Colorado Appeals Court Clarifies “Control” Exception to Statute of Repose

July 15, 2025 — David McLain - Colorado Construction Litigation Blog
In a recent Colorado Court of Appeals decision, Kritzer v. Qwest Corporation, the Colorado Court of Appeals reaffirmed the protections offered by the statute of repose under Colorado’s Construction Defect Action Reform Act (“CDARA”)---but also reminded practitioners that those protections are not absolute. For construction professionals, subcontractors, and public utilities, the case illustrates how ongoing maintenance obligations, even years after project completion, may keep the door open to liability long after you thought it was shut. The Background: A Sidewalk, a Bicycle Crash, and a Six-Year Gap In 2010, Qwest Corporation and its subcontractors installed underground fiber optic cables near Cherry Hills Village Elementary School. To access the cables, they removed and replaced a section of sidewalk. That work wrapped up in February 2010. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David McLain, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell
Mr. McLain may be contacted at mclain@hhmrlaw.com