On February 2, 2012, the Colorado Court of Appeals addressed issues of first impression arising under Colorado’s statute of repose for construction defect claims, which imposes an absolute deadline of six years from substantial completion of an improvement to assert defect claims against construction professionals.

In Shaw Construction v. United Builder Services, a Homeowners’ Association (HOA) sued the general contractor of a multi-phase condominium project. The general contractor then sued its subcontractors, but those claims were dismissed under the statute of repose. The contractor appealed, arguing that (1) in multi-phase projects “improvement” means the entire project; (2) the “substantial completion” triggering the statute did not occur until the project architect certified completion (after a certificate of occupancy was issued); and (3) the statute of repose was tolled by the HOA’s service of a Construction Defect Action Reform Act (CDARA) notice. The subcontractors argued that (1) the “improvement” was limited to their specific work; (2) “substantial completion” occurred when each subcontractor completed its work; and (3) a CDARA notice of claim served on other parties does not toll the statute of repose for the subcontractors.