Summary
The Supreme Court of South Carolina held that a thirteen-year statute of repose for claims arising from defective or unsafe improvements to real property barred Capco's contribution action against the parking-lot contractor. The court rejected Capco's argument that the statute of repose had been impliedly repealed or irreconcilably conflicted with the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act's one-year period for commencing contribution actions after settlement. The court affirmed summary judgment for the contractor.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-640(6), which imposes a thirteen-year statute of repose on contribution or indemnification actions arising from defective improvements to real property, was impliedly repealed by the later-enacted one-year contribution period in § 15-38-40(D).
- Whether the two statutes irreconcilably conflict.
- Whether Capco's contribution action was barred by § 15-3-640(6).
Holdings
- S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-640(6) and § 15-38-40(D) do not irreconcilably conflict because they establish different temporal limits measured from different events: the former is an outside statute of repose running from substantial completion of the improvement, while the latter is a statute of limitations running from settlement of the common liability.
- Section 15-3-640(6) is the more specific statute and controls over the generally applicable contribution period in § 15-38-40(D).
- Capco's contribution action was time-barred because it was filed more than thirteen years after substantial completion of the parking lot, notwithstanding that it was filed within one year after Capco's settlement.
Key quotations
“The statutes at issue do not irreconcilably conflict.” (at 143)
“Given that section 15-3-640(6) applies not simply to contribution actions, but to this specific class of contribution actions, we find it is the more specific statute and therefore controls.” (at 143)
“We find Capco's action is time-barred by the thirteen year time-period set forth in § 15-3-640(6).” (at 144)
Factual background
Gayle substantially completed construction of Capco's shopping-center parking lot on November 1, 1986. Pauline Conner was injured in an automobile accident in the lot in 1996, and she and her husband later sued Capco and Gayle for negligent design and construction. Capco settled the Conners' claims on June 13, 2003, expressly releasing Gayle, and filed its contribution action against Gayle three months later—within the one-year period in the Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act but more than thirteen years after completion of the improvement.
Procedural history
After Capco settled negligence claims brought by Pauline and her husband arising from an automobile accident in a shopping-center parking lot, Capco filed a contribution action against the parking-lot contractor. The circuit court held the action barred by the thirteen-year statute of repose in S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-640(6) and granted Gayle summary judgment. The Supreme Court of South Carolina affirmed.