Surfside...five years later
Is it time to update the statutes of limitations and repose for construction?
“People who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it.” Bernard Shaw
June 24, 2026 marked five years since the tragic
Surfside condominium collapse that killed 98 people and resulted in a $1.02 billion class action settlement, and the effects continue to be felt by condominium associations across the country.
We’ve had our own versions of Surfside right here in Greater Boston. The Riverview-in-Cambridge Condominiums in Cambridge and the Water’s Edge apartments on Ocean Ave. In Revere. These didn’t collapse, but both buildings required extensive and expensive repairs from construction defects that weren’t evident for decades. Nationwide, there are condo building collapses reported nearly every week.
Rising insurance and construction costs have been making the headlines, but this whole thing has me thinking about something else.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology final report has been released and it seems clear that latent construction defects played a significant role in the Surfside collapse. Design or installation flaws installed 35-40 years earlier took decades to become apparent and ultimately deadly. Evidently, in the buildings’ early years, everything looked just fine.
You might even see this in your own homes. If the wooden part of a house isn’t properly fastened to the foundation, most people wouldn’t notice -until a hurricane comes along.
The statute of limitations and the statute of repose for construction defects in Massachusetts is just 6 years. That just doesn’t seem long enough to me. Obviously builders can’t be held responsible for their buildings in perpetuity, but in light of these failures does 6 years really seem adequate? Or fair to unit owners who are the most impacted by these failures?
I’ve given it some thought and I think the statute of limitation and statute of repose for developers, architects, engineers, contractors and subcontractors should be extended to 20 years after unit control has be turned over to the new owners. As a matter of fact, the more I think of it, the more unfair the current law is to consumers.
In fact, I’m considering drafting legislation (pro bono) to this effect for the Massachusetts legislature in the hope that it could be made into law and perhaps become a model for other states as well.
I anticipate vigorous objections from many of the impacted professionals, but that doesn’t bother me. I was told the super lien was impossible in 1992, but that didn’t stop me from taking a year off prior to MEEB being created and fought with lenders and other trade groups and advocated at the State House.
If there is interest in pursuing this legislation, I will contact CAI New England and REBA and IREM to see if they have an interest in both the drafting and pushing for the long-due legislative change.
What do you think? Is 20 years the right length of time? Too long? Too short? Please shoot me an email and share your thoughts.
Marcus Condo Law, PLLC
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