Construction defects cover a broad spectrum from minor problems like popped nails and peeling paint to situations when a house may need to be torn down due to the costs to repair it. Some cases involve leaky walls and/or windows that have led to toxic-mold contamination. Other problems include faulty design, code violations, cracked foundations, substandard workmanship, and unsafe structures. The number of homes with construction-defects has risen in recent years because houses were being constructed in record numbers to meet the high demand for housing. Many general contractors are inexperienced and others mass produce thousands of houses. The home construction industry is intensely competitive. Many builders respond to the competition with low bids for contracts, then cut corners, and frequently employ unskilled or overworked subcontractors and poorly supervise subcontracted work. The combination of these factors results in homes that are built with serious defects.

Construction defects usually include any deficiency in the performing or furnishing of the design, planning, supervision, inspection, construction or observation of construction to any new home or building, where there is a failure to construct the building in a reasonably workmanlike manner and/or the structure fails to perform in the manner that is reasonably intended by the buyer. Some of the most common defects include: