Colorado § 13-80-105 - Limitation of actions against land surveyors.

§ 13-80-105. Limitation of actions against land surveyors.

(1) Notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary, all actions against any land surveyor brought to recover damages resulting from any alleged negligent or defective land survey shall be brought within the time provided in section 13-80-101 after the person bringing the action either discovered or in the exercise of reasonable diligence and concern should have discovered the negligence or defect which gave rise to such action, and not thereafter, but in no case shall such an action be brought more than ten years after the completion of the survey upon which such action is based.

(2) For purposes of this section, "land survey" or "improvement survey" means any survey conducted by or under the direction and control of a land surveyor licensed pursuant to the provisions of part 3 of article 120 of title 12 and includes but is not limited to professional land surveying, as defined in section 12-120-302 (5). Nothing in this section shall be construed as extending the period or periods provided by the laws of Colorado or by agreement of the parties for bringing any action, nor shall this section be construed as creating any claim for relief not existing or recognized on or before July 1, 1979.

(3) (a) The limitations set forth in subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall not apply to any survey unless the documentary evidence of such land survey contains, clearly depicted thereon, the following statement:

NOTICE: According to Colorado law you must commence any legal action based upon any defect in this survey within three years after you first discover such defect. In no event may any action based upon any defect in this survey be commenced more than ten years from the date of the certification shown hereon.

(b) If any survey is performed that does not require documentation, the limitations set forth in subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall nevertheless apply if, not more than ninety days after the completion of the survey, written notice of the provisions of this article is provided to all persons holding an interest in the property upon which such survey is conducted.

Source: L. 86: Entire article R&RE, p. 698, § 1, effective July 1. L. 87: (2) amended, p. 1577, § 19, effective July 10. L. 2006: (3)(b) amended, p. 339, § 3, effective August 7. L. 2019: (2) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1668, § 77, effective October 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 13-80-127.3 as it existed prior to 1986.

ANNOTATION

This section contains a 10-year statute of repose that sets a date after which a claim may be barred whether or not an injury has been discovered previously. Cornforth v. Larsen, 49 P.3d 346 (Colo. App. 2002).

Under the plain language of this section, in order for the 10-year statute of repose to apply, a survey must contain the notice required by subsection (3). If a survey does not contain the notice, the 10-year statute of response has no application and a plaintiff may sue a land surveyor outside of the 10-year time frame. Cornforth v. Larsen, 49 P.3d 346 (Colo. App. 2002).