Problematic procurement legislation seeking to change the statute of limitations on actions on construction contracts failed to advance out of subcommittee late on February 1.
HB 1667 (Kilgore) attempted to amend the Virginia Public Procurement Act to significantly limit the timeframe during which a public body could bring an action on a construction contract or against a surety on a performance bond. Specifically, the bill prohibits action on any construction contract unless such action (1) is brought within five years of completion of the work; (2) in the case of latent defects, is brought within five years of discovery of a latent defect but not more than 10 years from completion of the work; or (3) in the case of a warranty in such a construction contract, is brought no more than one year after the expiration of such warranty.
HB 1667 was first heard in the House Courts of Justice Committee before being rereferred to the House Appropriations Committee. There, it was heard by the Appropriations Committee’s General Government and Capital Outlay Subcommittee, but it ultimately failed to advance after no Subcommittee members made a motion to act on the bill.
The Senate counterpart, SB 1369 (Norment), passed out of the Senate Finance Committee but has not yet passed the full Senate. The House and Senate must have completed all work on their own bills by February 5, so if SB 1369 fails to pass the Senate by then, it too will be effectively dead.
VACo Contacts: Chris McDonald, Esq. and Phyllis Errico, Esq., CAE