"As a leading technical association representing architects, distributors, applicators, suppliers and manufacturers, EIMA is deeply concerned by the decision of the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk, that held that a single product-the wall cladding-is responsible for the performance of the entire building envelope, on a project the court itself characterized as 'shoddy construction.'
"In reaching this unprecedented decision, the court ignores the opinion of leading building associations and construction professionals that maintain first, that all components of a wall system must perform satisfactorily and work in concert with one another to ensure that water is kept out of the wall cavity; and second, that poor construction practices and improper detailing can lead to moisture intrusion problems regardless of whether the wall cladding is brick, stucco, vinyl siding or EIFS. As a result, we believe the Norfolk decision is flawed, that its rationale will not be adopted by other courts and that the decision will ultimately be overturned on appeal.
"Our association is proud of the fact that barrier EIFS have continuously been used successfully on buildings throughout the United States for more than 30 years. Barrier systems have demonstrated their value over the years and continue to be the product of choice of architects and specifiers. We are confident that the systems' unique aesthetic and energy-savings features will ensure their status as a preferred cladding system in the future.
"Since thousands of quality buildings clad with barrier EIFS show no signs of moisture intrusion, we believe this project is not a reflection on the performance of barrier EIFS, but rather problems rooted in poor construction and detailing."
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