Utah · Construction-defect rights
Here is what you have, and here is how to keep it.
Utah bars construction-defect suits against a provider (designer, contractor, materials supplier) more than nine years after completion. If the defect is discovered in the eighth or ninth year, you get two extra years from discovery — so the effective outer edge can reach eleven years. The nine-year bar does not protect providers who fraudulently concealed the defect or acted willfully, nor a person still in possession/control.
What you have
The deadline does not protect a builder who concealed the problem.
In Utah, a claim of fraud, concealment or serious misconduct is not cut off by the ordinary construction deadline (Utah Code § 78B-2-225(5)).
Past the deadline for a defect? A contract claim may still be alive.
The construction deadline here bars tort claims — but contract/warranty actions may be commenced within 6 years of completion/abandonment (Utah Code § 78B-2-225(3)(a))Someone told “you’re past the deadline” may still have a live contract or warranty claim, and typically no one volunteers that.
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 limitation does not apply to a person in actual possession or control of the improvement when the defect proximately causes injury (Utah Code § 78B-2-225) It matters most where a builder still controls part of a project — a phased subdivision, an unfinished condo association.
THE DEADLINE DOES NOT PROTECT FRAUDULENT CONCEALMENT OR WILLFUL CONDUCT. Utah's nine-year bar (Utah Code § 78B-2-225) falls away for a provider who concealed the defect or acted willfully, and a defect you find in the eighth or ninth year buys two more years (an edge near eleven). A party still controlling the property is not shielded, and contract/warranty claims have their own six-year track.
The deadline
9 years to bring a construction-defect claim
Utah Code § 78B-2-225(4)(c)
9 years from completion or abandonment against a "provider" (designer, contractor, materials supplier) (Utah Code § 78B-2-225). If the defect is discovered in the eighth or ninth year, the claimant has 2 years from discovery — so the effective outer edge can reach ~11 years. FRAUD CARVE-OUT: the repose does not apply to a provider who "fraudulently concealed" the act/omission/injury, or for "a willful or intentional act, error, omission, or breach of duty" (§ 78B-2-225(5)). Contract/warranty actions get 6 years (§ 78B-2-225(3)(a)); a person in actual possession/control is not shielded. (Exact subsection letter for the 9-year clause shifts across codification years; the 9-year number is the load-bearing fact.)
“an action under this Subsection (4) may not be commenced against a provider more than nine years after completion or abandonment of an improvement.”
Before you sue: We have not yet confirmed whether Utah requires written notice to the builder before a lawsuit. Some states do, and skipping it can get a case stayed or dismissed. Ask a Utah 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 Utah 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.