When a hurricane tears through a community, the damage leaves behind can feel overwhelming. For property owners, the priority is to get repairs done quickly compared to that life
and business can return to normal. But too often, homeowners and business owners face months of waiting as construction drags on—or worse, never gets completed at all.
This raises a pressing question: If repairs are delayed after a hurricane, do property owners have legal recourse against the contractor or construction company?
The Legal Landscape of Post-Hurricane Repairs
After a hurricane or other weather event, the typical rebuilding process begins with filing an insurance claim. Onc
e the claim is approved, property owners hire contractors to perform the actual rebuilding or repair work. Ideally, this h
appears smoothly, but reality often looks different. Construction can be delayed for a multitude of reasons after a major storm.
Common causes of delay include:
Labor shortages as skilled workers are in high demand after a major storm;
Material shortages caused by supply chain disruptions;
Local authorized backlogs when thousands of residents need approvals at once; and
Contractor misconduct, such as overbooking projects or failing to manage resources.
Not every delay is legally actionable. Some are unavoidable results of widespread disaster recovery. Others, su
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h as fraud, abandonment, or misuse of funds, may give the owner a right to bring a claim against their contract.
Contract Rights and Responsibilities
A well-written construction contract is your best tool to protect yo
ur rights as a property owner. A good construction agreement should outline:
The scope of work (in as much detail as reasonable practicable);
Project deadlines or estimated timelines;
Payment schedules; and
Remedies if the contractor fails to deliver in accordance with the contract.
Most contracts also include “force majeure” clauses, which excuse performance delays caused by unfo
Reseen events outside the contractor's control. Hurricanes often fall into this category, but the clause cannot be used as a blanket excuse for every delay. In fact, if the
contract is entered into after a storm, a contractor cannot rely u
pon a force majeure clause for delays caused by or related to the storm that were foreseeable at the time the parties entered into the contract. By way of example, if there
are major labor shortages, the contractor likely was aware of that issue at the time he/she entered the contr
act. act. Thus, the contractor would not be able to argue that the labor shortage is the cause of his delay in meeting the proposed schedule.
Unfortunately, after a major storm, many “contractors” come in to take advantage of the abundance of availability
le work. These companies are commonly referred to as “storm chasers.” While not all of these companies are problematic, issues arise when contractors engage in bad-faith practices, such as:
Taking deposits and failing to start work;
Misrepresenting how quickly repairs can be completed; or
Accepting more projects than they can realistically handle.
These situations may form the basis of a legal claim, even if general storm-related delays are otherwise unavoidable.