2007 Minnesota Statutes

541.051 LIMITATION OF ACTION FOR DAMAGES BASED ON SERVICES OR
CONSTRUCTION TO IMPROVE REAL PROPERTY.
    Subdivision 1. Limitation; service or construction of real property; improvements. (a)
Except where fraud is involved, no action by any person in contract, tort, or otherwise to recover
damages for any injury to property, real or personal, or for bodily injury or wrongful death, arising
out of the defective and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property, shall be brought
against any person performing or furnishing the design, planning, supervision, materials, or
observation of construction or construction of the improvement to real property or against the
owner of the real property more than two years after discovery of the injury, nor in any event shall
such a cause of action accrue more than ten years after substantial completion of the construction.
Date of substantial completion shall be determined by the date when construction is sufficiently
completed so that the owner or the owner's representative can occupy or use the improvement
for the intended purpose.
    (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), an action for contribution or indemnity arising out of
the defective and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property may be brought no later
than two years after the cause of action for contribution or indemnity has accrued, regardless of
whether it accrued before or after the ten-year period referenced in paragraph (a).
    (c) For purposes of paragraph (a), a cause of action accrues upon discovery of the injury;
provided, however, that in the case of an action for contribution or indemnity under paragraph
(b), a cause of action accrues upon the earlier of commencement of the action against the party
seeking contribution or indemnity, or payment of a final judgment, arbitration award, or settlement
arising out of the defective and unsafe condition.
    (d) Nothing in this section shall apply to actions for damages resulting from negligence in
the maintenance, operation or inspection of the real property improvement against the owner or
other person in possession.
    (e) The limitations prescribed in this section do not apply to the manufacturer or supplier
of any equipment or machinery installed upon real property.
    Subd. 2. Action allowed; limitation. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision 1,
paragraph (a), in the case of a cause of action which accrues during the ninth or tenth year after
substantial completion of the construction, an action to recover damages may be brought within
two years after the date on which the cause of action accrued, but in no event may such an action
be brought more than 12 years after substantial completion of the construction. Nothing in this
subdivision shall limit the time for bringing an action for contribution or indemnity.
    Subd. 3. Not construed. Nothing in this section shall be construed as extending the period
prescribed by the laws of this state for the bringing of any action.
    Subd. 4. Applicability. For the purposes of actions based on breach of the statutory
warranties set forth in section 327A.02, or to actions based on breach of an express written
warranty, such actions shall be brought within two years of the discovery of the breach. In the case
of an action under section 327A.05, which accrues during the ninth or tenth year after the warranty
date, as defined in section 327A.01, subdivision 8, an action may be brought within two years of
the discovery of the breach, but in no event may an action under section 327A.05 be brought more
than 12 years after the effective warranty date. An action for contribution or indemnity arising out
of actions described in this subdivision may be brought no later than two years after the earlier of
commencement of the action against the party seeking contribution or indemnity, or payment of a
final judgment, arbitration award, or settlement arising out of the breach.
History: 1965 c 564 s 1; 1977 c 65 s 8; 1980 c 518 s 2-4; 1986 c 444; 1986 c 455 s 92; 1988
c 607 s 1; 1990 c 555 s 13; 2004 c 196 s 1; 2007 c 105 s 4; 2007 c 140 art 8 s 29