Gypsum industry news

US: A US$24m settlement has been reached between owners of Villa Lago, a collection of private residences in Boynton Beach, South Florida and Coastal Construction regarding 'defective' Chinese wallboard.

A two-tower condominium complex was constructed by RCR Holdings II LLC at Villa Lago using Chinese wallboard. Once the residents became aware of the 'defective' wallboard they formed a class action and sued RCR Holdings. However, since RCR kept equity in the property, the two sides soon joined forces against the general contractor, Coastal Construction and other defendants.

RCR Holdings maintained that Coastal Construction and the other defendants knew the wallboard was defective when it was being installed. They further alleged that Coastal's conduct fell below the duty of care owed the class. The defendants denied knowingly using defective wallboard, although a settlement was eventually reached after six mediations.

Coastal agreed to pay US$24m, which was preliminarily approved by US District Judge Eldon Fallon on 24 April 2013. The Villa Lago owners are using the funds to remove the 'defective'wallboard.