{"id":898326,"date":"2020-12-16T14:02:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T21:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=898326"},"modified":"2020-12-16T14:02:26","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T21:02:26","slug":"statute-of-repose-clarification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statute-of-repose-clarification\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Clarifies When the Statute of Repose is Triggered For a Multi-Phase or Multi-Building Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Jeffrey J. Vita and Anna M. Perry | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sdvlaw.com\/insights_view.asp?key=11343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SDV Insights<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lennar Hingham Holdings, LLC (\u201cLennar\u201d) built a twenty-eight-building, 150-unit condominium project containing twenty-four discrete phases over a seven-year span. The condominium association subsequently brought an action against Lennar and others alleging design and construction defects to four main components of the common elements: \u201cdecks and columns,\u201d \u201croofing\/flashing,\u201d \u201cexterior walls\/flashing\/building envelope,\u201d and \u201cirrigation system.\u201d In response, the defendants argued that the plaintiff\u2019s claims with respect to six of the twenty- eight buildings were barred by Massachusetts\u2019s six-year statute of repose, G. L. c. 206 \u00a7 2B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts previously held that all twenty-eight of the condominium\u2019s buildings should be treated as a single improvement for purposes of application of the statute of repose. Subsequently, the court certified the following question to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Where the factual record supports the conclusion that a builder or developer was engaged in the continuous construction of a single condominium development comprising multiple buildings or phases, when does the six-year period for an action of tort relating to the construction of the condominium\u2019s common or limited common elements start running?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plaintiff association argued that the meaning of the term \u201cimprovement,\u201d as used in the statute, was crucial to determining when the six-year statute of repose is triggered. Plaintiff claimed the entire condominium project was a single \u201cimprovement\u201d based on factors such as the terms of the master deed, which created a single legal entity, the pace and continuity of the construction, and the fact that the defendants were involved in the project from beginning to end. Thus, adopting the plaintiff\u2019s view, the entire project would be considered a single \u201cimprovement\u201d as opposed to 28 separate improvements. Opposing this argument, the defendants argued that the statute of repose was triggered as each building in the project was opened for use based on the various certificates of occupancy issued by the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Massachusetts Supreme Court disagreed with the plaintiff\u2019s arguments and found each building constituted a separate improvement for purposes of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/when-does-statute-of-repose-begin-in-phased-development-projects\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statute of repose<\/a>. As each building was issued its certificate of occupancy, the Court found \u201cimprovement\u201d to mean each individual building. Additionally, the Court found that \u201cwhere a particular improvement is integral to and intended to serve multiple buildings within a single phase, or buildings across multiple phases, or even the condominium development as a whole, the statute of repose begins to run when that discrete improvement is substantially complete and open to its intended use.\u201d The Court reasoned that the legislature\u2019s intent, when enacting the statute, was to strike a reasonable balance between the right to a remedy for owners such as the plaintiff and the need to have an outer limit on the tort liability of those involved in the construction process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This case is a win for contractors, owners, developers, and architects as their potential liability is further limited under Massachusetts\u2019s statute of repose for multi-phase or multi-building projects. Despite this ruling, contractors of all tiers will still want to ensure they have adequate insurance coverage during the entirety of the applicable statute of repose period for any and all work they complete. As a result, it is critical to review your products-completed operations coverage within your commercial general liability policy to ensure it will cover you for the entirety of the statute of repose applicable in the jurisdiction in which you perform the construction activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeffrey J. Vita and Anna M. Perry | SDV Insights Lennar Hingham Holdings, LLC (\u201cLennar\u201d) built a twenty-eight-building, 150-unit condominium project containing twenty-four discrete phases over a seven-year span. The condominium association subsequently brought an action against Lennar and others alleging design and construction defects to four main components of the common elements: \u201cdecks and&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statute-of-repose-clarification\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Massachusetts Clarifies When the Statute of Repose is Triggered For a Multi-Phase or Multi-Building Project<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,10707],"tags":[9895,24,268],"class_list":["post-898326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-defects","category-statute-of-repose","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-defect","tag-statute-of-repose","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Massachusetts Clarifies When the Statute of Repose is Triggered For a Multi-Phase or Multi-Building Project - Advise &amp; 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