1986 Colorado Tort Reform Legislation
| Jurisdiction | Colorado,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 15 No. 8 Pg. 1363 |
| Pages | 1363 |
| Publication year | 1986 |
1986, August, Pg. 1363. 1986 Colorado Tort Reform Legislation
John G. Salmon is a shareholder of John G. Salmon, P.C., Denver, a law firm which emphasizes plaintiff's personal injury law.
This article summarizes the principal legislative developments in the areas of personal injury and worker's compensation laws during the 56th Colorado General Assembly. It addresses changes affecting the following areas: statutes of limitations; non-economic and exemplary damages; collateral source; assumption of risk; assumption of duty; joint and several liability; governmental immunity; mental health worker immunity; medical opinion immunity; reservoir proprietor liability; dram shop liability; premises liability; liability of architects, engineers and land surveyors; firearms and ammunition liability; and worker's compensation laws.
The analytical format regarding each legislative change consists of the Senate or House Bill Number, the Colorado Revised Statute added or amended, the effective date of the act and, where appropriate, a brief note interpreting the perceived changes or effect of the legislation. Although a complete analysis of the ramifications of each bill is beyond the scope of this article, it is hoped that this overview will aid in awareness and in understanding the effect of these important legislative changes.
1. Senate Bill No. 69; Senate Bill No. 153; and House Bill No. 1352
2. Repeals and Re-enacts: CRS § 13-80-101
Adds: CRS § 13-81-101.5
Amends: CRS § 4-2-725(1); 6-4-106; 8-2-204; 8-72-107(3); 8-79-104(1); 8-81-101(4)(a)(II); 12-20-113; 12-61-303(1); 13-21-204; 13-81-101(2) and (3); 15-16-307; 19-6-108; 24-14-105; 26-4-112(2)(a)(I); 40-30-102; 40-33-109; 42-6-208(2) and 42-11-109(3)
3. Effective Date: Applies to all actions arising on or after July 1, 1986
Colorado's statutes of limitations were drastically changed as a result of the passage of Senate Bill 69. This legislation generally reduced the statutes of limitations to two-year periods from existing various time periods in an attempt to create some uniformity.
Prior limitations of actions that ranged between six months and one year were set at one year; two-year limitations of actions remained the same; some three-year limitations were shortened to two years; and a very few were set at three years. Statutes of repose were set at from six to ten years, depending on the occupation affected. A more detailed breakdown of the amendments to the statutes of limitations is listed below.
CRS § 13-80-103 includes those causes of action within the one-year statute of limitations, regardless of under what theory or against whom the suit is brought.
1. The following tort actions: assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, libel and slander;
2. All actions for escape of prisoners;
3. All actions against sheriffs, coroners, police officers, firefighters, national guardsmen or any other law enforcement authority;
4. All actions for any penalty or forfeiture under any penal statute;
5. All actions under the "Motor Vehicle Repair Act of 1977," Article 11 of Title 42;
6. All actions for fraud, misrepresentation or deceit brought under Articles 20 and 61 of Title 12; and
7. All liquor liability actions for social hosts and commercial sellers.
CRS § 13-80-102 includes those causes of action within the two-year statute of limitations, regardless of under what theory or against whom the suit is brought.
1. The tort actions of negligence, trespass, malicious abuse of process,
malicious prosecution, outrageous conduct, interference with relationships, and tortious breach of contract;
2. All actions involving products, such as strict liability, absolute liability, breach of warranty, or failure to instruct or warn;
3. All actions, regardless of the theory asserted, against any hospital, health care facility, clinic, physician, nurse, dentist, chiropractor, veterinarian, practitioner, therapist, technician, midwife, pharmacist, optometrist, podiatrist, paraprofessional or other person involved in any of the healing arts;
4. All actions for wrongful death;
5. All actions against debt adjusters under Article 20 of Title 12;
6. All actions against any public or governmental entity or any employee of a public or governmental entity for which insurance coverage is provided pursuant to Article 14 of Title 24;
7. All actions based upon liability created by a federal statute where no period of limitation is provided in the federal statute;
8. All actions against any public or governmental entity or any employee of a public or governmental entity except as otherwise provided in this section or § 13-80-103 (one-year limitation);
9. All actions against any architect, contractor, builder or builder vendor, engineer, or inspector performing or furnishing the design, planning, supervision, inspection, construction or observation of construction to any improvement of real property; and
10. All other actions of every kind for which no other period of limitation is provided (an important catch-all provision).
