Repose is not tolled by discovery, diligence, or good cause. When it closes, the claim is gone.
✓ 4 years to sue, 7 years absolute repose
✓ Both run from the earliest of four events
✓ Condos and co-ops: clocks start at turnover
✓ HOAs: no equivalent — the clock is already running
STEP 1
We meet your board
We start with a discovery session to understand your size, needs, and goals. We review past records, current systems, and any lingering messes you want cleaned up.
STEP 2
We Onboard Your Books
We don’t just plug in data. We get everything in sync. That means full reconciliations, setup of vendor and dues tracking, and a financial calendar tailored to your schedule.
STEP 3
We Deliver Every Month
You’ll get board-ready financials on a predictable rhythm, complete with reconciliation notes, variance summaries, and report context. No chasing. No guessing. Always accountable.
STEP 4
We Keep You Compliant
Deadlines, filings, vendor records, audit prep — we make sure your board stays ahead of what matters most. When tax time comes, it’s an easy process because we’ve kept the finances in order.
Defect timing analysis for Florida boards
This is the one turnover question with a hard deadline attached and no way to reopen it. Repose is not tolled by discovery, by diligence, or by good cause. When it closes, the claim is gone regardless of how good it was.
Ledgerly gets the controlling dates on the table in the first month after handover — the certificates, the turnover date, and which clock actually governs — so a board can decide about counsel while there is still time for the decision to matter.
The general rule
An action founded on the design, planning or construction of an improvement to real property must be brought within four years, and in any event within seven years, of the earliest of four events: issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy, issuance of a certificate of occupancy, issuance of a certificate of completion, or the date of abandonment if construction was not completed.
For a latent defect, the four-year period runs instead from when the defect was discovered or should have been discovered with due diligence. That discovery rule applies only to the four years. It does not move the seven.
What changed in 2023, and why old guidance is dangerous
SB 360 did three things at once. It cut repose from ten years to seven. It flipped the rule from the latest of the trigger events to the earliest. And it replaced two of the four events: "actual possession by the owner" and "completion or termination of the contract" were deleted; the temporary certificate of occupancy and the certificate of completion were added.
The practical consequence is that in most projects the controlling date is now the temporary certificate of occupancy, which is typically issued months before the final CO and is the earliest of the four. Guidance written before April 2023 will point you at the wrong date, and will point you at it in the wrong direction.
The transitional window is closed. Claims that were alive under the old rule but dead under the new one had until July 1, 2024 to be filed.
Two provisions that help
Where an improvement consists of multiple buildings, each building is its own improvement for purposes of the limitations period. A phased community can therefore carry several different repose expiration dates rather than one. And repair work — whether under warranty or otherwise — does not extend the period for the original construction within the scope of the permit and certificate.
Condominiums and cooperatives: the clocks start at turnover
Section 718.124 is short and it is the most important sentence in this area:
"The statute of limitations and statute of repose for any actions in law or equity which a condominium association or a cooperative association may have shall not begin to run until the unit owners have elected a majority of the members of the board of administration."
The words "and statute of repose" were added effective July 1, 2024. Before that, turnover tolled limitations but not repose — a distinction the Third District had drawn expressly. The amendment reversed it.
So for a condominium or cooperative association's own claims, the seven years do not run from the temporary certificate of occupancy. They run from the date owners elected a board majority. A project with a three-year developer-control period carries roughly ten years of exposure from CO rather than seven.
Note the limit: s. 718.124 applies to actions "which a condominium association or a cooperative association may have." It does not by its terms extend to an individual unit owner's own claims, which run on the ordinary clocks.
Homeowners' associations: no equivalent, and this is severe
Chapter 720 contains no counterpart to s. 718.124. An HOA's construction defect claims run on the ordinary rule — four years from accrual or discovery, absolute seven-year repose from the earliest of the four events — regardless of how long the developer controlled the board.
An HOA whose developer held control for five years may have two usable years of repose remaining on the day owners take over, and no statutory relief. For an HOA board, the defect timing analysis is not a first-year task. It is a first-month task.
Chapter 558: the pre-suit process, and the trap inside it
Before filing, a claimant must serve a notice of claim under Chapter 558 and give the recipient an opportunity to inspect and respond. The notice must describe in reasonable detail the nature of each alleged defect and, if known, the resulting damage, and must identify each defect's location well enough for the recipient to find it without undue burden — based on at least a visual inspection. The claimant has no obligation to perform destructive testing for the notice.
Associations representing more than 20 parcels get a longer track throughout:
| Step | Standard claimant | Association >20 parcels |
|---|---|---|
| Notice before filing suit | 60 days | 120 days |
| Recipient's inspection window | 30 days | 50 days |
| Pass-down to subs and suppliers | 10 days | 30 days |
| Sub or supplier response | 15 days | 30 days |
| Recipient's written response | 45 days | 75 days |
| Claimant accepts or rejects an offer | 45 days | 45 days |
Two further points. Chapter 558 can be waived — the chapter applies "unless a claimant and a potential defendant have agreed in writing to opt out." A purchase or construction contract signed by the developer-controlled association may contain an opt-out that binds the post-turnover association, so read them rather than assuming. And a repair offer, or the failure to make one, is not an admission of liability.
Who brings the claim
For condominiums, s. 718.111(3)(b) permits the association — after control is obtained by owners other than the developer — to institute, maintain, settle or appeal actions on behalf of all owners on matters of common interest, expressly including the common elements, the roof and structural components, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing elements serving a building. Individual owners retain their own rights independently.
For HOAs, s. 720.303(1) gives comparable authority after turnover, with one significant procedural condition: before commencing litigation in the association's name involving amounts in controversy exceeding $100,000, the association must obtain the affirmative approval of a majority of the voting interests at a members' meeting where a quorum is attained. Virtually every meaningful defect claim clears that threshold, so the member vote is a practical prerequisite.
One more condominium-specific requirement: under s. 718.301(7), a defect claim by an association against a developer must be examined and certified by an appropriately licensed Florida engineer, design professional, contractor or other licensed individual or entity. Budget for that certification as part of getting the claim on file.
Where this fits
This page covers one stage of the handover. The full sequence, with the before-and-after board checklist, is on the pillar: Developer to owner control: the complete Florida transition guide for boards.
Related pages in this series
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