STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. PERINI
CORPORATION, ET AL.
A-3268:3269-10T4(CONSOLIDATED)
The ten-year statute of repose,
N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1, did not bar
the State from seeking damages
under a multi-phase construction
contract for alleged defects of
a hot water system that was
connected to the entire
project. The hot water system was
not
identified in the construction
documents as a separate phase or
component of the project with
its own distinguishable completion
date, and so, was not a
separate "improvement to real property"
under the statute. The trial court erred in dismissing the
State's claims against the
general contractor and other
contractors that continued to
work on the project within the
ten-year period on the ground
that the State had begun to use
the hot water system and
occupied most parts of the project more
than ten years before it filed
its complaint. 03-30-12
