Opinion ID: 1861792
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: statute of limitations as to the claims against wk & d and cochrane

Text: The appellant claims that the trial court erred in granting WK & D's and Cochrane's motions for a summary judgment, because, it argues, the statute of limitations had not expired on March 9, 1983, the date the City filed its breach of contract and negligence [1] claims. We disagree. The statute of limitations in a claim based on contract begins to run when the cause of action accrues, Ala.Code 1975, § 6-2-30; not when the contract is entered. See Stephens v. Creel, 429 So.2d 278 (Ala. 1983). In a claim based on breach of warranty to construct a building in a workmanlike manner, the cause of action accrues, and the statute of limitations begins to run, on the date that the defendant completes performance, because [b]y its very nature it is the failure to construct the house in a workmanlike manner that constitutes the breach. Stephens, 429 So.2d at 280. A claim based on contract is subject to a six-year statute of limitations. Ala. Code 1975, § 6-2-34. There is no question that WK & D certified completion of the project on April 26, 1973, and that the City formally accepted the building as complete on April 27, 1973. At that point, because the contract did not include post-construction services, WK & D had fulfilled its obligations pursuant to its contract. On the authority of Stephens, supra, we must conclude that the City's claim against WK & D was barred by the statute of limitations, as of April 27, 1979. (See our discussion, infra, of the question of estoppel to assert the statute as a defense.) Furthermore, because the City readily admits that it was aware of problems with the roof from day one, the concerns expressed by the dissenting opinion in Stephens are not present. [2] Cochrane had given a two-year warranty for workmanship and materials, executed on March 9, 1973. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that Cochrane did not complete performance under its contract until the expiration of the two-year warranty, a cause of action against Cochrane would not have accrued until March 9, 1975; thus, the statute of limitations would have expired on March 9, 1981. This lawsuit was not filed until March 9, 1983; therefore, the trial court correctly concluded that the claim against Cochrane was barred by the six-year statute of limitations. (See our discussion, infra, of the question of estoppel to assert the statute as a defense.)