Have you ever wondered when Massachusetts’ 6-year statute of repose for defective design, planning and construction is triggered when dealing with the construction of a multi-building, multi-year condominium construction project?
If you haven’t thought about such an issue that’s okay, neither had the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, nor the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. However, luckily for us, the Supreme Judicial Court recently tackled this very question in D’Allessandro v. Lennar Hingham Holdings, LLC, 156 N.E.3d 197, 198 (Mass. 2020).
In D’Allessandro, the Hewitts Landing Condominium project (the “Project”) consisted of 150 condominium units and twenty-eight buildings. D’Allessandro, 156 N.E.3d at 199. The Project was built over the course of twenty four different phases between 2008 and 2015; however, as individual units were completed, the Project’s architect “submitted affidavits to the town of Hingham, swearing that individual units or buildings were ‘substantially complete’ and ready for occupancy, and the town issued certificates of occupancy for the individual units or buildings.” Id.
Subsequently, in 2017, the Project’s trustees filed a complaint seeking damages from the developer, the contractor, and the construction manager, along with others entities (collectively “defendants”), alleging design and construction defects to the common and limited common areas of the Project. Id. at 200. Specifically, the trustees claimed that four general areas were defective: “decks and columns,” “roofing/flashing,” “exterior walls/flashing/building envelope,” and the “irrigation system.” Id.
In response, the defendants sought summary judgment, asserting that the trustee’s claims were “partially barred by the six-year statute of repose set forth in [Mass. Gen. Laws] ch. 260 § 2B. Id. Section 2B provides that no tort action shall be brought “arising out of any deficiency or neglect in the design, planning...
