What is the deadline for repose: deficiencies in the construction of improvements to real property?

The period runs from the EARLIEST of the eight dates enumerated in Section 8127(b)a. to h., including contractual completion, dates on which limitations commence under the contract, payment in full for the phase, final payment in full, substantial completion, and acceptance of the improvement.

Count forward from the trigger event. Confirm the event on the docket or in the service record before entering a date.

No action, whether in or based upon a contract (oral or written, sealed or unsealed), in tort, or otherwise, to recover damages or for indemnification or contribution for damages, resulting: (1) From any alleged deficiency in the construction or manner of construction of an improvement to real property ... shall be brought against any person performing or furnishing, or causing the performance or furnishing of, any such construction of such an improvement ... after the expiration of 6 years from whichever of the following dates shall be earliest: a. The date of purported completion of all the work called for by the contract as provided by the contract if such date has been agreed to in the contract itself; b. The date when the statute of limitations commences to run in relation to the particular phase or segment of work performed pursuant to the contract in which the alleged deficiency occurred, where such date for such phase or segment of work has been specifically provided for in the contract itself; c. The date when the statute of limitations commences to run in relation to the contract itself where such date has been specifically provided for in the contract itself; d. The date when payment in full has been received by the person against whom the action is brought for the particular phase of such construction ...; e. The date the person against whom the action is brought has received final payment in full, under the contract ...; f. The date when the construction of such an improvement as called for by the contract has been substantially completed; g. The date when an improvement has been accepted, as provided in the contract, by the owner or occupant thereof following the commencement of such construction; h. For alleged personal injuries also, the date upon which it is claimed that such alleged injuries were sustained; or after the period of limitations provided in the contract, if the contract provides such a period and if such period expires prior to the expiration of 2 years from whichever of the foregoing dates is earliest.

10 Del. C. Sec. 8127(b)

1. Exclude the day of the trigger event.
2. Count every following day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.
3. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or Delaware legal holiday, continue to the next day that is not one of those.

Exclude the trigger day and count calendar days under Ct. Ch. R. 6(a) (Court of Chancery). Divergent sibling provisions: Super. Ct. Civ. R. 6(a).

If the final day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday in the Delaware calendar, the computation rule carries it to the next open day.

Delaware computes time under Ct. Ch. R. 6(a) (Court of Chancery). Divergent sibling provisions: Super. Ct. Civ. R. 6(a). The applied calendar bundles the state legal holidays for the covered years; court-specific closures and emergency orders are not bundled.

No date is calculated on this page because the encoded provision could not be reduced to one fixed period. Read the rule text, the starting event and the noted branches, then confirm the period in the current rules before relying on any date.

The trigger is the earliest of eight alternative dates, at least four of which depend on terms of the specific construction contract or on payment history. The engine must collect those dates as inputs rather than defaulting to substantial completion. There is a further limb at the end of Section 8127(b): a shorter contractual limitation period governs instead where the contract provides one and it expires before two years from the earliest of the enumerated dates. Section 8127(c) provides that nothing in the section extends any otherwise applicable period, and Section 8127(d) denies the repose defence to a person in actual possession or actual control of the improvement at the time the deficiency proximately caused the injury or death.

Extensions

None. A statute of repose, not merely of limitation: it can extinguish a claim before the plaintiff knows of it, and no discovery rule saves it.

Orders and local rules

A scheduling order, stipulation approved by the court, standing order or local rule can set a different period and controls over the national default.

• None. A statute of repose, not merely of limitation: it can extinguish a claim before the plaintiff knows of it, and no discovery rule saves it.
• A stipulation, scheduling order, standing order or local rule can set a different period and controls over the national default.
• The trigger is the earliest of eight alternative dates, at least four of which depend on terms of the specific construction contract or on payment history. The engine must collect those dates as inputs rather than defaulting to substantial completion. There is a further limb at the end of Section 8127(b): a shorter contractual limitation period governs instead where the contract provides one and it expires before two years from the earliest of the enumerated dates. Section 8127(c) provides that nothing in the section extends any otherwise applicable period, and Section 8127(d) denies the repose defence to a person in actual possession or actual control of the improvement at the time the deficiency proximately caused the injury or death.

These checks help you review the result. They do not activate a calendar date or certify that the deadline applies.

• Correct trigger date from the docket, service record or filing receipt
• Any Delaware local rule, standing order or case order that changes the period
• Delaware legal holidays and any court closure notice
• The court’s time zone and its electronic or paper filing cutoff
• Current rules and any order entered in the case

Find answers about when this 6 years period starts, how it is counted, what can change it and how to keep your calculation.

The period and the counting method come from different provisions. The official source is the court’s published rules; the reading links open the rule text at the Legal Information Institute.

Rule record reviewed September 17, 2026. Guide sources checked September 17, 2026. Next source check September 17, 2026.

Published by Deadline Engine. This tool calculates the ordinary period under the cited rule. It does not decide whether the rule applies, obtain an extension or file anything for you.