NRS40.645. Notice of defect: Required before commencement of or addition to certain actions; content; reliance on expert opinion based on representative sample; notice regarding similarly situated owners; persons authorized to provide notice; exceptions.

      1.  Except as otherwise provided in this section and NRS 40.670, before a claimant commences an action or amends a complaint to add a cause of action for a constructional defect against a contractor, subcontractor, supplier or design professional, the claimant:

      (a) Must give written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the contractor, at the contractor’s address listed in the records of the State Contractors’ Board or in the records of the office of the county or city clerk or at the contractor’s last known address if the contractor’s address is not listed in those records; and

      (b) May give written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to any subcontractor, supplier or design professional known to the claimant who may be responsible for the constructional defect, if the claimant knows that the contractor is no longer licensed in this State or that the contractor no longer acts as a contractor in this State.

      2.  The notice given pursuant to subsection 1 must:

      (a) Include a statement that the notice is being given to satisfy the requirements of this section;

      (b) Specify in reasonable detail the defects or any damages or injuries to each residence or appurtenance that is the subject of the claim; and

      (c) Describe in reasonable detail the cause of the defects if the cause is known, the nature and extent that is known of the damage or injury resulting from the defects and the location of each defect within each residence or appurtenance to the extent known.

      3.  Notice that includes an expert opinion concerning the cause of the constructional defects and the nature and extent of the damage or injury resulting from the defects which is based on a valid and reliable representative sample of the components of the residences or appurtenances may be used as notice of the common constructional defects within the residences or appurtenances to which the expert opinion applies.

      4.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, one notice may be sent relating to all similarly situated owners of residences or appurtenances within a single development that allegedly have common constructional defects if:

      (a) An expert opinion is obtained concerning the cause of the common constructional defects and the nature and extent of the damage or injury resulting from the common constructional defects;

      (b) That expert opinion concludes that based on a valid and reliable representative sample of the components of the residences and appurtenances included in the notice, it is the opinion of the expert that those similarly situated residences and appurtenances may have such common constructional defects; and

      (c) A copy of the expert opinion is included with the notice.

      5.  A representative of a homeowner’s association may send notice pursuant to this section on behalf of an association that is responsible for a residence or appurtenance if the representative is acting within the scope of the representative’s duties pursuant to chapter 116 or 117 of NRS.

      6.  Notice is not required pursuant to this section before commencing an action if:

      (a) The contractor, subcontractor, supplier or design professional has filed an action against the claimant; or

      (b) The claimant has filed a formal complaint with a law enforcement agency against the contractor, subcontractor, supplier or design professional for threatening to commit or committing an act of violence or a criminal offense against the claimant or the property of the claimant.

      (Added to NRS by 1995, 2540; A 1997, 2718; 1999, 1440; 2003, 2042)