The Denver City Council voted 12-1 Monday night to approve an ordinance on condominium construction defects that city officials hope will jump-start more condo projects.

Building off measures passed recently by Lakewood and Aurora, Denver’s ordinance reduces some risks to condo developers from lawsuits over potential defects.

Councilman Paul Kashmann cast the lone vote against the ordinance, citing what he said were unresolved concerns for homeowners. Other council members said they would revisit the ordinance to further protect or support homeowners if the need should arise.

Under the ordinance, a project cannot be called defective in a civil action if it was built and maintained in conformance with the building code.

Building code violations will now be cited in a lawsuit only if they can be linked to damage or injury. It will take the consent of a majority of the owners in a condo development to initiate a “defects” lawsuit.

Unlike the vibrant apartment boom in the city, condo construction has lagged over the past decade, in part because of “construction defect litigation brought by condominium homeowners,” according to the ordinance.

Backers of the ordinance envision its passage as pumping new life into a dormant local condo market.

“Denver said loud and clear tonight that we’re going to do whatever we can to address the accessible and affordable housing challenges we are facing citywide,” Mayor Michael Hancock said in a statement after the vote. “This is a measured and balanced approach to addressing a shortage of condominiums, taking great care to spur the creation of more for-sale units while protecting homeowner rights in situations of defective construction.”

Some individual condo owners, including those in a group that has participated in defects lawsuits, opposed the new measure. They asked council members to vote it down, saying it will burden homeowners with correcting mistakes made during construction.

Jonathan Harris, president of Build Our Homes Right, said the passage of the ordinance left him “frustrated.”

“I’m encouraged at least one person seems to understand the problem,” Harris said of Kashmann’s “no” vote. “Unfortunately, it passed at the expense of the consumer.”

Harris said the ordinance will make it more difficult for associations and individual owners “to deal with defects if they have a problem.”

The ordinance goes into effect Jan. 1.

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or @kierannicholson