{"id":905711,"date":"2026-05-26T17:23:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T23:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=905711"},"modified":"2026-05-26T17:23:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T23:23:53","slug":"statute-of-repose-washington-upholds-applicability-to-asbestos-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statute-of-repose-washington-upholds-applicability-to-asbestos-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Upholds\u00a0the\u00a0Construction Statute of Repose&#8217;s Applicability to Asbestos Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Justin Meyer | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bakersterchi.com\/washington-upholds-the-construction-statute-of-reposes-applicability-to-asbestos-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Baker Sterchi Cowden<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ABSTRACT: Washington Supreme Court holds that installation of asbestos-containing insulation constituted construction of an improvement on real property, and insulation was integral to the refinery\u2019s intended function. Claims arising from that construction are barred by Washington\u2019s construction statute of repose under RCW 4.16.300-.310.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On April 30, 2026, the Washington Supreme Court in\u00a0<em>Polinder v. Aecom Energy &amp; Constr. Inc.<\/em>\u00a0found that a former refinery maintenance worker could not bring claims against an insulation company arising from his alleged asbestos exposure in the 1970s. RCW 4.16.300-.310 \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statute-of-repose-construction-defects\/\">Washington\u2019s Construction Statute of Repose<\/a> \u2013 generally requires claims against improvements to real property to be brought six years after substantial completion of the improvement. This decision arises from construction of the Cherry Point refinery in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During construction, an insulation company supplied and installed asbestos containing insulation \u2014 including selecting products, purchasing them from manufacturers, arranging delivery, and installing them throughout the refinery. Decedent Lee Hetterly later worked at Cherry Point and alleged exposures to asbestos from the insulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The procedural history includes a split in the Washington Court of Appeals Divisions 1 and 2 application and understanding of the breadth of Washington\u2019s Construction Statute of Repose, resulting in an interlocutory review to resolve the conflict. There was no dispute that the claims accrued decades after substantial completion, so the applicability of the statute turns on whether the insulation installation contributed to the \u201cconstruction of an improvement upon real property\u201d and whether the claims \u201carose from\u201d that construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Supreme Court unanimously concluded that installation of thermal insulation at Cherry Point during refinery construction both contributed to the construction of an improvement on real property and involved systems that are a normal and integral part of a refinery required for it to function as intended. Accordingly, Hetterly\u2019s claims arising from insulation installation (a \u201cconstruction activity\u201d) were barred by the construction statute of repose. Specifically, the Court found that \u201c\u2018improvement\u2019 is a broad term, and the protections of the construction statute of repose are not limited to individuals working on the structural aspects of a building, nor are they limited to improvements that are buildings.\u201d In addressing \u201cimprovements,\u201d the Court relied on evidence including design plans, specifications and expert testimony that thermal insulation is necessary for refineries to operate and that, without it, the refinery could not function as intended. The Court rejected the notion that insulation is a mere \u201caccoutrement\u201d to manufacturing, finding instead that it is an integral component of refinery systems. The majority further interpreted the statute\u2019s \u201carising from\u201d language, finding that the repose applies broadly to claims tied to construction, alteration, or repair of improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Court did, however (with one partial dissent), set boundaries on the application of the Construction Statute of Repose: when a defendant\u2019s alleged liability can be established without proving its construction activity\u2014i.e., based on independent obligations as a product seller or supplier\u2014those claims are not barred. The majority acknowledged that line-drawing may be difficult, but rejected the concern that recognizing independent seller\/supplier liability would undermine the statute. The majority additionally confirmed that plaintiffs do not avoid the repose issue by relabeling construction claims as product claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accordingly, the majority reversed the trial court\u2019s order denying the insulation company\u2019s summary judgment motion on construction-based claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Justice McCloud concurred and dissented in part, arguing that the majority should not have addressed \u201cseller liability,\u201d and ruled that to the extent Hetterly\u2019s claims were based on Brand\u2019s activities as a product seller or as a negligent supplier of asbestos-bearing insulation, those claims were not so barred. Justice McCloud asserted that seller liability was not raised at the appellate level for direct discretionary interlocutory review, was not part of the conflict between the appellate court\u2019s decisions, and was not decided by the trial court order under review. Consequently, he would reverse on the construction issue and remand, leaving any independent seller\/supplier claims for the trial court to address in the first instance.This decision reaffirms and clarifies the robust protection of Washington\u2019s Construction Statute of Repose for contractors whose work contributes to the construction of improvements on real property. The Court strengthens predictability around long-tail liability and resolves uncertainty created by conflicting appellate decisions. While independent seller and supplier claims may still proceed if they can be established without proof of construction activity, the Court\u2019s line-drawing ensures cannot circumvent the statute simply by relabeling construction claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 801.641.8304, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Justin Meyer | Baker Sterchi Cowden ABSTRACT: Washington Supreme Court holds that installation of asbestos-containing insulation constituted construction of an improvement on real property, and insulation was integral to the refinery\u2019s intended function. Claims arising from that construction are barred by Washington\u2019s construction statute of repose under RCW 4.16.300-.310. On April 30, 2026, the Washington&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/statute-of-repose-washington-upholds-applicability-to-asbestos-claims\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Washington Upholds\u00a0the\u00a0Construction Statute of Repose&#8217;s Applicability to Asbestos Claims<\/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":[10707],"tags":[9895,19,268,306],"class_list":["post-905711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statute-of-repose","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-defects-2","tag-statute-of-repose","tag-washington","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>Washington Upholds\u00a0the\u00a0Construction Statute of Repose&#039;s Applicability to Asbestos Claims - Advise &amp; 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