Pennsylvania's Construction Statute Of Repose Under Attack

For more than 40 years, Pennsylvania's Construction Statute of Repose (SOR) has given contractors, engineers, and architects the assurance that liability for completed projects eventually comes to an end. That is because, after 12 years from substantial completion, all claims are barred, no matter when the alleged defect is discovered.

That certainty, however, is under direct attack in Pennsylvania. Currently, two cases are pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court seeking to expand liability in ways that undermine the statute's purpose and create indefinite exposure for architects, engineers, and construction contractors. In our role as A/E/C industry advocates, Offit Kurman was engaged by leading construction industry associations to file friends of the court briefs (amicus briefs) in both appeals to Pennsylvania's highest court.