Missouri · Construction-defect rights
Here is what you have, and here is how to keep it.
Missouri bars construction-defect suits against architects, engineers and builders more than 10 years after the improvement is completed. That cutoff does not protect a defendant who concealed the defect, and it does not apply to suits against the property's owner or possessor. A defendant sued late still gets a one-year window to seek contribution or indemnity.
What you have
The deadline does not protect a builder who concealed the problem.
In Missouri, a claim of fraud, concealment or serious misconduct is not cut off by the ordinary construction deadline (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.097.4(2)).
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: the repose does not limit any action against any owner or possessor of the real estate or improvements (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.097.4(3)) It matters most where a builder still controls part of a project — a phased subdivision, an unfinished condo association.
THE DEADLINE DOES NOT PROTECT CONCEALMENT. Missouri's ten-year bar (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.097) falls away where the builder concealed a defect that caused the unsafe condition, and it never applies to a suit against the property's owner or possessor. Otherwise you have ten years from completion against the designers and builders.
The deadline
10 years to bring a construction-defect claim
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.097.1
10 years from completion (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.097.1), applying only to persons whose sole connection with the improvement is furnishing design, planning or construction services (§ 516.097.2). CONCEALMENT CARVE-OUT: the repose does not apply where a person "conceals any defect or deficiency" in the design/planning/construction that directly results in the unsafe condition sued upon (§ 516.097.4(2)). It also does not apply to suits against an owner or possessor of the real estate (§ 516.097.4(3)), and a defendant sued near the deadline gets one year to seek contribution/indemnity (§ 516.097.3).
“Any action to recover damages for economic loss, personal injury, property damage or wrongful death arising out of a defective or unsafe condition of any improvement to real property ... shall be commenced within ten years of the date on which such improvement is completed.”
Before you sue: We have not yet confirmed whether Missouri requires written notice to the builder before a lawsuit. Some states do, and skipping it can get a case stayed or dismissed. Ask a Missouri attorney before filing.
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. Some states require written notice to the builder before you can sue. We have not confirmed whether Missouri does, so check with a licensed attorney before filing. 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.