Washington · Construction-defect rights
Here is what you have, and here is how to keep it.
In Washington your claim must arise within six years of substantial completion (or the end of the builder's services, if later), and you must send a written notice of claim 45 days before filing suit. Contract claims run six years from discovery; negligence three.
What you have
Your claim needs to ARISE within six years of substantial completion (RCW s.4.16.310); once it does, the ordinary limitations period runs from that point - so a defect that surfaces late within those six years still leaves you time to sue afterward. The six-year clock is about when the problem appears, not when you file.
The deadline
6 years to bring a construction-defect claim
RCW 4.16.310
6 years from SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION of construction, or from TERMINATION of the enumerated services, whichever is LATER (RCW 4.16.310). Washington's mechanism is distinctive: it does not require the lawsuit itself to be filed within 6 years — it requires the cause of action to ACCRUE within that 6-year window. Any claim that has not accrued by then is barred outright; a claim that does accrue in the window then runs under the ordinary applicable statute of limitations from the accrual date (so total time can exceed 6 years if the defect surfaces late within the window). "Substantial completion" is statutorily defined as the state of completion at which the improvement may be used or occupied for its intended use. The section contains no fraud/concealment carve-out.
“Any cause of action which has not accrued within six years after such substantial completion of construction, or within six years after such termination of services, whichever is later, shall be barred.”
Before you sue: 45-day written notice of claim before filing an action against a construction professional. (RCW 64.50.020)
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. Washington 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.