West Virginia · Construction-defect rights
Here is what you have, and here is how to keep it.
West Virginia bars construction-defect suits brought more than 10 years after the work was performed, with the clock starting when the owner occupies or accepts the improvement. Before filing a residential-defect suit you must serve written notice at least 90 days ahead under the Notice and Opportunity to Cure Act. The statute itself contains no express fraud exception.
What you have
You have ten years from when the work was performed to sue over a construction defect in West Virginia, and the clock does not even start until you occupy or accept the improvement (W. Va. Code § 55-2-6a). The statute has no written fraud exception (though courts recognize a general concealment-tolling doctrine). Serve a 90-day written notice before a residential suit (§ 21-11A-8).
The deadline
10 years to bring a construction-defect claim
W. Va. Code § 55-2-6a
10 years after performance/furnishing of the services or construction, with the clock starting when the improvement is occupied or accepted by the owner, whichever occurs first (W. Va. Code § 55-2-6a). No express fraud/willful-misconduct carve-out (West Virginia case law recognizes a general fraudulent-concealment tolling doctrine, but that is judge-made, not in this statute). A 90-day residential right-to-cure notice is required (W. Va. Code § 21-11A-8).
“No action, whether in contract or in tort ... to recover damages for any deficiency in the planning, design, surveying, observation or supervision of any construction or the actual construction of any improvement to real property ... may be brought more than ten years after the performance or furnishing of the services or construction.”
Before you sue: West Virginia requires written notice of the claim at least 90 days before you sue a licensed contractor you hired directly for residential work. It does not apply to claims of $5,000 or less, to unlicensed contractors, or to imminent safety threats. A suit filed without notice is dismissed without prejudice on request. (W. Va. Code §§ 21-11A-7, 21-11A-8)
What to do now
Write it down the day you notice it. Photograph it with something for scale. Note the date, the room, and what you saw. If it gets worse, photograph it again - a sequence is far stronger than one picture. Keep every message with the builder. You are not starting a fight; you are keeping the option open. West Virginia requires written notice to the builder before you sue: see "Before you sue" on this page for the exact rule. Describe each defect in reasonable detail; a record made at the time is what most people are missing later.
The same defect, a different answer next door
The construction-defect deadline is a state-by-state accident of geography. The identical crack in the identical house can be dead in one state and live in another.