CRS § 13-80-101 includes those causes of action within the three-year statute of limitations, regardless of under what theory or against whom the action is brought.
1. All contract actions, including personal contracts and actions under the "Uniform Commercial Code," except Article 6, Title 4;
2. All actions for fraud, misrepresentation, concealment or deceit brought under Article 61, Title 12, § 303; and Article 6, Title 42, § 208;
3. All actions for fraud, misrepresentation, concealment or deceit, except those in Article 80, Title 13, § 102(1)(j) or § 103(1)(f). Caveat--- there is still a two-year statute of limitations for negligent misrepresentation;
4. All actions for restraint of trade;
5. All actions for determination of paternity;
6. All actions for breach of trust or breach of fiduciary duty;
7. All claims under the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code," except Article 5, Title 5, § 202(6);
8. All actions of replevin or for taking, detaining, or converting goods or chattels, except as othewise provided in Article 80, Title 13,§ 103.5;
9. All actions under the "Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act," Article 7 of Title 42;
10. All actions under the "Colorado Auto Accident Reparations Act," Part 7 of Article 4 of Title 10;
11. All actions accruing outside this state if the limitation of actions of the place where the cause of action accrued is greater than that of Colorado; and
Six-Year Statute of Limitations12. All actions against land surveyors.
CRS § 13-80-103.5 sets forth causes of action within the six-year statute of limitations.
1. All actions of debt founded upon any contract or liability in action, all actions for the enforcement of rights set forth in any instrument securing the payment of or evidence of any debt, and all actions in replevin to recover the possession of personal property encumbered under any instrument securing any debt; and
Statutes of Repose2. All actions for arrears of rent.
CRS § 13-80-104(1)(a) provides that for architects, contractors, builders or builder-vendors, engineers, inspectors, and others involved in the construction trades, there is now a six-year statute of repose after substantial completion of the improvement to the real property. However, CRS § 13-80-104(2) provides for additional time for causes of action arising during the fifth or sixth year after substantial completion of the improvement to real property. Two years can be tacked on after the cause of action arises in the fifth or sixth year, possibly extending the statute of limitations to seven or eight years. CRS § 13-80-104(3) also provides that these statutes of limitations can only be asserted as a defense by those involved in design, planning, supervision, inspection, construction or observation of construction of any improvement, not by any person in actual possession or control as owner or tenant or in any other capacity.
Land surveyors have an even longer statute of repose. CRS § 13-80-105 indicates that all actions brought against a land surveyor to recover damages resulting from any alleged negligent or defective survey shall be brought within three years after the claimant discovers or should have discovered the negligence or defect which gave rise to the claim. However, in no case shall such an action be brought more than ten years after the completion of the survey upon which the claim is based.
Manufacturers, sellers or lessors of new manufacturing equipment now have a seven-year statute of repose. CRS § 30-80-107(1)(b) states that no action can now be brought on a claim arising more than seven years after such equipment was first used for its intended purpose, except when the claim arises from injury due to hidden defects or prolonged exposure to hazardous materials. CRS § 13-80-107(1)(c) provides that a further exception to this seven-year limitation exists if the manufacturer, seller or lessor intentionally misrepresented or fraudulently concealed any material fact concerning the equipment which caused the injury.
Finally, it should be pointed out that CRS § 13-80-107(1)(a), which limits actions against manufacturers, sellers, and lessors to a two-year statute of limitations, excepts matters provided in CRS § 13-80-101(1)(e), actions for determination of paternity. This type of claim obviously has nothing to do with products liability and its insertion is probably a drafting error.
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