As used in this article, the following words and phrases used herein shall have the following meaning ascribed to them:
(a) BUILDER. Any individual, partnership, firm, or corporation that constructed, or performed or managed the construction of, an improvement, or any portion thereof, on or to real estate, and at the time of the construction was licensed as a general contractor in the State of Alabama.
(b) ARCHITECT. Any individual who, at the time the architectural services were performed, was legally qualified to practice architecture and held an unexpired registration as an architect in the State of Alabama; any partnership, corporation, professional corporation, or professional association which, at the time the architectural services were performed, was legally qualified to practice architecture in the State of Alabama; and all employees or agents of the registered architect or of his or her entity or firm acting under the instruction, control, or supervision of the registered architect.
(c) ENGINEER. Any individual who, at the time the engineering services were performed, was legally qualified to practice engineering and held an unexpired registration as a professional engineer in the State of Alabama; any individual who, at the time the engineering services were performed, was legally qualified to practice engineering and was certified as an engineer-in-training in the State of Alabama; any partnership, firm, or corporation which, at the time the engineering services were performed, was legally qualified to practice engineering and held an unexpired certificate of authorization to practice engineering in the State of Alabama; and all employees or agents of the registered engineer or of his or her entity or firm acting under the instruction, control, or supervision of the registered engineer.
(d) SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OR CONSTRUCTION OF IMPROVEMENT. The time at which the construction of the improvement on or to real estate is sufficiently completed so that the owner, tenant, or other person can occupy or utilize the improvement, or a designated portion thereof, for the use for which it is intended.
(e) CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES OR ARISES. The time when a person is injured, including injury which results in death, or when property is damaged as a proximate result of a defect or deficiency in design, planning, testing, supervision, administration, or observation of construction of an improvement by an architect or engineer or in the construction of an improvement on or to real estate, constructed, performed, or managed by a builder; or where the damage or injury either is latent or by its nature is not discoverable in the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time of its occurrence, the claim for relief shall be deemed to arise or accrue at the time the damage or injury is or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been first discovered, whichever is earlier. The cause of action accrues or arises whether or not the full amount of damages is apparent at the time of the first injury or damage, and cannot be extended as a continuous wrong. Property damage shall include both physical damages to, and defective condition of, the property.
(f) CONSTRUCTION or CONSTRUCTED. Includes building, constructing, erecting, fabricating, or assembling.
(g) IMPROVEMENT ON OR TO REAL PROPERTY. Anything that is constructed on or to real property, whether on, under, or over land or water, that enhances the value of real property permanently for general uses, including, without limitation, buildings, structures, fixtures, walls, fences, locks, dams, embankments, bulkheads, docks, jetties, drilling and other platforms and rigs, highways, bridges, canals, ditches, waterways, railroads, sewers, pipelines, pole lines, storage tanks, machinery, equipment and other improvements, and any extension, alteration, addition, or portion thereof. (Acts 1994, No. 94-138, p. 183, §1.)
6-5-221 Statute of Limitations
a) All civil actions in tort, contract, or otherwise against any architect or engineer performing or furnishing the design, planning, specifications, testing, supervision, administration, or observation of any construction of any improvement on or to real property, or against builders who constructed, or performed or managed the construction of, an improvement on or to real property designed by and constructed under the supervision, administration, or observation of an architect or engineer, or designed by and constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications prepared by an architect or engineer, for the recovery of damages for:
(i) Any defect or deficiency in the design, planning, specifications, testing, supervision, administration, or observation of the construction of any such improvement, or any defect or deficiency in the construction of any such improvement; or
(ii) Damage to real or personal property caused by any such defect or deficiency; or
(iii) Injury to or wrongful death of a person caused by any such defect or deficiency; shall be commenced within two years next after a cause of action accrues or arises, and not thereafter. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no relief can be granted on any cause of action which accrues or would have accrued more than thirteen years after the substantial completion of construction of the improvement on or to the real property, and any right of action which accrues or would have accrued more than thirteen years thereafter is barred, except where prior to the expiration of such thirteen-year period, the architect, engineer, or builder had actual knowledge that such defect or deficiency exists and failed to disclose such defect or deficiency to the person with whom the architect, engineer, or builder contracted to perform such service.
(b) This section shall apply to any civil action commenced against an architect, engineer, or builder as defined in this article, whether for his or her own act or omission or failure to act, for the act or omission or failure to act of his or her agents or employees, or for the act or omission or failure to act of any person or entity, its agents, or employees, who are acting under the instructions, control, or supervision of the architect, engineer, or builder.
(c) This section shall apply and extend to every action or demand, whether commenced by direct action, action for contribution or indemnity, or by counterclaim, cross-claim, or third party practice and whether commenced by an owner of the improvement or any other person.
(d) This section shall not apply to, shall not be a defense for, and does not proscribe a cause or right of action against any architect, engineer, or builder who, at the time the cause of action accrues or arises, is the owner or is in actual possession or control as owner, tenant, or otherwise of the improvement.
(e) When the architect, engineer, or builder has been the owner or the person in actual possession or control, in whatever capacity, of the improvement during the thirteen-year period after the substantial completion of construction of the improvement on or to real property, but not at the time the cause of action accrues or arises, the time of the ownership, possession, or control shall not be computed as a portion of the time necessary to create a bar for the action or of relief by virtue of the passage of time after the substantial completion of the improvement.