CACI 4575 Right to Repair Act—Affirmative Defense—Failure to Follow Recommendations or to Maintain (Civ. Code, § 945.5(c))
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
4575 Right to Repair Act—Affirmative Defense—Failure to Follow Recommendations or to Maintain (Civ. Code, § 945.5(c))
[Name of defendant] claims that [he/she/nonbinary pronoun/it] is not responsible for [name of plaintiff]’s harm because [name of plaintiff] failed to properly maintain the home. To establish this defense, [name of defendant] must prove [all/both] of the following:
1.That [name of plaintiff] failed to follow [[name of defendant]’s/ [or] a manufacturer’s] recommendations/ [or] commonly accepted homeowner maintenance obligations];
[2.That [name of plaintiff] had written notice of [name of defendant]’s recommended maintenance schedules;
3.That the recommendations and schedules were reasonable at the time they were issued;]
4.That [name of plaintiff]’s harm was caused by [his/her/nonbinary pronoun] failure to follow [[name of defendant]’s/ [or] a manufacturer’s] recommendations/ [or] commonly accepted homeowner maintenance obligations].
New November 2019; Revised May 2020
https://crowdsourcelawyers.com/judicial-council-california-civil-jury-instructions-caci
Directions for Use
This instruction sets forth a builder’s affirmative defense to a homeowner’s construction defect claim under the Right to Repair Act, asserting that the homeowner failed to follow the builder’s or manufacturer’s recommendations, or properly maintain the property. The homeowner is responsible for any maintenance failures by any of the homeowner’s agents, employees, general contractors, subcontractors, independent contractors, or consultants. (Civ. Code, § 945.5(c).) Include elements 2 and 3 if the defendant contractor is relying on its own recommended maintenance schedule.
Sources and Authority
•Right to Repair Act Affirmative Defense of Homeowner’s Failure to Maintain. Civil Code section 945.5(c).