4 year statute of repose

Laws Are Supposed To Serve The Public, Not The Profession

A professional is responsible for his work forever.

Now the statute of repose might be construed to allow a miss-set corner marker to remain, but the professional is still responsible for any economic loss the miss-set marker may bring.

Paul in PA

Laws Are Supposed To Serve The Public, Not The Profession

> A professional is responsible for his work forever.
>
> Now the statute of repose might be construed to allow a miss-set corner marker to remain, but the professional is still responsible for any economic loss the miss-set marker may bring.
>
> Paul in PA

That may be, but a land surveyor in Tennessee cannot have an action brought against him relating to his work beyond 4 years after the date on the plat.

Do you mean a statute of liability limitation?

Post the statute, or at least the correct number, please.

Richard Schaut

Laws Are Supposed To Serve The Public, Not The Profession

> Now the statute of repose might be construed to allow a miss-set corner marker to remain, but the professional is still responsible for any economic loss the miss-set marker may bring.

What?

The very purpose of a statute of repose is to set a cut of date beyond which someone cannot seek damages. It is a legal fiction based on the premise that the cause of action does not exist once the period of duration is passed.

Tommy

Texas is 10 years. In December I'll have been licensed 9 years, and I'm still on the hook for every one of them.

The statute of repose is at a board level, not at a civil level. You can be sued for something you did 25 years ago, but the board won't look at it.

Laws Are Supposed To Serve The Public, Not The Profession

> > A professional is responsible for his work forever.
> >
> > Now the statute of repose might be construed to allow a miss-set corner marker to remain, but the professional is still responsible for any economic loss the miss-set marker may bring.
> >
> > Paul in PA
>
> That may be, but a land surveyor in Tennessee cannot have an action brought against him relating to his work beyond 4 years after the date on the plat.

Tommy, it's probably a safe bet to continue paying your E&O premium as you ride off into the sunset...

Maryland

Code of Maryland Regulations
Article 7. Courts and Judicial Proceedings
Title 5. Limitations, Prohibited Actions, and Immunities
Section 112

§ 5-112. Actions for errors in survey of land.

No cause of action for damages accrues and a person may not seek contribution or indemnity for damages incurred for an error in a survey of land unless an action for damages is brought within 10 years of the survey, or within 3 years after the discovery of the error, whichever occurs first.

Our Pennsylvania statute of repose is likewise 4 years; however, the statute of limitations is 21 years.

If at any time during the 21 year period, the injured party discovers a cause of action, he has only 4 years to file suit.

No, I mean a statute of repose.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-114(a) (2000) provides as follows:

All actions to recover damages against any person engaged in the
practice of surveying for any deficiency, defect, omission, error or
miscalculation shall be brought within four (4) years from the date the
survey is recorded on the plat. Any such action not instituted within
this four (4) year period shall be forever barred. The cause of action
in such cases shall accrue when the services are performed.

Here is something James Demma wrote about the subject. He agrees with me.

That's not a statute of repose. That's the discovery rule.

Tommy

Not true, see above.

Pennsylvania Statute

Here is the text of the 2005 revision to the Pennsylvania Statute:

§ 5537. Land surveying.
All actions to recover any or all damages against any person
engaged in the practice of land surveying occurring as the
result of any deficiency, defect, omission, error or
miscalculation shall be commenced within 12 years from the
time the services are performed. Any such action not commenced
within this 12-year period shall be forever barred.
The cause of action in such cases shall accrue when the services
are performed. Furthermore, any action shall be commenced within
four years from the time that such cause of action was
discovered, but no later than during this 12-year
limitation period. In any event, no action shall be commenced
after the 12 years from the time that the services are
performed. The term "practice of land surveying" shall be the
same as defined under the act of May 23, 1945 (P.L.913, No.367),
known as the [Professional Engineers] Engineer, Land Surveyor
and Geologist Registration Law.

Any Legal action must start within 12 years from the time the
work was performed and no more that 4 years from the time of
discovery
When I first was licensed our liability ran forever.

>That's not a statute of repose. That's the discovery rule

Section 5537, Land Surveying “Statute of Limitations” limits time for which surveyors can be sued for errors to 21 years. Included is also a “Statute of Repose” which gives anyone finding the error four years in which to file suit or forever be barred.

Different terminology it seems.

EDIT: Oops! I must have outdated info according to Brian Nixon's post above. I got mine from the PSLS web site. Maybe the need to keep the site up to date.

So there is a 21 year (12 year according to the previous post) statute of repose. However, the discovery rule is 4 years within that timeframe.

The discovery rule limits action to a timeframe after the error was discovered. A statute of repose limits action to a timeframe after the date on the plat. There is a difference.

Back to the original question

> The reason I bring this up is because I've been thinking about it lately. Does this short time period really serve the profession?

No.

The purpose of a stature of repose is to prevent suits beyond a date when evidence may become lost and recollection of the actions becomes difficult. It's hard to argue that four years fits those circumstances.

Usually in these laws the number of years refers to from the time of discovery, not survey completion date. But every state is different.

Gregg and Ryan

Gregg- The statute was revised in 2005 as part of the Act which made it a crime to destroy a survey monument.

Ryan- The Pennsylvania statute has both provisions. We are subject to being sued for twelve years from the date of the survey. HOWEVER within that twelve years a suit must be filed within four years of discovering an error.

Back to the original question

Thanks. I didn't mean for this get get into a discussion about the difference in a statute of repose and the discovery rule.

These statutes are part of the Tort reform movement. Don't like Tort reform and you won't like these kinds of statutes.

However, these statutes do not protect your license folks. They simply protect civil lawsuits.

You can still be brought up on an action for professional negligence before the board of registration long after the statutory time for the civil lawsuit. You can still lose your license if you are determined negligent.

Do it right.

In NY there is a three year statute for professional malpractice (from date of map), a six year statute for breach of contract (applies to all contracts, not just professionals), and another designation for personal injury caused by professional malpractice. If fifty years from now a person impales themselves on the rebar you left standing two feet above ground (or the bridge you negligently designed that collapsed), then they have three years from the date of injury to sue you.

The problem is that sons, grandsons, etc.. were being caught up in lawsuits whose cause of action was initiated by their forebears (sometimes long dead). Damage awards were being levied if there was any sign of inheritance. That was hardly a fair system either.

As always, a balancing of the rights and responsibilities of the parties.