Repose vs. limitations: the two deadlines in every construction-defect case.

One case, two clocks

Almost every construction-defect matter is governed by two separate deadlines running in parallel: a statute of limitations and a statute of repose. They are easy to conflate because both are "the deadline to sue," but they answer different questions and follow different rules. To be on time, a claim has to beat both. Miss either one and the claim is barred, no matter how healthy the other clock looks.

The statute of limitations: a clock tied to discovery

The statute of limitations sets how long you have after the claim accrues. For a latent construction defect — the kind hidden inside a wall or under a finish — accrual generally turns on discovery: the clock starts when the owner knew, or with reasonable diligence should have known, of the defect. That is why a defect discovered years after construction can still be timely: the limitations clock did not start until discovery.

Because it is tied to knowledge, the limitations clock is comparatively forgiving. It can be delayed by the discovery rule and paused (tolled) by certain events — including, in Florida, service of a Chapter 558 pre-suit notice, which tolls limitations while the pre-suit process runs.

The statute of repose: an absolute outer wall

The statute of repose is the opposite kind of deadline. It does not care when you discovered the defect. It runs from a fixed construction event and sets an absolute outer limit on when any claim can be brought — period. When the repose period ends, the claim is extinguished even if the defect was undiscoverable, even if the limitations period would still be open, and even if no one was at fault for the delay. Courts treat repose as cutting off the right itself, not just the remedy.

In Florida, the construction-defect statute of repose lives at Fla. Stat. §95.11(3)(b). Two figures do the work:

• Period: 7 years, as shortened by SB 360 (2023) from the prior period.
• Trigger: the period runs from the earliest of — temporary certificate of occupancy, certificate of occupancy, certificate of completion, or abandonment of construction.

Two traps in how that change took effect

The subsection number moved. SB 360 became ch. 2023-22, Laws of Florida, approved April 13, 2023 and effective on becoming law. Its text amends what was then §95.11(3)(c). The repose provision has since been renumbered, and today the same rule sits at §95.11(3)(b). Both citations are correct — each for its own moment in time. This matters more than a numbering footnote should: an older brief, memo, or letter citing "§95.11(3)(c)" may be quoting the 10-year, latest-of rule that subsection used to carry, not the 7-year rule in force now. Compare the operative text, not the subsection number.

There was a one-time grace window, and it has closed. The shortened period applied to actions commenced on or after the effective date — in the act's own words, “regardless of when the cause of action accrued.” But the Legislature added a savings provision: a claim that would not have been barred under the older, longer version had to be filed on or before July 1, 2024. Miss that date, and if the new 7-year rule barred the claim, the act says plainly that “the action is barred.”

Unlike limitations, repose generally is not extended by the discovery rule and is not tolled by the things that toll limitations — which is exactly why a Chapter 558 notice protects the limitations clock but not the repose clock. (That trap has its own article: a Chapter 558 notice does not stop the repose clock.)

Why the difference decides cases

Two consequences follow from the distinction, and both catch people:

• A defect can be discovered too late to matter. If a hidden defect surfaces after the repose period has run, the limitations clock may only just be starting — but it does not matter, because repose has already closed the door. "I just found out" is not an answer to repose.
• The shortened period changed the math. A claim that would have been timely under the older, longer repose period may be barred under the current one. Anyone working from the old number can misjudge a live case as dead, or a dead case as live.

This is also why the trigger date deserves real attention. Because repose runs from the earliest qualifying event, a temporary certificate of occupancy issued months before the final one can move the entire deadline earlier than an owner expects. The safe practice is to pull the actual permit and certificate history and calculate from the earliest event — never from "move-in day" or a remembered closing date.

Texas is a separate framework

Texas has its own limitations and repose rules for construction claims, with different periods and triggers, and residential defect claims run through the Residential Construction Liability Act (Tex. Prop. Code ch. 27) rather than Florida's Chapter 558. Do not assume Florida's periods or triggers carry across the state line.

Bottom line

Two clocks, opposite rules. Limitations forgives and can be paused; repose is an absolute wall measured from a fixed construction date and generally cannot be paused at all. If you take one thing from this: find the real certificate dates, calculate the repose deadline from the earliest of them under the current period, and treat that date as the hard boundary it is.

Related: A Chapter 558 notice does not stop the repose clock  ·  Construction-defect practice