HOA | Construction Law Authority

2015 Florida Construction Legislation Update

April 29, 2015

Construction Defects, Legislation, Litigation, Public Construction

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...

Proposed Legislation Will Hurt Owners by Shortening Timeframe to Bring Claims

February 16, 2015

Sanjay Kurian

Building Codes, Construction Defects, Legislation, Litigation, News

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...

A Condominium Association’s Guide to Construction Defects Claim Documentation

May 30, 2013

Michele Ammendola

Construction Defects

During the early stages of investigating and asserting a claim for construction or design defects, condominium associations and individual unit owners are often asked by their attorneys to produce documents relevant to their potential claims. The following is an illustrative, and by no means exhaustive, listing of the types of documents condominium associations or unit owners should have on hand to assist their attorney in initiating a construction or design defects claim: All recorded Governing Documents, Declarations of Condominium, Master Covenants and the like, including any Amendments to same; Developer’s Prospectus or Offering Circular; Developer’s sales and promotional materials describing the property; All documents evidencing the date of Turnover from a Developer-controlled Board to an elected Board of Directors controlled by a majority of unit owners. For example, this could include: · Meeting minutes containing the...