EIFSFACTS.ORG

The Real Facts About EIFS  

- The Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (NVBIA) -

The Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (NVBIA) has formed an EIFS Task Force. The head of the Task Force is Wayne Foley of Wayne Foley Construction Corporation. We faxed the following letter to NVBIA on 28 March. We followed up with a phone call to confirm that it was received. According to Len Mills, NVBIA held a board meeting on Thurs. April 13 to "decide how, or whether, to answer the questions". It look like they have decided, like most builders, to just try to ignore the problems.

Update: April 18 - We've heard from two home-owners over the weekend who have told us that they have tried to speak with someone, anyone, at NVBIA about EIFS problems. Both home-owners were told that NVBIA will only answer questions about EIFS when they are put in writing so that they can "be reviewed by the board".

NVBIA

12600 Fair Lakes Circle

Suite #260

Fairfax, VA 22033

ATTN: EIFS Task Force

Since the airing of WUSA TV and Dateline NBC's investigative reports on water-intrusion problems in barrier-EIFS homes, we have been deluged with calls and e-mails by concerned home-owners. A good number of these calls are coming from the Northern Virginia / D.C. area. We would like to get a statement of position from NVBIA on behalf of its members as to the issue of the EIFS crisis (as it is being called) and what the members of NVBIA are doing to address it. We request that your statement specifically address the following issues:

When was the NVBIA EIFS Task Force formed?

The report on WUSA TV9 stated that NVBIA builders intend to have all barrier-EIFS homes built since the mid 80's inspected. We have several concerns:

Builders using unqualified, lowest-bid inspectors. This may even be in the builder's interest as the unqualified inspectors will find fewer problems. Who will determine which inspectors are qualified, NVBIA or the builders? Given that there are no licensing requirements (or any licensing at all, for that matter) of moisture-intrusion inspectors, what criteria will be used in determining qualifications?

Which inspection protocol will be followed? There currently is only one nationally-recognized protocol.

Builders forcing home-owners to sign waivers exempting the builder from liability before releasing the test results to the home-owner. This is already happening.

Builders "sterilizing" reports, i.e. removing information they don't want home-owners to see. This too, is already happening.

Given that there are currently no accepted long-term fixes for the problem, and that previous "patch-n-match repairs" are already failing again, what will builders do when they find problems?

It appears that several members of NVBIA, including a builder who has a large number of EIFS homes that have serious damage (one of which may have to be demolished), and an EIFS applicator have "conveniently" gone out of business and re-opened under knew names. This appears to home-owners to be an attempt to avoid liability for EIFS failures.

In mid-January EIMA and its member manufacturers reversed their long-standing position and are no longer recommending non-drainable systems for Type V construction. Is NVBIA following suit? If so, what are builders doing with current homes for sale that have barrier systems?

Will NVBIA be addressing the EIFS crisis at the New Homes Festival?

 

Please provide a response at your earliest convenience. We will post this letter, along with your response, to our Website: www.novashoc.org so that those having an interest will have ready access to the information.

Charles S. McMillion

Founder