On June 26, 2007, the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the statute of repose begins to run on the date upon which the contractor or design professional has completed his or her portion of the work, In Daidone v. Nuterick Bulkheading, et al., Docket No. A-60, 2007 N.J Lexis 706, the plaintiffs had hired an architect to design their new home. The plans were completed in June 1993 and the architect had no further involvement in the project.
Beginning in 1999, settlement of the home caused problems with several pipes and an electrical panel. The plaintiffs nevertheless waited until mid-July 2002 to complete repairs and until June 2004 before suing the architect. Thus, although they were within 10 years from completion of the home and the date of issuance of a c/o, they were more than 10 years past the date when the architect had completed its work. The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that “this led to but one conclusion: as a matter of law, plaintiffs causes of action against [the architects] relating to design and construction defects are deemed never to have arisen. ” the court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that it was against public policy to require plaintiffs to make individualized determinations as to when a designer or contractor has completed performance because such a requirement is unduly burdensome.