Colorado · Construction-defect rights
Here is what you have, and here is how to keep it.
In Colorado you must sue within two years of discovering the defect, and no later than six years after substantial completion; if the claim first arises in year five or six, you get two years from then, eight at most. Under CDARA you must send a notice of claim describing the defects and let the builder inspect and offer a fix before you sue.
What you have
If the builder or developer still controls the property, the deadline isn’t theirs to raise.
The exception most homeowners would never think to ask about: not assertable by a person in actual possession/control (C.R.S. § 13-80-104(3)) It matters most where a builder still controls part of a project — a phased subdivision, an unfinished condo association.
You have two years from discovering a defect to act, inside a six-year outer limit from substantial completion (C.R.S. s.13-80-104). If the problem first appears in the fifth or sixth year, you get two more years - an effective eight-year window. A person in actual possession or control of the property when the defect causes an injury cannot rely on the deadline (C.R.S. s.13-80-104(3)).
The deadline
6 years to bring a construction-defect claim
C.R.S. § 13-80-104(1)(a)
6 years from SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION (C.R.S. § 13-80-104(1)(a)), with a tail: where the cause of action arises during the FIFTH or SIXTH year after substantial completion, suit may be brought within 2 more years — an effective outer edge of 8 years (subsection (2)). The general limitations period is 2 years (via § 13-80-102). Only stated exception is possession/control: the repose may not be asserted by a person in actual possession or control of the improvement when the deficiency proximately causes the injury (subsection (3)). NO fraud/concealment carve-out in the section — fraud_exempts_repose = false, verified from statute.
“in no case shall such an action be brought more than six years after the substantial completion of the improvement to the real property”
Before you sue: CDARA requires a notice of claim listing the defects, with an opportunity to inspect and offer to remedy, before filing. (C.R.S. s.13-20-803.5)
What to do now
Write it down the day you notice it. Photograph it with something for scale. Note the date, the room, and what you saw. If it gets worse, photograph it again - a sequence is far stronger than one picture. Keep every message with the builder. You are not starting a fight; you are keeping the option open. Colorado requires written notice to the builder before you sue: see "Before you sue" on this page for the exact rule. Describe each defect in reasonable detail; a record made at the time is what most people are missing later.
The same defect, a different answer next door
The construction-defect deadline is a state-by-state accident of geography. The identical crack in the identical house can be dead in one state and live in another.