My contract has an arbitration clause, does that block me from suing?

In most cases, yes, assuming the arbitration clause itself is legally valid and enforceable. Many residential construction contracts, and nearly every new-home purchase agreement, contain a binding arbitration clause specifically covering defect disputes, meaning the parties have contractually agreed to resolve disagreements through a private arbitration process rather than through the public court system.

Because a valid, binding arbitration clause can completely override your ability to file a lawsuit in court at all, reviewing your actual purchase or construction contract carefully before taking any other step is essential, filing a court complaint against a contract containing a genuinely enforceable arbitration clause wastes your filing fee and time, since the case would likely be dismissed or compelled into arbitration anyway. Arbitration itself operates under an entirely separate set of procedural rules, its own filing process, and its own cost structure, distinct from both the Right to Repair Act's pre-litigation notice process and from standard civil court procedure, though the two systems often run alongside each other in practice.