Short answer. Sometimes. Ordinary acceptance normally clears the contractor of liability for defects, but the Civil Code carves out two exceptions: a defect that was hidden and not something you, lacking special knowledge, could reasonably have caught, or a defect you expressly reserved your rights over when you accepted the work.
What the law says
Acceptance of the work by the employer relieves the contractor of liability for any defect in the work, unless: (1) The defect is hidden and the employer is not, by his special knowledge, expected to recognize the same; or (2) The employer expressly reserves his rights against the contractor by reason of the defect.
Civil Code, Article 1719 — Acceptance and Hidden Defects. Read the full provision →
Acceptance is the general cut-off point
Article 1719 starts from a plain rule: once you, as the employer who ordered the work, accept it, the contractor is generally released from liability for defects in it. The idea is that acceptance is your chance to inspect and object, and if you sign off without complaint, the job is treated as approved. That is why acceptance matters so much in a construction or fabrication dispute — it is usually the first thing the other side will point to.
The hidden-defect exception
The first exception is for a defect that was hidden — not visible or discoverable through the kind of inspection an ordinary employer would reasonably make — and where you are not, by your own special knowledge or expertise, expected to have caught it. A homeowner accepting a renovation is not held to the same standard as an engineer accepting structural work from a subcontractor. What counts as hidden depends on what a person in your position, with your knowledge, could fairly be expected to see at the time you accepted the work, not on hindsight after the problem surfaces.
The reservation exception
The second exception is entirely within your control: you can accept the work while expressly reserving your rights against the contractor over a specific defect. If you noticed a problem but needed to use or occupy the property anyway, saying so in writing when you accept — rather than staying silent and hoping it gets fixed later — preserves your claim. A reservation stated only informally or after the fact is weaker than one made clearly at the moment of acceptance.
What this means for your situation
Whether you can still sue turns on two facts: was the defect genuinely undetectable to someone in your position at the time you accepted, and did you say anything reserving your rights when you signed off. If the defect was the kind a reasonable, non-expert employer would have missed — a crack behind a finished wall, a wiring fault under a slab — Article 1719 keeps your claim alive despite the acceptance. Gather your acceptance documents, any inspection notes, and correspondence from around that date, since they will show what was and was not apparent at the time.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Mavest (USA) Inc., et al. vs. Sapaguita Garment Corporation, G.R. No. 127454, September 21, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- William Golangco Construction Corporation vs. Philippine Commercial International Bank, G.R. No. 142830, March 24, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →