## Facts

- A residential housing project in Orange County, New York, included a laundry room allegedly designed so that water could accumulate on the floor.
- An architectural firm provided design and related professional services for the project and later issued a certificate of final inspection to the owner.
- On October 30, 1974, a tenant allegedly slipped and fell in the laundry room and sustained personal injuries.
- The tenant sued in negligence on October 6, 1977, alleging negligent planning and design of the laundry room caused the dangerous water condition.
- The owners/manager asserted cross-claims against the architect seeking indemnification and/or contribution.

## Issues

1. In a third party’s negligence action for personal injuries allegedly caused by architectural design, does the statute of limitations accrue upon completion of the architect’s services or upon the plaintiff’s injury?

## Decision

- The Appellate Division affirmed the order denying the architect’s motion to dismiss on statute-of-limitations grounds.
- The court held the limitations period for an architect’s liability to an injured third party runs from the date of injury, not from the date the architect completed its services.
- Because the action was filed within three years of the October 30, 1974 injury, the claim against the architect was timely.

## Legal Principles

- In a negligence action seeking damages for personal injuries, the cause of action accrues when the plaintiff’s rights are invaded, i.e., when the injury is sustained.
- Absent a statute or compelling public policy requiring an earlier accrual date, an architect’s alleged negligent design causing third-party personal injury is governed by the general injury-based accrual rule.
- A limitations rule that would bar a personal-injury claim before the injury occurs is disfavored without clear legislative direction.

## Conclusion

The court applied New York’s general personal-injury accrual rule to an architect’s alleged design negligence, holding the three-year statute of limitations began on the date the tenant was injured rather than when the architect completed its services, so the tenant’s claim could proceed.


Cubito v. Kreisberg, 69 A.D.2d 738, 419 N.Y.S.2d 578 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep’t 1979)