Florida's Shortened Statute Of Repose For Construction Defect Claims

On April 13, 2023, and as part of other recent tort reform measures implemented in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 360 into law.

This most recent bill makes changes to, among other laws, Florida Statute 95.11(3), which sets forth certain requirements that property owners must meet in order to successfully bring lawsuits against builders for latent construction defects in the State.

First, the bill shortens from ten years to seven the statute of repose for filing a lawsuit based on the design, planning, or construction of an improvement to real property (i.e. a construction defect claim). The statute of repose date is the absolute latest date that a lawsuit can be filed, regardless of when the defect was discovered (but a plaintiff must also file suit within the applicable statute of limitations period).