A Florida court ruling relieves home builders of some liability in the ongoing dispute over the use of defective Chinese drywall, which thousands of homeowners say has driven down home values and caused health problems. In the decision, entered Nov. 5 and made public Wednesday, Judge Glenn Kelley of the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, Fla., said that because home builders did not manufacture the problematic drywall and were not within the chain of distribution, they could not be held “strictly liable” for the alleged defects. Legal observers say that the decision could set a template for other judges to use to adjudicate drywall cases across the country.