Press enter to begin your search
 

2015 Chapter 558 Legislative changes

As previously noted, House Bill 87 modified some of the requirements of Chapter 558, Florida Statutes.  The statute was recently signed by Governor Rick Scott and the changes will take effect Oct. 1. The original intent of Chapter 558, enacted in 2003, was to require compliance with a mandatory pre-suit process before claims for construction defects could be brought in court.  Originally the claims subject to Chapter 558 were limited to residential defect claims but now include all residential and commercial project claims for defects.  All public projects are also included except for projects involving the Florida Department of Transportation.  In my experience the pre-suit process does not resolve many claims and add barriers and costs to owners and end-users.  A cynic might believe that the statute is working as intended. Chapter 558 requires written notice from the claimant to the construction or design professionals believed to be responsible for defects or...

2015 Florida Construction Legislation Update

The regular Florida legislative session is almost concluded.  The House adjourned on Tuesday and the Senate is in session until Friday.  A special session to address the state budget is expected but not yet set.  I previously addressed two construction related bills being considered this year: HB 87/SB418 related to construction defects, as noted here, and HB 501/SB 1158 related to shortening the statute of repose from 10 years to 7 years, as noted here. The Chapter 558 bill, HB 87, was amended to address many of the concerns raised in my prior blog post.  The amended bill passed the House on a vote of 112 to 0. The House bill was substituted for the “companion” Senate bill, SB 418, and passed 35-4.  The bill will be sent to the Governor for his consideration. The Governor will have 7 days to veto, sign or allow the bill to become law without...

HB 501 Passes Civil Justice Subcommittee

HB 501 to reduce the statute of repose in construction cases was heard by the House Civil Justice subcommittee.  There was an amendment to the bill to allow any claims that are currently over 7 years, but less than 10 years, to have until July 1, 2016, to file suit.  This “savings clause” is similar to the one used in 2006 when the statute of repose was then reduced from 15 years to 10 years.  The bill passed the subcommittee on a vote by 8-6.  For those interested in watching the hearing you can do so here beginning at the 7:18 mark.  Special recognition to Ronald Woods, P.E. of Woods Engineering and Tom Miller, P.E. of Structural Engineering and Inspections, Inc. for appearing and speaking out against the bill....

Proposed Legislation Will Hurt Owners by Shortening Timeframe to Bring Claims

In addition to the proposed legislation to substantially change Chapter 558, link here, the Legislature is considering other legislation that will materially impact owners and taxpayers.  HB501 proposes to reduce the time owners have to pursue construction defect claims from 10 after completion to 7 years after completion.  Specifically, the proposed legislation reduces the time frame within which a claim can be brought for latent defects (a defect you did not know about or had no reason to know about) in the design, planning or construction of improvements to real property from the current 10 years to 7 years.  This reduction of time to pursue claims apply to claims where the building code was violated.  Why should Florida provide less protection to owners when historically, and now again, the biggest building booms have been occurring in Florida.  Even the AIA Form Agreements, not always owner friendly, provide for a 10 year...

Proposed Legislation to change Chapter 558

The Legislature will be considering legislation this year to change Chapter 558, Florida Statutes.  Chapter 558 is  required process for any party seeking to pursue claims for construction defects.  The original goal of Chapter 558 was to provide an opportunity to settle defect claims without litigation or arbitration, and not to create another source of dispute or litigation.  This bill is contrary to that original intent. The proposed bill would create new rights and defeats any realistic hope to amicably resolve claims as more fully explained below.  These changes, if enacted, will negatively impact all owners of construction improvements including hospitals, doctor's offices, school buildings, condominiums, single family homes and commercial buildings.  The proposed legislation can be found here and the specific problems are noted below. Lines 66-76: Requiring the notice to specify the location of each alleged defect is impossible relative to any structure of any size.  To require a claimant...

Supreme Court decides Maronda Homes v. Lakeview Reserve

The Supreme Court issued its opinion in the Maronda Homes, Inc. of Florida v. Lakeview Reserve Homeowners Association, Inc., case earlier today. I previously blogged about the case and its ramifications on Florida’s common law implied warranties here. Subsequent to oral argument in that case the legislature enacted Section 553.835, Florida Statutes, which abrogated all common law implied warranties for “off site improvements” as noted here and here. The opinion recounts at length the procedural and factual history of the underlying case as well as the status of the law regarding common law implied warranties. It is the Supreme Court’s most comprehensive recitation of this area of the law since Gable v. Silver in 1972 and Conklin v. Hurley in 1983.  The original question dealt with whether the underlying 5th District Court of Appeal’s decision was correct, or if a prior 4th District Court of Appeal decision in Port Sewall v. First...

Update on Public/Private Partnership Legislation

 SB 84 and HB 85, as amended to reflect the merger with a competing bill, continues to pick up momentum. The House Bill passed the Government Operations Subcommittee three days ago by a vote of 11 to 1 and the Senate Bill is set for the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee today. Many interested parties have raised very good suggestions for changes in the statutory language and we’re addressing as many of them as we can. We’re excited that this legislation has garnered so much attention, as that indicates people are preparing themselves to implement it upon passage. Keep up the support!

I was recently interviewed by Carolina Bolado at Law360 about the legislation and the portion of her article addressing it is reprinted below. In the meantime, the newly formed Florida Council of Public/Private Partnerships is putting the final touches on our P3 conference set for May 16 and 17 in Orlando, which will coincide with the statewide launch of that trade association to the public. If you want to be on the e-mailing list to receive notice of the seminar when registration opens shortly, let me know. 

 

In the meantime, keep up the P3 momentum! Here is the segment of the Law360 article on P3: