CertainTeed Fiber Cement Siding Settlement

How do I know if I have the Siding that is the subject of this lawsuit?

All CertainTeed fiber cement products can be easily identified by one of two means, both of which are accepted by the company when processing product warranty claims:

1. Product control and identification numbers imprinted on the reverse side of the fiber cement siding will always be present and will include one of these essential initials:
   • TH (Terre Haute Plant)
   • WC (White City Plant)
   • RR (Roaring River Plant)
2. Unique fingerprint of wood grain in fiber cement siding: CertainTeed WeatherBoards are imprinted with a wood grain pattern that includes a characteristic knot recognizable in photographs as well as in siding samples.

 

There are several other ways to find out if you have the Siding:

• Check your purchase or repair documents. You may have receipts, warranties, bills of sales, or brochures from when you purchased or repaired your Siding. These documents may say that the Siding was installed on your property.
• The contractor or company that installed or repaired your Siding may know whether or not the Siding was installed.
• See if you still have packaging material for the Siding. The installer may have left a package of leftover Siding in your garage or basement and you may be able to identify it from the packaging.
• Ask a contractor or builder. An experienced contractor or builder may be able to tell by looking at your property whether you may have the Siding.

What is Qualifying Damage?

Qualifying Damage to Siding means damage caused by a defect in the Siding that is manifested as shrinkage between the ends of Siding in excess of 3/16” except that for Siding installed abutting windows, doors or trim, shrinkage must exceed 5/16”. In addition, Siding with warping or bowing in excess of 1/2″, field and edge cracking through the board, or delamination is also Qualifying Damage.

Siding means CertainTeed WeatherBoards™ Fiber Cement Siding, Lap Siding, Vertical Siding, Shapes, Soffit, Porch Ceiling, and 7/16” Trim installed on or before July 1, 2016.

 

Sample Pictures of Qualified Siding

Pictures of eligible siding can be found by clicking here.

Claim Value Estimation Calculator

This web-based calculator provides only a rough and preliminary estimate of possible payments from the settlement. The calculator is based on costs as of the date the Court preliminarily approved the settlement, in February, 2017.

Click here to continue: Claim Value Estimation Calculator

If I have already settled a warranty claim for the Siding with CertainTeed, may I receive any additional remedy under the settlement?

If you previously settled or resolved a warranty claim for all Siding prior to the Effective Date, you have no claim under this Agreement unless you have new Qualifying Damage, or your settled claim was paid by CertainTeed under SureStart after the Effective Date of the Settlement. Claims or portions of claims that have been settled or resolved include: (i) claims or portions of claims that have been resolved with a final judgment or dismissal, whether or not favorable to the claimant; or (ii) claims or portions of claims that have been settled as evidenced by a written release of CertainTeed; or (iii) claims or portions of claims for which you have received compensation for replacement siding, such as by a check for Siding or labor that has been cashed; or (iv) claims or portions of claims for which you have received replacement material by redeeming a material authorization letter from CertainTeed.

What if I submitted a warranty claim for the Siding to CertainTeed, but never settled the claim with CertainTeed?

If you previously submitted a warranty claim to CertainTeed, received an offer from CertainTeed for the warranty claim, but have not yet accepted the offer, you should submit a Claim form and state in the Claim Form that you received such an offer. Your claim will be considered, but you still have to meet all of the criteria in the settlement, such as whether you have the Siding, whether it exhibits Qualifying Damage under the definition in the Agreement, and whether the Qualifying Damage was caused by a defect.

What happens at the end of the six-year Claim Period? Does the settlement extinguish or have any effect on the 25 year or 50 year limited warranty that came with the purchase of your Siding?

No. The Settlement Agreement does not extinguish or have any effect on the 25 year or 50 year limited warranty that came with the purchase of your Siding. This means that after the claims period ends, you may still make a claim under your warranty during the warranty period.

What if I experience damage to my Siding within the first two years after it is installed? Does the settlement extinguish or have any effect on the SureStart protection provided by CertainTeed’s limited warranty?

No. The Settlement Agreement does not extinguish or have any effect on the SureStart protection provided by CertainTeed limited warranty. If you still have a valid SureStart warranty, you should first make a claim with CertainTeed under that warranty. After accepting compensation under the SureStart warranty, you may make a claim in the Settlement to recover the amount (if any) that exceeds what you already received from CertainTeed under the SureStart warranty.

Do the amounts paid under the settlement for labor costs include the cost of removing and disposing of the Siding that is being replaced?

Yes. When calculating the amount a Claimant will receive under the settlement for labor costs, the cost to remove and dispose of the Siding that is being replaced as well as the costs of installing the new Siding will be included.

What happens if I do nothing at all?

If you have the Siding on your building, all decisions made by the Court in this lawsuit or about the settlement will apply to you, unless you opted out of the class action. If you did not opt out, you have released CertainTeed from any further claims against it about the issues settled in this lawsuit, and you can’t ever sue CertainTeed again about these issues. This is true even if you do not send in a Claim Form for a remedy.

However, you will retain the right to make a claim under the Agreement until February 17, 2023. There is a shorter deadline if you sold the building.

 

What if I don’t want to be part of the settlement or the Settlement Class?

The deadline to opt out has passed; you may no longer exclude yourself from the settlement.

What Siding is the subject of this lawsuit?

