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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                            Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Leading Florida Construction Association Announces

Passage of Its 2023 Priority Bill

To Curtail Abusive Litigation Against Contractors

Tallahassee — The Florida Associated General Contractors Council (Florida AGC Council) is pleased to announce that its priority bill for 2023 (SB 360) has now passed the Florida Legislature. This bill would help protect Florida contractors from abusive lawsuits and help stem the rising cost of construction for Florida consumers.  The bill will soon be sent to Governor Ron DeSantis for his approval.

Having led the effort back in 2006 to reduce Florida’s 15-year outer limit for bringing construction claims (the “statute of repose”) down to 10 years, the Florida AGC Council is pleased to inform you that SB 360 would shorten that time period even further – moving the limit from the current 10 years down to 7 years. 

Importantly, the bill would also establish a more equitable “trigger” for starting the relevant time periods for bringing a claim.  Rather than running from the later of a number of potentially ambiguous events like the owner’s “possession” of the building or “completion” of the construction contract, the bill would eliminate those triggers.  Instead, the time periods would run from the earliest of several events – for most projects, when the local building department issues a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO). 

The bill also would modify the current statutory civil action based upon building code violations, which are often hyper-technical in nature, in favor of limiting such actions only to material building code violations.

The Florida AGC Council would like to thank the bill sponsors, Senator Travis Hutson and Representative John Snyder, our state lobbying team of Metz, Husband & Daughton, and our members.  We also recognize and appreciate the hard work of our colleagues in the construction industry — the Florida Home Builders Association and the Associated Builders & Contractors of Florida — for working closely with us to help ensure this important legislation crossed the finish line.

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The Florida AGC Council is the voice of Florida’s General Contractors. The Council is comprised of members of The AGC Florida East Coast Chapter and The South Florida AGC. Both chapters have a combined 174 years of advocacy on behalf of Florida’s Commercial Contractors.

For More information please contact:

Michelle DePotter, Chief Executive Officer

AGC Florida East Coast Chapter

michelle@agcfla.build

(561) 312-3991

Carlos Carrillo, Executive Director

The South Florida AGC

carlos@sfagc.org

(786) 287-3110