Motion for Summary Adjudication Granted on Construction Defect Statute of Limitation Issues

April 1, 2002

Thomas Dias and Richard Newman won a motion for summary adjudication in a construction defect case that involved an important procedural issue: Where a development project consists of multiple separate phases and plaintiff sues for construction defects to the entire project, can a developer or contractor move for summary adjudication on the grounds the some (but not all) of the phases were completed more than 10 years prior to the complaint and thus barred by the statute of limitations?

Murchison & Cumming successfully convinced the court that each completed phase was a separate "cause of action" for summary adjudication purposes and that the defense was entitled to an adjudication that, with respect to those portions of the development that were completed more than 10 years before the commencement of the action, the claims were barred. The court also rejected plaintiff's argument that the 10-year statute was tolled for subsequent repairs.