Legislative Watch

Florida statute of repose Changed to 10 years, effective July 1, 2006

2006 Fl. ALS 145

Summary: The Florida legislature has amended the statute of repose for construction defect claims from 15 years to 10 years for all actions commenced after July 1, 2006, regardless of when the cause of action accrued. The legislature included a one year extensions for actions that would not have been barred before the amendment which now must be brought before July 1, 2007. The amendment only applies to the conversion of existing improvements where construction of the improvement was commenced prior to its designations by the developer as a condominium.

Arizona Senate Revises Statute of Repose and Right to Repair

Arizona Senate Bill 1374 (2006)

Summary: Arizona Senate Bill 1374 amends the Statute of Repose (A.R.S. 12-552) to permit indemnity actions filed by persons against whom a timely construction defect actions filed was brought after the Statute of Repose. Further, Senate Bill 1374 amends the Arizona Right-To-Repair statute (A.R.S. 12-1363) to require that the notice given to contractors before filing a dwelling action includes a detailed and itemized list that describes each alleged defect and the location of each alleged defect in each dwelling that is the subject of the notice.

Joint and Several Liability

Florida House Bill 145 (H 145)

Summary: Florida House Bill 145 eliminates joint and several liability, which made every defendant in a lawsuit liable for the entire amount of the plaintiff's damages regardless of the degree of fault of any individual defendant. With the approval of HB 145, Florida replaces the doctrine of joint and several liability with that of proportionate liability. Under proportionate liability, defendants are only responsible for their relative share of the damages in question.

Indemnity Insurance

California Assembly Bill 758 (A.B. 758)

Summary: Assembly Bill 758 would eliminate the need for subcontractors to buy indemnity insurance that only protects the general contractor from losses and claims even though the general contractor was solely negligent. AB 758 passed the Senate on August 18, 2005 by a vote of 29 - 1. It passed the Assembly on August 25, 2005 by a vote of 77-0. The Governor is is expected to sign the measure, which would take effect January 1, 2006.

AB 758 eliminates Type 1 and Type 2 indemnity language currently used in many construction contracts. Under a contract with Type 1 language, a subcontractor can be held liable for the sole negligence of the general contractor and can also be forced to pay for the legal defense of the general contractor - all without the subcontractor acting in a negligent fashion. The change to the law is expected to lower insurance costs for subcontractors, which in turn could lower construction costs for new homes.