NIBCO PEX Lawsuit: The $43.5 Million Settlement and 2026 Status

The NIBCO PEX lawsuit was a nationwide class action, Cole et al. v. NIBCO, Inc., filed in 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleging that NIBCO’s PEX tubing, yellow brass fittings, and stainless steel clamps were defective and caused leaks and water damage in homes and buildings across the country. It produced a settlement of up to $43.5 million, approved in April 2019, with a claim period that closed on May 16, 2025. A separate $7.65 million settlement covered certain homes in Alabama and Texas. As of mid-2026, the nationwide settlement is still being administered while the administrator finalizes appeals and calculates a second round of payments.¹²

Which NIBCO Products Were Covered

Three components were at issue, all sold as parts of the same plumbing system:

PEX tubing made using NIBCO’s “1006 formulation,” manufactured from January 2005 through August 2012 and sold under brand names including NIBCO PEX, NEXT-Pure, and DURA-PEX.
Yellow brass fittings of the ASTM F1807 type, most manufactured by the end of 2012, with production ending in 2015.
Stainless steel clamps used to secure tubing to fittings, following the same production timeline as the brass fittings.

Homeowners whose plumbing includes DURA-PEX tubing originally made by Consolidated Plumbing Industries were also part of the class, since NIBCO acquired that line in 2006.³

What Was Alleged to Go Wrong

The plaintiffs described a chain of failures. The tubing itself, they said, was inadequately stabilized or improperly crosslinked, leaving it vulnerable to oxidation that produced slow-growth cracking and eventually ruptured the pipe walls.³

Once water reached the yellow brass fittings, their high zinc content triggered dezincification: the zinc leached out and left behind a weak, porous copper structure that could no longer hold a seal. Chlorine in the water then attacked the stainless steel clamps, causing stress corrosion cracking that made them break and release the tubing.³

Class members reported persistent drips, catastrophic pipe bursts, soaked walls and ceilings, ruined floors and belongings, lost water pressure, and repair bills in the thousands of dollars. Some homes had to be re-plumbed entirely.

NIBCO denied that its products were defective, saying they carried the appropriate industry certifications and that reported leaks were rare relative to the volume sold. The settlement itself states it “is not, and does not include, an admission of a defect.”¹

Who Qualified and What the Settlement Paid

The class covered anyone who owned or occupied a residential or commercial building in the United States containing the covered NIBCO products at any time on or after January 1, 2005. That reached beyond current homeowners to include tenants, heirs, trusts, subsequent purchasers, and builders, contractors, or insurers with subrogation claims tied to qualifying leaks. In granting final approval, the court modified the class definition to exclude homes in certain areas, freeing builders and contractors there to pursue their own claims against NIBCO.⁴⁵

Approved claims paid between 25% and 70% of the claimant’s “Reasonably Proven Property Damage,” which included repair costs, replacement of the affected products, related labor, and damage to surrounding property caused by leaks.⁶

Homeowners who experienced three or more qualifying leaks at separate times could instead elect a re-plumb payment for a full plumbing replacement. That option paid $600 per full fixture (such as a sink or shower) and $300 per half-fixture (such as a toilet or icemaker line), capped at $16,000 per structure.⁷

Leaks were eligible if they occurred between January 1, 2005, and May 16, 2019 (the effective date), and for future leaks the six-year claim window ran through May 16, 2025. Claim forms generally had to be submitted within 150 days of the leak.⁷⁶

The Separate Alabama and Texas Settlement

A different $7.65 million settlement resolved claims from homeowners in specific cities in Alabama and Texas whose homes were built by D.R. Horton, Inc.-Birmingham or Continental Homes of Texas, L.P. and contained NIBCO plumbing components. The two underlying cases, Matson v. NIBCO Inc. (W.D. Tex.) and Garrett v. NIBCO Inc. (N.D. Ala.), were resolved through a single settlement agreement filed in December 2020.⁸

Under that agreement, eligible claimants with past property damage were paid an initial 50% of their proven damages, with a second distribution intended to bring the total to 75% depending on total claims and remaining funds.⁸ Final approval was granted on October 15, 2021, and the claims period ran through May 16, 2025.⁹

An objector, Jose Garcia, argued the fund was too small and challenged class adequacy. A federal magistrate judge in Texas overruled his objections and granted final approval, and the Fifth Circuit rejected his appeal in an unpublished decision on October 12, 2022, finding “no basis for upending” the settlement. The court called the $7.65 million fund “comparable, if not better than, a prior settlement” involving the same company and similar products, and held that Garcia had failed to properly brief the class adequacy question.¹⁰

Where Things Stand in 2026

Both settlements are now closed to new claims. The nationwide settlement’s six-year claim period ended May 16, 2025.⁷ As of mid-2026, the settlement administrator is completing a final review of deficiency and denial appeals for eligible class members and calculating the second pro rata payment. Distribution dates for that second round have not been set and will be posted on the official settlement website, pexsystemsettlement.com, when confirmed.⁶

The Alabama and Texas settlement’s claims period also closed on May 16, 2025, and is listed as closed.¹¹

Class members with questions about a submitted claim, an appeal, or a pending payment can reach the administrator, Angeion Group, at 1-855-649-5968 or info@PexSystemSettlement.com.¹²

1
PR Newswire. $43.5 Million Class Action Settlement Announced Regarding Certain NIBCO PEX 1006 Tubing, F1807 Fittings, and Stainless Steel Clamps
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PEX System Settlement. Frequently Asked Questions
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ClassAction.org. NIBCO CPI PEX Plumbing
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Angeion Group. Summary Notice
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Mealey’s Litigation Report. Judge Approves $43.5M Class Action Settlement Over PEX Piping
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PEX System Settlement. PEX System Settlement
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Berger Montague. NIBCO PEX Tubing and Component Parts Lawsuit
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Angeion Group. Settlement Agreement
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Top Class Actions. Alabama and Texas NIBCO Defective Products $7.65M Class Action Settlement
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Bloomberg Law. NIBCO’s $7.65 Million Plastic Pipe Deal Survives 5th Cir. Appeal
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ClaimDepot. NIBCO Settlement
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Top Class Actions. NIBCO Plumbing Parts Class Action Settlement