Ohio · Construction-defect rights
Here is what you have, and here is how to keep it.
Ohio gives you ten years from substantial completion (Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.131). Shorter limitation periods run inside that window - six years on a written contract (§ 2305.06) and generally four years for injury to property (§ 2305.09) - so a claim can expire before the ten years. A defect found in the last two years of the window gives you two years from discovery, and the ten-year bar does not protect a builder who engaged in fraud (§ 2305.131(C)). Before you sue or start arbitration you must give the contractor written notice at least 60 days ahead (§§ 1312.04, 1312.08).
What you have
The deadline does not protect a builder who concealed the problem.
In Ohio, a claim of fraud, concealment or serious misconduct is not cut off by the ordinary construction deadline (Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.131(C)).
THE DEADLINE IS NOT A DEFENSE TO FRAUD. Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.131(C) removes the ten-year repose where the builder engaged in fraud. And a defect you discover in the final two years of the window gives you two more years to sue from the date you found it (A)(2). Before you sue or start arbitration you must give the contractor written notice at least 60 days ahead (§§ 1312.04, 1312.08); a suit filed without it is dismissed without prejudice.
The deadline
10 years to bring a construction-defect claim
Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.131(A)(1)
10 years from substantial completion. FRAUD EXCEPTION (C): the repose is NOT available as a defense where the defendant engaged in fraud regarding the design, planning, supervision or construction. LATE-DISCOVERY (A)(2): a defective/unsafe condition discovered within the 10-year period but less than 2 years before it expires may be sued within 2 years of discovery. DISABILITY: a legal disability during the period tolls to 2 years from its removal.
“no cause of action … shall accrue against a person who performed services for the improvement to real property or a person who furnished the design, planning, supervision of construction, or construction of the improvement to real property later than ten years from the date of substantial completion of such improvement.”
Before you sue: Ohio requires written notice of the defect to the residential contractor at least 60 days before you sue or start arbitration, and the contractor may offer to inspect and repair. A suit filed without the notice is dismissed without prejudice. The contractor must describe this process in your contract. (Ohio Rev. Code §§ 1312.04, 1312.08)
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. Ohio 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.