, and major carriers will follow within a year.

Colorado’s legislation contains some of the strongest construction litigation language passed to date, which has spurred opponents to file an initiative to have the new law recalled by voters on the 2004 ballot. Nanfelt’s association is working vigorously to keep the law in place.   

The Colorado Association of Home Builders recently received a $25,000 grant from NAHB's State & Local Issues Fund to help fight the recall initiative.

For more information on the Colorado bill, contact Rob Nanfelt. View the final version of HB 1161 here. [ return to top ]