Connecticut House of Representatives approves bill to enhance crumbling foundations protections

The Connecticut House of Representatives has approved a bill to expand protections for homeowners struggling with crumbling concrete foundations due to contamination from pyrrhotite.

The state had previously formed the Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company (CFSIC), a captive insurance company that has led efforts to replace foundations destroyed by the crumbling foundations crisis.

HB 6646 expands on CFSIC’s work, removing a five-year cap on reassessments and establishing a quarry standard and testing requirements for buildings. It extends freedom of information protections for those who reported problems to the Department of Consumer Protections and introduces language that explicitly states that homes must be included in revaluation. It also allocates $175,000 of funds from an existing revenue stream for a study on nonresidential buildings.

HB 6646 was developed by the members of the Crumbling Foundations Caucus, a bipartisan group of legislators who have worked to combat crumbling concrete foundations caused by the presence of the mineral pyrrhotite.

The bill has now moved to the Connecticut State Senate.