The Siding that is the subject of this lawsuit (called “Siding” in the Notice and other case documents) is CertainTeed Weatherboards™ Fiber Cement Siding, Lap Siding, Vertical Siding, Shapes, Soffit, Porch Ceiling, and 7/16” Trim installed on or before July 1, 2016. Other companies also make fiber cement siding but this lawsuits involves only fiber cement siding made by CertainTeed.

Pictures of eligible siding can be found here:

Pictures of Eligible Siding

What is this class action about?

The Representative Plaintiffs allege that the Siding is subject to shrinkage, warping, cracking, bowing, delamination and otherwise does not perform in accordance with the reasonable expectations of users. CertainTeed denies these allegations. The settlement is intended to resolve this dispute. The Courts have not decided in favor of either the Class or CertainTeed. The Courts’ role in the settlement is to make sure it is a proper settlement that is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of class members.

 

How do I know if I’m part of the settlement?

To see if you are eligible for a remedy under this settlement, you first have to know if you are a Settlement Class Member. You are a Settlement Class Member if:

As of July 1, 2016, you owned a home, residence, common property, building, or other structure in the Canada, on which the Siding was installed on or before July 1, 2016.
If you are a Settlement Class Member, you are only eligible for a remedy under the Settlement Agreement if you have an Eligible Claim. Briefly, this means that your Siding exhibits Qualifying Damage pursuant to the criteria set forth in the Settlement Agreement. You may also file a claim if you purchased a building on which the Siding was installed on or before July 1, 2016, and the seller did not retain the right to make a claim.
If you owned a building on which the Siding was installed on or before July 1, 2016, but sold it, you may file a claim only if (a) the purchaser assigned that right to you in writing, AND (b) your claim package is postmarked no later than the later of 90 days after February 17, 2017 or 90 days after the closing date of the sale of the building (whichever is later). You must submit the written assignment of the claim with your claim package.

 

How to Receive a Remedy – Submitting a Claim Form

To qualify for a remedy, you must fill out and submit a Claim Form demonstrating the damage to your Siding, and attach all of the documentation it requests. You can obtain a copy of the Claim Form by:
calling this toll-free number: (866) 482-5436
visiting the File a Claim section of this website
writing to:

CertainTeed Fiber Cement Siding Litigation

c/o BMC Group, Settlement Administrator

P.O. Box 2004

Chanhassen, MN 55317-2004

When will I receive my remedy?

Claim Forms will generally be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis and initial review will take around 90 days.  The Claims Administrator will contact you by mail once your claim has been reviewed.

What if the Claims Administrator denies my claim?

If you believe the Claims Administrator wrongly denied your claim, you can appeal to an Independent Claims Reviewer. You cannot appeal a denial based on fraudulent conduct or an untimely claim application (however, you may challenge denial of a claim based on fraudulent conduct by presenting the matter to the Court). Your appeal must be filed with the Claims Administrator within 30 days of your receipt of notice of the denial.

How does the settlement work?

A Settlement Class Member with an Eligible Claim will be offered a cash payment in accordance with the Agreement. The amount available to each claimant is determined using the criteria described in the Settlement Agreement. Also, the amount payable to each claimant depends upon a number of factors such as (1) the extent of the Qualifying Damage; (2) how much of the siding on the wall has Qualifying Damage; (3) the size of the wall; and (4) the length of time the Siding has been installed.

Information about the payment available under the Agreement is supplied in answer to Questions 11 through 14 below. When you read the answers to those questions, keep in mind that compensation for eligible Claims is based in part on how long you have already been able to use the siding.

Date of Original Installation

Percent Payable

2013 or later

80%

2012

76%

2011

72%

2010

68%

2009

64%

2008

60%

2007

56%

2006

52%

2005

48%

2004

44%

2003

40%

2002

36%

2001

32%

2000

28%

1999

24%

The amount paid to each Class Member will be determined by using the pricing provided by “RS Means,” which is a widely accepted cost estimator used in the construction/building industry. RS Means accounts for regional differences in costs for labor and materials.

In order to ensure that all Claimants are treated equally during the six year claims period, all claims will be paid on a two-payment schedule. The first payment will be in the amount of 50% of the claim value as soon as the claim is administered. The second payment would be made at the end of the claims period.

If less than 5% of the siding on a single wall section has Qualifying Damage then the payment will be based on the actual number of boards or panels with damage.

If your siding was installed within the last two years, your SureStart warranty is likely still in force. If so, you must first make a claim with CertainTeed under the SureStart Warranty. However, if after making a claim with CertainTeed you believe you would have recovered more under this Settlement, then you can make a claim in this settlement too. If this Settlement would have provided you more, you will be paid the difference between what CertainTeed paid and what the Settlement provides.

The Settlement allows a class member to make more than one claim during the claims period, however, a Claimant cannot collect twice for the same wall section for which they previously received compensation.

How will the lawyers be paid?

The costs of notice, claims administration, and attorneys’ fees and costs will be paid from the Settlement Fund. The amount of attorneys’ fees to be awarded has been determined solely by the Courts.

Are more details about the settlement and my rights under the settlement available?

This website summarizes the settlement and your rights under the settlement. It cannot tell you every right to which you may be entitled. To obtain further information or advice about your legal rights, you may contact Class Counsel, without charge, or consult a lawyer at your own expense.

More details about the terms of the settlement are set forth in the Agreement, found under the Case Documents section of this website. If you have questions or want to know more about the settlement, you can call the Claims Administrator toll-free at (866) 482-5436, or write to: CertainTeed Fiber Cement Siding Litigation, c/o Analytics LLC, Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 2004, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2004.