Florida Senate Bill 360
Construction Defect
Historical Context
Consumer protection laws and building codes have been around since the first Mason quarreled with their client the Shepard. In 1772 BCE rules were established by the Code of Hammurabi and have continued since confounding contractors and delighting inspectors.
The London Building Act of 1855 was the first systematic standards necessitated by the Great Fire of 1666 quantifying height minimums in interior spaces as well requiring a notice of commencement and most importantly for fire prevention chimney placement.
San Francisco was forever changed by the earthquake that devastated that city taking 3000 lives and leveling 80 % of the city giving rise to seismic zones and anti-quake construction.
Fast forward to today…
We have Florida SB 360 and the now common Chapter 558 that controls the responsibilities of owners and their contractors as they navigate the construction of homes and buildings in the state of Florida.
SB 360
SB 360 reiterates some central provisions of the statutes associated with the built environment, clarifies some dates and terms, and provides for a few changes to the status quo. These include:
- 4 years from the date of occupancy for known deviations from the building code or obvious construction issues. This date did not change, and it is meant to get obvious discrepancies laid out for resolution.
- 7 years instead of 10 years for the period of repose. Which is a big change for latent or hidden damages that are either a violation of building code, workmanlike practice, or the contract if these things are unknown. This period is closer to other states where I have worked and, in most cases, should be enough to see the challenges in a building.
- Removes “time of possession” from the start date of the clock to either ‘temporary certificate of occupancy”, “certificate of completion” or date of the “certificate of occupancy” (commonly referred to as the CO).
- Starts the time running on orphaned projects from the time of “abandonment.”
- 1 year is allowed to cross claim and bring in additional responsible parties even if they would have been time barred previously.
John Minor, CGC, CFM
Complete is a licensed general contracting and consulting engineering firm with offices in Pensacola and Miami Fl. We serve the greater southeastern United States.
John Minor, our president, has experience dating back to 1994 dealing with some of the original EIFS claims in North Carolina as well as being the expert that supported the Shaw V Arcadia case that tested the New Home Buyers Warranty Act in Louisiana.
TeamComplete has an array of diagnosticians including thermographers, Flood Plain Managers, IICRC certified techs and ICC plans examiners. Let our experience work for you in the understanding of the contract requirements, values, building code and appropriate building practices that protect quality construction or if necessary, document what should have been done to make homes and buildings work for the families and people that occupy them.