The respondents purchased a property in 2021 and discovered significant foundation defects in a dwelling constructed between 1986 and 1987.
They sued the appellant municipality in 2022 for negligent supervision of the construction.
The motion judge dismissed the municipality's summary judgment motion, finding that the municipality had an ongoing duty to monitor the open building permit, which constituted a continuous omission tolling the 15-year ultimate limitation period under s. 15(6)(a) of the Limitations Act, 2002.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that a continuous act or omission requires successive or repetitive actionable conduct, which was absent here.
The claim was therefore statute-barred by the ultimate limitation period.
The Court also noted the motion judge erred in recognizing a novel duty to monitor without conducting an Anns/Cooper analysis.
