Citizen Information about Chinese Drywall
James City County residents who believe they may have Chinese drywall in their home may visit this link for answers to commonly asked questions.
If you suspect that you have Chinese drywall in your home, the Virginia Department of Health recommends that you first contact your home’s builder. Individuals may also call the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s toll-free consumer hotline at 1-800-638-2772 or the Virginia Department of Health at (804) 864-8182 for more information about Chinese drywall.
The Virginia Department of Health continues to monitor the evolving Chinese drywall issue and any potential impacts on public health. New information will be posted to the Virginia Department of Health Web site, www.vdh.virginia.gov, as it becomes available.
Another good source of information is the US Consumer Product Safety Commission web site: http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/drywallstatus07092009.pdf
If a James City County resident does not feel that they have received an appropriate response from their home builder, they may contact the James City County Code Compliance Division at 253-6620 to discuss their concerns. Once determined by a Code Compliance inspection that a non-code compliant drywall product has been installed in their home, and the home is less than two years old, the Code Compliance Division will contact the home builder requiring corrective action. Section 115.2.1 of the Uniform Statewide Building Code states…..When violations are discovered more than two years after the certificate of occupancy is issued or the date of initial occupancy, whichever occurred later, or more than two years after the approved final inspection for an alteration or renovation, a notice of violation shall only be issued upon advice from the legal counsel of the locality that action may be taken to compel correction of the violation. The James City County attorney’s office has determined that the issue is beyond the statute of limitation for prosecutions under the Uniform Statewide Building Code. Consequently, the County cannot legally initiate a case under the USBC and no Notice of Violation should be issued.