Statutes of repose bar actions against design professionals after a certain period of time following the completion of services or the substantial completion of construction. Statutes of repose do not absolve the design professional of all liability. Rather they protect professionals from having to defend an action brought many years after a project has been completed, for conditions the design professional cannot reasonably be held responsible. Stale claims are a possibility in the construction industry, because the real property on which the services were performed may last several decades. Statutes of repose differ from statutes of limitations in terms of the point of time from which the limitation is measured.
Statutes of limitation begin at the date of injury or discovery of the deficiency.
Since this discovery could occur at any time, the limitation can run indefinitely. Statutes of repose, on the other hand, begin at a period of time following the completion of services or the substantial completion of construction. This substantially narrows the time period in which the design professional is exposed to liability, making statutes of repose preferable to statutes of limitation. NSPE Position NSPE supports the enactment of statutes of repose which bar actions against design professionals after a certain period of time following the completion of services or the substantial completion of construction. NSPE also supports statutes of limitation which bar actions against design professionals after a certain period of time following the date of injury or discovery of the deficiency.