TRCC Has Left the Building

Honest Project is for all project participants

The Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) was formed in 2003 with a noble purpose – to improve the quality of construction in Texas by registering builders and assisting consumers with dispute filing and resolution.

The intent was to create more stringent standards for builders, and create a framework to reduce litigation.

Unfortunately, as with many legislated solutions the TRCC failed to live up to the ideals on which it was founded. It has been accused of protecting builder interests and forcing consumers with complaints into a bureaucratic maze.

Now the TRCC is due to expire in February of 2010, effectively turning back the clock for consumers to the legislation covering disputes prior to 2003.

Why Legislation Based Solutions Fail

‘Committee’ solutions like the TRCC are doomed to fail because they are too far removed from the building process and therefore don’t engage all participants at the point in time when it really matters.

We saw that creating a trust framework during construction is more effective than trying to resolve disputes after. By changing the incentives and catching problems early, Honest Project seeks to succeed where the TRCC did not.

Why Honest Project’s Community-Based Solution Works

Honest Project was created to address the common problems that arise during construction, intercepting issues before they become permanent problems.

Here are a few of the reasons why this approach is better:

• Honest Project was started by a group of owners who were victims of unscrupulous builders and saw that misplaced incentives are largely to blame. We have a true passion for seeing these projects work better for all parties.
• The Honest Project team met with Builders, Lenders and Subcontractors to identify the root causes of most problems and built a solution to address these concerns. Through our community site and direct relationships with representatives of each groups, Honest Project continues to evolve our solution to benefit all participants.
• We think good communication during construction can correct many problems. As a community oriented solution, Honest Project engages all participants: Owner, Lender, Builder, Subcontractors and Vendors and puts them in the same room.
• Our system helps the owner and lender verify that the work is being done on time and on budget and subcontractors are being paid. By tying this verification to the distribution of funds, builders have an incentive to fix problems quickly and pay others on time.
• We provide a ratings and review system based on actual work performed, meaning we can weed out the bad actors and promote those builders and subs that operate with integrity.
• Because some disputes are inevitable, our system keeps a detailed history of invoiced work and all payments, with the idea that real transparency means disputes are settled faster and with less cost to all parties.

We feel a true market-based approach, where transparency and accurate information is provided to all parties in a timely manner, can succeed where a legislated solution could not .

Honest Project

Trust. Build. Verify